Hawksworth Soars to GTD PRO Motul Pole Award in No. 14 Lexus at VIR

Jack Hawksworth took just five laps in the heat of the day Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway. He only needed the fourth one.

Hawksworth won the Motul Pole Award for the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class and will lead the field to the green flag Sunday in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.

With the temperature in the low 90s, Hawksworth waited until the session was well under way before starting his qualifying run around VIR’s 17-turn, 3.27-mile road course. On the fourth lap, his No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 was clocked at 1 minute, 44.780 seconds (112.349 mph).

While not unusual, the plan to wait until later to get in a fast lap has worked well this season for Vasser Sullivan.

“If you wait a little bit, maybe the track is a little better at the end,” Hawksworth said. “The track grip was a little different than what we had in Practice 2 (earlier Saturday). The UV index was really high today, and the temp was absurd. It was greasy. I just tried to put a clean lap together.” 

The pole award was Hawksworth’s third in an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in which he and co-driver Ben Barnicoat have steadily led the GTD PRO class. They’ve won twice in the first eight races and came into the weekend 169 points ahead of Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor, who qualified third fastest.

“Can’t get better than pole, right?” Hawksworth said. “That was good on a hot day. Mega weekend for us so far. The boys have been brilliant, and the car has been fantastic. It’s just heads down for tomorrow now, but we’re very happy with it.”

It wasn’t as easy as it may have seemed, though. Hawksworth’s best lap was just slightly less than a tenth of a second faster than Daniel Juncadella, who recorded a lap of 1:44.876 in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 that he co-drives with Jules Gounon.

Following Garcia’s lap of 1:45.133 for the third starting position in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R GTD was Patrick Pilet, who was clocked at 1:45.974 in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) he co-drives with Klaus Bachler. Pilet will start fourth in class and 10th overall in the 19-car race that combines GTD PRO with the GT Daytona (GTD) class.

Ross Gunn was just behind at 1:45.977 in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 he shares with Alex Riberas. Gunn will start 11th overall as he and Riberas go in search of their third consecutive GTD PRO victory on Sunday.  

Snow Stays Cool in Virginia Heat En Route to Second Straight Pole in No. 1 BMW

Incoming GTD class points leader Madison Snow maintained his cool and increased the championship lead he shares with co-driver Bryan Sellers on a blistering Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway.

Snow earned the Motul Pole Award for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 with a lap timed at 1:45.225 (111.874 mph). It edged Aaron Telitz (No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3) for the top spot by 0.153 seconds and earned the Paul Miller duo their second consecutive pole.

They will start Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute race with a 215-point advantage over Marco Sorensen and Roma De Angelis, who qualified the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 sixth on Saturday. 

The No. 1 BMW is already a four-time winner in 2023, with triumphs at Sebring International Raceway, the Long Beach street circuit, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

“It was hot, and the track was definitely slippery out there,” Snow said. “At the beginning of qualifying, I went on my first good lap and immediately went wide in Turn 1. I immediately realized I was going to need to re-evaluate what I was doing and accept the track for what it was. Then it was about not making mistakes and putting a lap together.”

Snow’s first flying lap was a 1:45.352, and he managed to trim a little more than a tenth of a second with his second effort. He parked the BMW with three and a half minutes remaining in the 15-minute session, convinced he could go no faster.

“We’re going to keep improving and keep working on it,” said Snow. “We’re still learning about the BMW, finding out little things we can tweak on to make it that much better in qualifying and racing. 

“I don’t necessarily watch the points, but I hear about it a lot from the people on my team,” he added. “As the year winds down, the qualifying points add up. As tough as the competition is here in IMSA, every point counts.”

Weather conditions for Sunday’s race are expected to be cooler, but there are conflicting reports about the possibility of rain. 

“I don’t think we know what’s going on tomorrow,” Snow admitted. “My team owner looks at his forecast and says there’s a 10 percent chance of rain, and our team manager’s says it’s 90 (percent). To be honest, I never look.”

Live flag-to-flag live coverage of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR starts at 2 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network.