IMSA results, points: Pfaff Motorsports continued its GTD Pro championship push Sunday, winning at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) with Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet.
The No. 9 Porsche 911 GT3R duo extended its lead in the standings to 265 points heading into the Petit Le Mans season finale Oct. 1. It’s the fifth GTD Pro win this season (and 11th in IMSA’s top GT division) for Pfaff and its second consecutive at VIR.
Campbell earned his first win at VIR and the 10th of his IMSA career. It also was the first VIR victory for Jaminet, who held off a charge by runner-up Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R and won by 0.823 seconds. Taylor and co-driver Antonio Garcia are second in the GTD Pro standings after their second consecutive podium finish.
RESULTS: Click here for overall finishing order l Click here for the class breakdown
POINTS: Standings after VIR
The Corvette led by 11 seconds early in the two-hour and 40-minute race, but Pfaff pulled out the victory on strategy.
“It was super tight when guys went on different strategies,” Jaminet told the IMSA Wire Service. “Only taking rear tires like we did is not very common, and the car was super hard to drive. I had to push flat out, but we were pretty tight on fuel at the end, so we had some quite big saving over the last two laps. It was a good calculation from the boys. We maximized everything.
Another one!!! Winners at #MichelinVIR ☝️#IMSA | #PlaidPorsche | #FueledByDriveway pic.twitter.com/RpOmgg9hwD
— pfaffmotorsports (@pfaffmotorsport) August 28, 2022
“Super happy for the team. Fifth win of the season and the championship is pretty much done. I think all the objectives are achieved, so now we go to Petit Le Mans to push hard and win one more.”
In the GTD division, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Winward Racing earned its second consecutive victory this season and first at VIR. Ellis took the lead from Maxime Martin (who was saving fuel) with two minutes remaining in the event.
Ellis and co-driver Russell Ward are fourth in the driver standings, 140 points behind leader Roman De Angelis. Steve McAleer is 45 points behind, followed by Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen in third, 57 points behind.
STATS PACKAGE FOR IMSA MICHELIN GT CHALLENGE AT VIR
Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)
Fastest laps by driver and class after race
NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will end its season Oct. 1 for all five classes with the Petit Le Mans at Michelin Road Atlanta. The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR will begin at noon ET with broadcast coverage across USA and NBC and flag to flag on Peacock.