AUGUST 30, 2023

(@CorvetteRacing)

Jordan Taylor found himself in the lead when his closest competitor encountered trouble in the pits, then deftly saved fuel for nearly an hour to take the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class and overall win in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. Taylor was trailing Ben Barnicoat with 56 minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race when Barnicoat’s No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 stalled in the pits. Taylor took the lead and never relinquished it, eventually getting the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R GTD to the finish line 2.068 seconds ahead of Barnicoat. “This has to be one of the most special races I’ll ever have,” said Taylor, who recently announced plans to leave Corvette Racing at the end of this season and rejoin his father’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) team in 2024. “Amazing race, amazing victory.” Once Taylor passed Barnicoat, his assignment turned to saving fuel. “It was just down to saving fuel and managing tires and managing the gap,” Taylor said. “I was counting down the laps with about 25 to go. I was very happy to see that checkered flag.” “Jordan did an amazing job today,” co-driver Antonio Garcia said. “He was like a Swiss watch.” Klaus Bachler brought the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) he co-drove with Patrick Pilet home third in GTD PRO and 12th overall. With its second victory, Corvette Racing became the fourth team to win multiple races this season in GTD PRO. Taylor scored the 33rd victory of his career, Garcia the 29th. Watch the extended Race Highlights of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA Wire Service)

(IMSA)

The 2023 season just keeps getting better for Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers and the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 as they pursue the GT Daytona (GTD) class championship. The pair of American sports car aces teamed up to earn their fifth GTD victory of the year, essentially leading the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR from start to finish. They won by 12.187 seconds over the No. 96 BMW fielded by Turner Motorsport and driven by Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher. The five wins in a single season set a WeatherTech Championship record for the GTD class. Russell Ward and Philip Ellis (No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3) denied BMW a 1-2-3 sweep of the podium by passing the No. 97 Turner BMW shared by Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull for third place with less than two minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute contest. The victory was the 19th for Sellers in 195 IMSA starts; Snow now claims 14 wins in just 93 races. The WeatherTech Championship resumes with all five classes racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks from Sept. 15-17. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)

(Photo of Scott Dixon and his wife Emma by Karl Zemlin)

No driver in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES makes the improbable possible more than Scott Dixon, and he did it yet again Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway. Dixon showed every bit of his masterful ability to save fuel and navigate traffic to win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda, earning his 55th career victory and second win this season. He only needed three pit stops due to saving fuel, at least one fewer than the other 27 drivers in the field. That strategy was borne from necessity since Dixon started 16th in the 28-car field after incurring a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after the last race, the Gallagher Grand Prix on Aug. 12 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He also won that race by saving fuel and mastering strategy after being spun into the infield grass during a Lap 1 incident. “It’s all these guys, man,” Dixon said about his Chip Ganassi Racing crew. “Chip steers the ship. We took a pretty good grid penalty today. We had to go the alternate route, and it worked out perfectly. This team was perfect. They gave me the (fuel) number I needed to be getting, so massive thank you to everybody on the PNC Bank No. 9 crew.” Pato O’Ward finished second in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. David Malukas placed third in the No. 18 HMD Trucking Honda fielded by Dale Coyne Racing with HMD. O’Ward and Malukas were the only drivers on the lead lap with Dixon, whose margin of victory of 22.2256 seconds was the biggest for an INDYCAR SERIES race on the 1.25-mile WWTR oval. Six-time INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon also kept his hopes alive for a record-tying seventh title with the victory, as he trails series leader Alex Palou by 74 points with two races remaining. Teammate Palou finished seventh in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda and needs to lead by 55 points or more after the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland next Sunday, Sept. 3 at Portland International Raceway to clinch his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in the last three seasons. Palou and Dixon are the only remaining drivers eligible to win the Astor Challenge Cup as season champion. Watch the Race Highlights from Motorsports on NBC here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

(Formula1.com)

Max Verstappen (No. 1 Oracle Red Bull Racing) converted pole position into victory at the Dutch Grand Prix for the third year in a row, navigating an action-packed, rain-hit race to take the checkered flag ahead of Fernando Alonso (No. 14Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team) and Pierre Gasly (No. 10 BWT Alpine F1 Team) and draw level with Sebastian Vettel on nine successive F1 wins. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)

(Alpine)

Last week at Le Castellet, Alpine completed the first test session of the A424 Hypercar, which will compete in the premier category of the FIA Endurance World Championship in 2024.

 

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG