Pfaff Motorsports, Andrea Caldarelli, and Sandy Mitchell put together a flawless performance at VIRginia International Raceway, taking the win in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge aboard the #9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3.
Pending technical inspection, the win is the second for the Temerario in worldwide GT3 competition; most importantly, it’s a win which has vaulted Pfaff Motorsports into GTD Pro title contention with two races left in the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Caldarelli led the 23-car GT field to the green flag but his first attempt to break clear of the field was cut very short when Alexander Sims in the #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R crashed hard in the Snake complex, launching the Corvette up in the air before landing on top of the tire barriers.
Sims walked away with no apparent injuries, and the reigning GTD Pro champion admitted fault for clipping too much of the inner kerb – which unsettled the car, causing him to make contact with the #77 AO Racing Porsche of Harry King, and sending Sims spinning off towards the barrier.
But that would prove to be the only full course yellow of the race, a merciful change of pace following two incident-filled enduros at Watkins Glen and Road America. Under these continuous green flag conditions, the #9 Lamborghini of Caldarelli and Mitchell pulled out and maintained a healthy lead over the GTD Pro field for the rest of the race.
Mitchell coasted to the checkered flag, taking the win by 1.517s over the #64 Ford Racing Mustang GT3 of Dennis Olsen and Ben Barker. Ford Racing would take home a double podium finish in GTD Pro as the #65 Mustang of Christopher Mies and Frédéric Vervisch climbed from ninth on the grid to finish third.
Valentin Hasse-Clot and Marco Sørensen finished fourth in the #68 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, ahead of championship leaders Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO in fifth.
De Phillippi made a late pass to overtake the #4 Corvette of Tommy Milner for what would become fifth place, a move which keeps the Paul Miller BMW duo at the top of the GTD Pro standings by 23 points. Milner and Nicky Catsburg finished sixth after suffering a costly issue with the driver-side door of the #4 Corvette during its first routine pit stop.
Behind the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and #59 RLL Team McLaren, the #77 AO Racing Porsche of Nick Tandy and Harry King finished a paltry ninth place; Tandy picked up a late drive-through penalty for avoidable contact with the #14 Lexus of Ben Barnicoat down at the Left Hook (turn four) and turn five.
Race winners Caldarelli and Mitchell are now third in the GTD Pro standings, just 56 points behind, while the #77 AO Racing Porsche and #65 Ford Racing Mustang crews are level on points, each trailing by 67 (with Mies and Vervisch leading on countback via their win at Laguna Seca.)
Winward Racing has erased all memories of its painful spring stretch from Sebring to Watkins Glen, as the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis put on a late-race rally to take its third straight GTD class win, and with it, they’ve retaken the championship lead with two races left.
First-lap contact between the pole-sitting #81 DragonSpeed Corvette and #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari knocked the Corvette out of contention for a win, and set the Ferrari behind with a drive-through penalty. Danny Formal and Trent Hindman then took turns leading the race in their #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO.
Hopes of a double win for Lamborghini were dashed with an hour to go; after the final round of pit stops, the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin came out right behind the Huracán. Tom Gamble drove past Formal to take the lead, and Formal would later receive a drive-through penalty for blocking Ellis down the Madison Avenue backstretch.
Ellis would gradually cut down the deficit to Gamble; their amazing battle over the last half-hour of the race came to an abrupt end after Gamble pushed Ellis off at the Left Hook. Gamble would attempt to redress the positions, but the #27 Aston Martin, which had methodically fought from 11th on the grid to the lead, was given a drive-through for the incident.
The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG cruised to the win, defeating the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW of Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley by 6.413 seconds.
Lorenzo Patrese and Albert Costa gambled on fuel strategy but the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari would have to pit from third place and dropped to seventh, giving the final podium position to the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari of Brendon Iribe and Frederik Schandorff. Gamble and Eduardo Barrichello finished fourth in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, ahead of the #45 WTR Huracán of Formal and Hindman in fifth.
Having trailed by 300 points after Watkins Glen, Ward and Ellis now lead the GTD championship by 36 points over Gallagher and Foley. Barrichello slipped to third in the standings, 56 points behind, while a difficult ninth-place run for the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus (Benjamin Pedersen/Aaron Telitz) sees their deficit grow to 156 points.
All four classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship return to action Sunday, 20 September, for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – the last sprint race of the IMSA season.
