Oak Tree Grand Prix at VIR Qualification

Pigs have flown in ALMS competition at VIR. In P1, Dyson Racing qualified for the pole, with Guy Smith in his Lola out-qualifying Klaus Graf in the Muscle Milk HPD. The Delta entry, running in P1, qualified some 8 seconds slower than the leader in their new coupe edition.

In P2, Ryan Briscoe scored the pole by half a second over Marino Franchitti. Scott Sharp ran his car off of the track in "The corner formerly known as Oak Tree" (the tree was blown down in a storm a few weeks ago) and will start well back in the field. In PC, Dan Cameron "took it easy" as he took the pole. Tom Kimber-Smith will join him on the front row of that division at the start of the race.

In GT, the BMW Z4 of Maxime Martin the Ferarri F458 driven by Matteo Malucelli will start on the front row of their division. Malucelli blew the engine in the waning moments of qualifications causing a red flag condition, which disallowed his fastest lap, but his second lap was almost identical, so no changes resulted. Damien Faulkner and Jeroen Bleekemolen will start on the front for of GTC.

– VIR officials have not yet decided whether they will replace the oak tree that became the trademark of the venue. If they do replace it, they say, it won't be in the same exact spot. Drivers have commented that the corner is much different now that they don't have to look around a huge tree in the middle of the apex, and corner workers have been relocated to a better spot as well.

— Tim Wohlford, reporting from VIR