After sweeping each of the weekend’s four practice sessions and scoring the TOTAL Pole Award, co-drivers Jeroen Mul and Corey Lewis capped off a weekend sweep in style in the Michelin GT Challenge Sunday, leading all 91 laps in the No. 16 XBOX / Monster Energy / Orion Lighting Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
It was the first career IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win for Mul, Lewis and Change Racing, and the first win of the season for Lamborghini.
VIR has been kind to Lamborghini, with the manufacturer’s first WeatherTech Championship victory coming at the circuit last season.
“For this weekend the stars aligned perfectly, it was a complete home run,” said Mul. “The car was an absolute dream, it handled this course beautifully. The first part of the race for me, the start was a little tricky with the GTD and GTLM field starting all together, but I managed to stay ahead, stay in the lead, and as soon as the entire GTLM field cleared me, I was able to get into a solid rhythm and pull away from the rest of the GTD field.”
Experience Lamborghini Veneno driving online
Despite the dominant effort throughout the weekend, the win certainly didn’t come easy with Lewis having to hold off the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Jens Klingmann in the closing laps. Klingmann got to the rear bumper of Lewis on the final lap, but couldn’t make the pass, finishing second in the car started by Jesse Krohn, 1.035 seconds back.
“The last 20 minutes was not what I was planning,” said Lewis. “Getting around back markers was a lot harder than I thought it would be. With the Turner guys charging as hard as they were, it took everything I had just to remain calm. I drove as consistent as I possibly could. This being our first GTD win as a team and my first win, this is one we had to work for."
Third place went to the No. 33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Trent Hindman, who was filling in for full-time driver Ben Keating. Keating, who had multiple businesses and his residence in the path of Hurricane Harvey, returned to his home in Texas Friday afternoon.
The No. 33 Riley Motorsports team entered the weekend second in GTD points, 15 points behind the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 of Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen, who finished one spot back in fourth. That gap has since closed to 13 points with two races remaining.
The GTD class returns to action for the America’s Tire 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The penultimate race on the series schedule will be televised live on FS1 Sunday, Sept. 24.
