WeatherTech Racing to Start Third at VIR
Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Kevin Estre (France) will start tomorrow’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) from third in GTLM.
The No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche RSR was fast straight off the trailer at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn VIR rolling road course today. The duo of MacNeil and Estre led both practices heading into the 15-minute qualifying session today.
MacNeil had the controls of the red, white, and blue Porsche for the 15-minute qualifying session. He had to trust the fix by the Proton Competition team to the steering and was able to post a fast lap of 1:41.445 that will have him starting third for tomorrow’s noon start.
“I had some really nice laps, we had a mechanical issue in the second practice at the start of my mock qualifying run, so I wasn't able to do a practice qualifier,” MacNeil said. “I went straight into qualifying without really knowing what we had and hoping that the car was fixed. Obviously, I trust our WeatherTech Proton guys and girls to do a great job and that's exactly what they did. The car was perfect in qualifying and honestly it handled the best it has all day. So, hats off to them for working hard and fixing the car. Sometimes mechanical issues happen, especially with how complicated these cars are. It ended up being a steering rack issue, but the WeatherTech Porsche was great in qualifying and to be a second off of the Corvette guys without much practice is something to be proud of. So, starting in a good position tomorrow, the only question mark is the weather, so we'll see what that brings.”
No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. After an off-course excursion into the VIR grass, Robichon qualified seventh. But that effort was negated when the No. 9 crew was penalized for touching the car between the grid qualifying session and the GTD points qualifying segment that followed.
The No. 9 was moved to the rear of the 15-car GTD grid for Saturday’s race. The change in points allowed the Plaid Porsche’s nearest challengers to move precariously close to the GTD lead.
The No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R also was penalized in post-qualifying tech due to a ride height infraction, moving it to the rear of the class grid as well.
Team Hardpoint qualified there Porsche 911 GT3R 14th in GTD.