The 2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The Race was held at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia on August 27, 2017. The race was the tenth round of the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Background
IMSA's president Scott Atherton confirmed the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was part of the series' schedule for the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship at Road America's victory lane in August 2016. It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2017 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR was the tenth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2017 by IMSA, and was the seventh round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup. The race was held at the ten-turn Virginia International Raceway on August 27, 2017. Much like in previous years, the event was a GT only round, in which the GTLM and GTD classes were scheduled to compete. After the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase three weeks earlier, Antonio García and Jan Magnussen led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 239 points, ahead of Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims with 231 points, and Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with 230 points. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 254 points, ahead of Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen with 239 points. Ford and Ferrari were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Corvette Racing and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.
On August 16, 2017, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of performance for the event. In GTLM, the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R received a 0.5 mm larger air restrictor and an increased fuel restrictor. The BMW M6 GTLM and Ford GT received reductions in fuel capacity. In GTD, the Acura NSX GT3 received a fuel capacity reduction of 3 liters and a decreased fuel restrictor. The Audi R8 LMS received a smaller fuel restrictor while the Ferrari 488 GT3 received an increase in fuel restriction.
Entries
A total of 25 cars took part in the event split across two classes. 9 cars were in GTLM, and 16 in GTD. In GTLM, Risi Competizione returned after missing the previous four rounds. In GTD, Trent Hindman subbed for Ben Keating the #33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG entry due to Hurricane Harvey making landfall affecting Ben's car delaerships. Lone Star Racing made their first appearance since the Circuit of the Americas round. Patrick Long returned to the Alegra Motorsports entry.
Practice
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.
Practice 1
The first practice session took place at 11:45 am ET on Friday and ended with Tommy Milner topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:42.341. Jeroen Mul set the fastest time in GTD.
Practice 2
The second practice session took place at 4:10 pm ET on Friday and ended with Antonio García topping the charts for Corvette Racing, with a lap time of 1:41.323. The GTD class was topped by the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Jeroen Mul with a time of 1:43.830. Andy Lally was second in the #93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian entry and Andrew Davis rounded out the top 3.
Practice 3
The third and final practice session took place at 8:45 am ET on Saturday and ended with Toni Vilander topping the charts for Risi Competizione, with a lap time of 1:40.855. The GTD class was topped by the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Jeroen Mul with a time of 1:43.223.
Qualifying
Qualifying was broken into two sessions. The first was for cars in GTD class. Jeroen Mul qualified on pole for the class driving the #16 car for Change Racing, besting Jesse Krohn in the Turner Motorsport entry.
The final session of qualifying was for the GTLM class. Joey Hand qualified on pole driving the #66 car for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, beating Alexander Sims in the #25 BMW Team RLL entry by over two tenths of a second.
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .
The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying. The No. 80 Lone Star Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.