Could have been far worse for Volt Racing after issues for Volt Racing at VIR

Despite the picture postcard surroundings of the Virginia International Raceway, the penultimate round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series turned into something of a nightmare for the GS Championship contending Volt Racing Aston Martin Racing team.

Going into the VIR round off the back of a fourth placed finish last time out at Road America in early August, drivers Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman travelled to VIR in the knowledge that a decent points finish at the end of that two hours of racing possibly being enough for them to secure the GS Championship.

Going into Qualifying on Saturday with air and track temperatures again rising against a backdrop of increasing humidity too, a late red flag during the session blighted the final run of Brynjolfsson leaving him with a third row start but importantly still ahead of the #56 Murillo Racing Mercedes shared with championship rival Eric Foss.

A clean start at the end of the field saw Brynjolfsson maintain his position whilst the #56 Mercedes was quickly ‘in the wars’ with a rear end impact into the car in front resulting in front end damage for them and that would hinder their progress throughout the remaining one hour and fifty-three minutes of racing.

Whilst this played into the favour of the #7 crew, Brynjolfsson was unable to progress to car beyond seventh, some six seconds behind the leader as they approached their minimum drive time of forty minutes. As others pitted at the first availability, the #7 continued for another lap before it was seen slowing along the pit straight before stopping on the exit of turn 1. Bringing out the first FCY in the process, the #7 car was eventually recovered to the rear of the paddock where it was met by the team before being pushed along pit lane for fuel, tyres and a driver change. The exact reason for the unplanned stop remains unclear.

Whilst Hindman did get back on track, they were already four laps down, so it became an exercise in damage limitation for the team to be able to go into the final round of the season at Petit Le Mans with the most points possible.

Eventually finishing P28 overall and P18 in class, the #56 car only finished six places ahead of them in class in P18 overall and P12 in class all making for a final round showdown at Road Atlanta in five weeks’ time.

Photo Credits – Team / Jamey Price