Sandy Mitchell and Andrea Caldarelli secured victory for Pfaff Motorsports at the Michelin GT Challenge held at Virginia International Raceway. Mitchell took over driving in the last turbulent moments, preserving the work done by Caldarelli, who had started from pole, and crossing the finish line with a margin of 1.517 seconds.
The second place went to Ben Barker and Dennis Olson of Ford Racing, followed by their teammates Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch, who finished in third position.
With this race, the competition for the GTD Pro championship title has tightened, with Paul Miller Racing leading, with Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi 23 points ahead of the Corvette Racing duo formed by Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner. Caldarelli and Mitchell are now 56 points behind the leader.
Drama in the GTD Class
The GTD class experienced great excitement, with an accident involving Tom Gamble (Heart of Racing) and Philip Ellis (Winward Racing). Gamble received a driving penalty due to the incident, which handed the victory to Ellis. Turner Motorsport finished second, with Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher 6.413 seconds behind the winners.
With this victory, Winward Racing accumulates three consecutive triumphs, establishing itself as the leader of the health standings. Foley and Gallagher are 36 points off the first place, while Dudu Barrichello, who was leading until now with Heart of Racing, has dropped to third place, accumulating 56 points fewer.
Race Summary
Andrea Caldarelli led the start and quickly pulled away from the rest of the competitors. However, an incident between Alexander Sims (Corvette Racing) and Harry King (AO Racing) caused a yellow flag, with Sims colliding with the tire barriers.
With approximately two hours remaining, Caldarelli was distancing Nicky Catsburg by one second, while the teams began their pit entries. The driver change began and Caldarelli handed over driving to Mitchell.
With calculations underway and the final changes being made to close out the races, Mitchell ensured that his lead was maintained. A few minutes before the end, with victory in sight, several incidents affected the competition, including a penalty for Tandy of AO Racing for a collision with Barnicoat of Vasser Sullivan.
In the final moments, Tom Gamble of Heart of Racing tried to fend off Ellis, who was coming in hard to steal his victory, but the collision between them caused Gamble to serve his penalty. Thus, Mitchell won in the GTD Pro category and overall, while Ellis took the victory in GTD.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
