- Mario Farnbacher, Till Bechtolsheimer qualify 11th for Saturday’s race
- Andy Lally, John Potter will start 14th
Mario Farnbacher and Till Bechtolsheimer led the way for Acura today in qualifying for Saturday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, a GT-only round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
In the first half of IMSA’s unique GTD qualifying format, for Bronze and Silver-rated drivers, Bechtolsheimer qualifying 11th in the Gradient Racing Acura he will share with Farnbacher. The Magnus Racing with Archangel duo of Andy Lally and John Potter will start 14th following Potter’s qualifying effort, with Lally posting the 10th-fastest time in the session for Platinum and Gold-rated drivers that awarded championship points.
IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at VIR Acura GTD Qualifying Results/Starting Positions
- 11th GTD - #66 Till Bechtolsheimer, Mario Farnbacher, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
- 14th GTD - #44 John Potter, Andy Lally, Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo
Quote
Andy Lally (#44 Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo): Will start co-driver John Potter: “The Magnus Archangel guys did a very good job of hustling today to give us the best balanced [handling] car we’ve had in quite some time. And I wrung its neck for all I was worth! Unfortunately, that was only good enough for 10th, but I can leave here knowing that I got everything possible out of the car today.”
Fast Facts
- Saturday’s two-hour, 40-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is the second of two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship stand-alone events for the production-based GTLM and GTD classes. The first GT-only event took place at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park in July.
- IMSA’s Prototype category is not a part of the IMSA weekend at VIR, but the Acura ARX-05s will return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the season finale Petit Le Mans 10-hour endurance contest, Nov. 11-13 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Where to Watch the Michelin GT Challenge
Live network television coverage from VIR begins at 12 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available NBC Sports Gold TrackPass, on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
Fans can listen in to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio [Sirius 216, XM 202, SiriusXM Online 992]; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.
Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from VIR can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
