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VIRginia International Raceway was the venue for latest round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, with Ben Barnicoat and his Vasser Sullivan battling to a hard-fought P6
The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship headed to Road America, Wisconsin, for round 8, and Ben Barnicoat was back in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. Despite having the pace to take it to the leading group in the early sessions, a well-managed strategy, and the speed in the opening stages of the race, a series of penalties in the latter stages would ultimately deny the team the strong result they had hoped for. At the end of the 2-hour 40-minute battle, the #14 crossed the line just inside the top 10.
After a previous pole position and race win, scored in 2022, Ben returned to Road America for the IMSA Sportscar Weekend with high hopes, looking for a solid result to reignite his championship challenge. After a steady initial practice session, Ben and his teammate, Jack Hawksworth, were the benchmark for the rest of the GTD Pro field, topping the timesheets. Jack then returned to the track to take on qualifying, eventually claiming a second-row start.
An action-filled race saw multiple Full Course Yellow cautions and Safety Car interventions, with the first of these appearing within the opening five minutes. After a positive start, and the #14 moving up the order, the pack was brought back under control as a car was rescued from the gravel. A further caution period followed shortly after the restart, and rapid service by the Vasser Sullivan pitcrew during an initial stop allowed the fluro yellow and black Lexus to take advantage, leapfrogging the cars who had pitted in front. With 40 minutes completed, the Vasser Sullivan entry was the leading car of those which had stopped, running P3 overall on track.
Holding station, Ben took over at the 90-minute mark, as the team made a quick strategy call following an incident, with the expectation of a Full Course Yellow call. More efficient work by the crew over the following stops would keep Ben in the fight for a podium position. However, two pitlane protocol violation penalties in quick succession, coupled with the grid now closely formed after the cautions and restarts, would ultimately drop the #14 down the order and out of contention.
Despite his best efforts to move back up the field, yet more interventions neutralised the race, and interrupted any opportunity for Ben to make real gains. But he continued to fight to the flag, through a melee of battles unravelling around the circuit.
At the flag, the Vasser Sullivan team scored P9 in the GTD Pro class.
Commenting after the chequered flag, Ben explained:
An incredibly frustrating and disappointing way to end the weekend, and not the result I or the team were hoping for. We had the overall pace to fight for a podium today, and were in a good position off the start. However, a mistake from my side in the second stop when I got in the car led to the first drive-through, which then led to more unfortunate events and completely took us out of contention. I’m really sorry to Jack and the entire team, as I cost us a chance at a great result today. It is a dent in our championship charge, but we will regroup and come back stronger in VIR at the end of the month.
With three rounds now remaining in the championship, Ben will be back in action at the end of August. The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, VIRginia International Raceway, takes place over the weekend, 23-25 August.