Its status as a GT-only round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship means that Virginia International Raceway doesn’t get the same attention as some of the calendar’s traditional heavy hitters. But to drivers who have sampled its 3.270 miles of narrow winding asphalt, the track commonly known as VIR is a highly respected one that rewards commitment and accuracy.
Although he has never won at VIR, stalwart factory Ferrari GT driver Toni Vilander puts it among a trio of circuits including Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen that he holds in the highest of esteem, as it demands “a lot of dedication” to nail the lap.
“It’s a great place to test, great place to race as well,” is the Finn’s verdict on VIR, a circuit he last competed at in 2020 which he says “takes your breath away” because the margin of error is so small: “When we see and hear it’s going to be in our racing calendar next season, it’s like ‘thumbs up’.”
The Esses, an uphill sequence of corners from the exit of Turn 4b until a fast left-hander prior to a tricky double-apex right at the top of the hill (where there once stood an oak tree after which the corner was named), places a huge premium on car placement and is, Vilander believes, on a par with the far more famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon section at Spa.
“At some point you need to decide either you do it [flat] or not,” says Vilander, who won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2017 and has class wins at Le Mans (2012, 2014 GTE Pro) and Petit Le Mans (2016 GTLM) to his name. “It probably won’t change the lap time radically, but at least you can say at the bar that I did it flat! It takes confidence.
“It’s a track that you have a very narrow racing line and all these long, long areas of green grass so when you go off, you have a long time to think before you hit the barriers.” And Vilander recalls that its challenge caught him out early on in his very first visit to the track.
Source: Autosport