Virginia United SportsCar: Nick Tandy/Patrick Pilet win for Porsche
Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet dominated the Tudor United SportsCar Championship race for GT cars at Virginia, scoring their third consecutive victory in the GTLM class in a Porsche one-two
Poleman Tandy kept the lead early on in the #911 car ahead of the Risi Ferrari 458 started by Pierre Kaffer.
Pilet took over shortly before the one-hour mark and quickly built a larger advantage over the Ferrari, now in the hands of three-time Formula 1 grand prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella.
Briton Tandy retook the controls of the lead car with just over 50 minutes left and brought it home 27 seconds clear of his Le Mans 24 Hours-winning team-mate Earl Bamber in the #912 entry.
The result moves full-season driver Pilet into the GTLM standings lead, up from third place, with two races to go.
Bamber, sharing with Jorg Bergmeister, took second place with a forceful manoeuvre on Kaffer shortly after the final round of pitstops.
Kaffer rapidly closed the gap again in the dying moments, but Bamber just managed to hold on.
The #24 BMW of Lucas Luhr and John Edwards ran an alternative three-stop strategy as opposed to the two pit visits made by the competition.
That plan moved the car up to second place prior to making its additional stop, but it ultimately ended up where it had started in fourth.
The other BMW of Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner jumped ahead of the two Corvettes at the final stops and into fifth, the German driver holding onto the place despite shedding his rear bumper.
Erstwhile points leaders Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia had a quiet run to sixth, while their Corvette team-mates Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner dropped to eighth and last in class behind the Falken Porsche of Wolf Henzler and Brian Sellers after having to make a last-minute splash and dash for fuel.
The GT Daytona class was led at first from pole by Dion von Moltke in the Paul Miller Racing Audi, but he was passed around half an hour in by the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari of Bill Sweedler.
Townsend Bell brought the Ferrari home for its first win of the season, while Christopher Haase spun the Audi and had to visit the pits, leaving it fifth in class at the flag.
That allowed Christina Nielsen to extend her class points lead with a second-place finish in the Aston Martin she shared with Kuno Wittmer.
The GT classes will reunite with the Prototype categories for the next USC round as part of the World Endurance Championship weekend at Austin next month.
RESULTS - 92 LAPS:
| Pos | Class | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTLM | N.Tandy, P.Pilet | Porsche North America | Porsche | 2h40m57.210s |
| 2 | GTLM | J.Bergmeister, E.Bamber | Porsche North America | Porsche | 27.267s |
| 3 | GTLM | P.Kaffer, G.Fisichella | Risi Competizione | Ferrari | 27.842s |
| 4 | GTLM | J.M.Edwards, L.Luhr | BMW Team RLL | BMW | 1m01.282s |
| 5 | GTLM | B.Auberlen, D.Werner | BMW Team RLL | BMW | 1m16.723s |
| 6 | GTLM | J.Magnussen, A.Garcia | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 1m22.358s |
| 7 | GTLM | B.Sellers, W.Henzler | Team Falken Tire | Porsche | 1 Lap |
| 8 | GTLM | O.Gavin, T.Milner | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
| 9 | GTD | B.Sweedler, T.Bell | Scuderia Corsa | Ferrari | 4 Laps |
| 10 | GTD | C.Nielsen, K.Wittmer | TRG-AMR | Aston Martin | 5 Laps |
| 11 | GTD | I.James, M.Farnbacher | Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing | Porsche | 5 Laps |
| 12 | GTD | M.Marsal, M.Palttala | Turner Motorsport | BMW | 5 Laps |
| 13 | GTD | C.Haase, D.von Moltke | Paul Miller Racing | Audi | 5 Laps |
| 14 | GTD | C.MacNeil, L.Keen | Alex Job Racing | Porsche | 5 Laps |
| 15 | GTD | B.Keating, J.Bleekemolen | Riley Motorsports | Dodge | 5 Laps |
| 16 | GTD | R.Mason, P.Kleinubing | Compass360 Racing | Audi | 9 Laps |
| 17 | GTD | J.Potter, A.Lally | Magnus Racing | Porsche | Not running |
| 18 | GTD | P.Lindsey, S.Pumpelly | Park Place Motorsports | Porsche | Not running |
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