Nick Tandy # 4 GTLM C8.R comes home first in IMSA GT car race at VIR
Tommy Milner and Nick Tandy in the # 4 GTLM C8.R took their third straight GTLM victory of the 2021 season in IMSA’s all-GT race at VIR.
Few expected that VIR would be the scene of some great battles since Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia in the # 3 C8.R had already clinched the championship in the final year of GTLM.
Milner edged Jordan Taylor in # 3 for the pole but Taylor got the jump into turn one and held the lead for the first hour of the two hour-forty-minute race.
As the race settled in, the # 4 led what looked like another Corvette sweep. Then, a full course caution brought out the safety car which allowed ace driver Kevin Estre (FR) in the # 79 WeatherTech Porsche 911 RSR to close the gap.
Estre pounced and got past the # 3 now piloted by Antonio Garcia who had little at stake. Newcomer Nick Tandy in the # 4 was of another mind and not about to yield, forcing Estre wide exiting the Oak Tree turn.
Tandy who was not penalized later admitted “The Porsche should have won this race, but when you lose your brain and start driving stupid, stuff happens."
There was more drama to come. Ten minutes from the end, Garcia in the # 3 overcooked it into turn one, bounced off the inside curb and spun into the right rear of the # 96 BMW M6 GT3 driven by all-time BMW winner Bill Auberlen, causing a puncture that cost them the GTD win and left the Turner Motorsports team out of the running for the championship to be decided at the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Nov 8.
Photos by Richard Prince, Jake Galstad
For the first time in IMSA history, an electric vehicle served as the series’ safety car, namely this 600 hp 800-volt battery Porsche Taycan Turbo S that will set you back $ 150K, 4-month minimum wait time.
