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Legge, Farnbacher Finish A Fighting Third in Virginia

  • Katherine Legge, Mario Farnbacher feature in rough-and-tumble GTD fight
  • Fifth podium finish of season moves Legge within 13 points of championship lead
  • Tire gamble fails to pay off for Lawson Aschenbach and Justin Marks

A wild GT-only WeatherTech SportsCar Championship run today at Virginia International Raceway found the Acura NSX GT3 of Katherine Legge in the midst of a three-way battle for victory in the final laps of the two-hour, 40-minute contest. 

Legge's third-place finish gained significant ground for both herself and Acura in the season-long battle for the drivers' and manufacturers' championships.

Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3s

Starting seventh after a disappointing qualifying run on Saturday, Mario Farnbacher moved the #86 Meyer Shank Racing to sixth in his opening stint, before handing the driving duties over to Legge at the first round of pit stops.

During her first stint, Legge moved up to fourth, and survived side-to-side contact with championship rival Bryan Sellers to put herself in a position to challenge for the class lead.  Following the final round of pit stops with just under an hour remaining, a six-car battle for the GTD victory whittled down to three contenders in the final 15 minutes, with Legge, the Porsche of Patrick Long and Dominik Baumann's Lexus locked in a fierce battle for the win.   

On the lap, Legge would take a brief lead down the long VIR back straight, but under extreme pressure from both Long and Baumann.  As Legge and Long briefly ran side-by-side through the final corners, Baumann pulled away to a narrow, half-second GTD-class victory.

Legge's third-place finish netted her a five-point gain in the Drivers' Championship standings, closing to within 13 points (275-262) of leaders Sellers/Madison Snow; and a similar gain for Acura in the company's battle with Lamborghini for the Manufacturers' Championship.  The GTD championship also includes Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

In the #93 Acura NSX GTE, Justin Marks was forced to make an early, unscheduled pit stop due to an electronic issue that was quickly repaired by the MSR crew.  Although Marks fell a lap down to the leaders as a result of the unscheduled stop, clever sequencing of the following pit stops saw co-driver Lawson Aschenbach first regain the lead lap, then take over the GTD lead when MSR elected to change only two tires [instead of the usual four] during the final pit stop.

With the last round of pit stops complete for the GTD field, Aschenbach led a tight, six-car battle for the GTD lead for nearly 20 minutes.  But the gamble by the MSR team came up short, as Aschenbach's tires began to wear badly in the final 10 minutes, and the #93 Acura faded to a disappointed ninth-place.

Acura Team Penske Prototype and Next Event

IMSA's Prototype category was not a part of the IMSA weekend at VIR, but the Acura ARX-05s will return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the September 7-9 Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Featuring America's Tire 250, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

Quotes

Katherine Legge (#86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) started seventh, finished third; closed to within 13 points of drivers' championship lead: "I'm really pleased, the team did an awesome job, the car was great.  We had a really strong car, the best car we've had in three or four races.  I'm gutted that we weren't able to win; we came so close to getting that second win of the year. I had a bit of a moment when the front brakes locked and that cost me enough time that I couldn't get around [race leader Dominik] Baumann.  I'm pleased that we made a gain in the championship.  We're going to take this fight to the very end."

Lawson Aschenbach (#93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) started 10th, finished ninth: "We gambled on a tire strategy and it definitely got us the track position, but unfortunately, we just couldn't hang on and our car fell off pretty hard on the rear [tires] toward at the end. I was just trying to keep it on track the last couple of laps. We're disappointed, to say the least. We had that [electronics] problem earlier and went a lap down.  That doesn't help anything, either. The team is working hard, and we're trying to get the maximum out of the car right now, but sadly, it's just not happening right now. It's disappointing, but I know these guys will keep working at it for Laguna."

Mike Shank (team co-owner, Meyer Shank Racing) on today's race: "This was just a tremendous effort from the whole team and all of the drivers. We fought super hard – we weren't really crazy about our cars throughout the weekend, but Katherine [Legge] just drove her butt off at the end there, and I'm just so proud of her for getting that done. With the #93 car, we had to do whatever we could [with strategy], because we were a lap down with that car – through no fault of Justin [Marks] or Lawson [Aschenbach].  We had to do something, so we tried to [change only] two tires on that last stop, but it didn't work. We talked about taking chances and we did."

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Circuit: Virginia International Raceway (3.27-mile road course) Danville, VA
Weather: Hot, humid, overcast, 87 degrees F

GTD Race Results:

Ps. Class Drivers Team Chassis Laps/Notes
1. GTD Kyle Marcelli / Dominik Baumann 3 GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 86 laps
2. GTD Pat Long / Christina Nielsen Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R +0.567 seconds
3. GTD Katherine Legge / Mario Farnbacher Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 +0.747 seconds
4. GTD Cooper MacNeil / Gunnar Jeannette Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 +14.028 seconds
5. GTD Jeroen Bleekemolen/ Ben Keating Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 86 laps
6. GTD Bryan Sellers / Madison Snow Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan 86 laps
7. GTD Andy Lally / John Potter Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS 86 laps
8. GTD David H-Hansson/ Jack Hawksworth 3 GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 86 laps
9. GTD Lawson Aschenbach / Justin Marks Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 86 laps
10. GTD Robby Foley / Bill Auberlen Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 85 laps

 

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