Pumpelly Holds Off Hindman For VIR Win – Sportscar365

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Spencer Pumpelly maximized the fuel economy of his BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to take victory in Saturday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway. Both class championship leaders struggled.

Pumpelly prevented Trent Hindman and Stevan McAleer from winning the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge for the third consecutive time in a grueling two-hour race.

Pumpelly, who finished just 0.373 seconds faster than Hindman, shared first place with Thomas Collingwood. He made only one pit stop, while everyone else in the class made two.

The No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 of Luca Mars and Bob Michaelian completed the overall podium and the GS class in third place, ahead of the No. 91 Kellymoss-Riley Porsche of Riley Dickinson, who lost third place to Mars in the closing stages.

McAleer led from pole until he made his first stop with 1 hour and 16 minutes remaining. This came just before the first caution of the race, when Moisey Uretsky ran out of fuel on track while leading in his No. 44 Baby Bull Racing Porsche.

As the field returned to action with 48 minutes remaining, a second yellow card for a multi-car accident involving the No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4, which leads the GS championship, caused confusion over the starting order and the title implications.

Matt Plumb lost five laps behind the wall due to repairs to his TGM Aston, returning 17th in class and eventually finishing 15th, costing him valuable championship points.

The No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4 of Sean Quinlan and Gregory Liefooghe made it two Mustangs in the top five, ahead of the No. 88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in sixth.

Robin Liddell, driving a damaged No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO, dropped to seventh in the closing minutes after the Scot went off the track.

First win of the season for Honda in TCR Thriller

An early-race incident for the No. 17 Unitronic JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS 3 LMS TCR of Chris Miller, who finished joint seventh with Mikey Taylor, also saw their championship lead lost.

Top honors in the TCR class, however, went to the No. 93 Montreal Motorsports Group Honda Civic FL5 TC of Dai Yoshihara and Karl Wittmer, after a tough battle between Wittmer and the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Tyler Gonzalez.

After several attempts to take the class lead, Wittmer passed Gonzalez in the closing stages and took the eventual win with less than three minutes to go.

It was Honda’s first victory of the Pilot Challenge season.

Gonzalez initially passed the No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai of Mason Filippi after the pit stop, after the sister car, the No. 77 BHA Hyundai of Bryson Morris, which had been on pole position from the start, took the lead.

With just two laps to go he was overtaken by Wittmer in the race for a historic victory for the Canadian team and the Japanese manufacturer.

RESULTS: Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix

John Dagys is the founder and editor-in-chief of Sportscar365. Dagys was a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel for eight years and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John