IMSA starting lineup for GT Challenge at VIR

By Oct 8, 2021, 10:00 PM EDT
IMSA VIR starting lineup
IMSA
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IMSA starting lineup VIR: The No. 4 Corvette driven by Tommy Milner claimed the pole position Friday for the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway, turning a lap of 1 minute, 40.263 seconds around the 17-turn, 3.27-mile road course in Alton, Virginia.

Milner, who co-drives the No. 4 C8.R with Nick Tandy, nipped No. 3 Corvette teammate Jordan Taylor by 0.003 seconds. It ended a streak of five consecutive poles for Taylor (and six for he and co-driver Antonio Garcia).

“It’s relieving in some sense,” Milner said in an IMSA release. “Obviously, the race is the most important part of the weekend, but it’s good to get these little victories like qualifying. It doesn’t mean anything, but it means something, for sure. Happy with our Corvette, the balance has been really good all weekend so far. Happy to kind of put it all together in qualifying and get a pole.”

STARTING LINEUPS: By position l By number

Saturday’s race will air live at noon ET on NBC. Milner and Tandy are trying to capture their third consecutive GTLM victory.

In the GTD class, Robby Foley won the pole position with a lap of 1:43.809 (113.400 mph) in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.

“It was a great effort by the whole team to get us back out after the second practice,” Foley said in an IMSA relesae. “We had a little water leak that we obviously had to address quickly. We didn’t have a lot of laps this morning, but – luckily – we know the M6 well around here. The balance was good, and I was able to put together a good lap for pole.”

Points leader Zacharie Robichon slid off course in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R and qualified seventh but will start from the rear of the 15-car field after its 9 crew was penalized for touching the car between the qualifying sessions for starting position and points.

Click here for the starting grid in the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at VIR and here for the starting lineup by number.

QUALIFYING

Click here for GTLM results/GTD points

Click here for the GTD results

PRACTICE

Click here for Session I l Session II

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”