It took sixteen races - twice the length of VSCA’s inaugural season last year - but Albrecht Motorsports finally broke through for their first-ever SportsCar Championship victory in Saturday’s 2-hour-40-minute race at Virginia International Raceway.
The No. 96 Dallara P217 LMP2 with drivers Maik Steinicke and Marc Scherschel led 26 laps en-route to their first visit to the top step of the podium, beating VR7UAL Pole setter the No. 531 Yellow Submarine Squad Dallara with Afonso Souto and Björn Klaassens handily by over 12 seconds.
For Albrecht Motorsports, the win comes after finishing second at Detroit Belle Isle and second again at Road America earlier this month.
DS Racing eSports Team and their No. 155 car with Pedro Vargas and Tiago Dias took third place, rounding out the podium and leading one lap also.
Vision 1 Motorsports continues to have a solid season with the No. 13 Dallara and Kyle Allen and Jeremy Carter taking the checkered flag in fourth place.
The No. 813 HAC Racing Dallara with drivers Jack Stawowczyk and Richard Franke founded out the top-five finishers. It was the entry’s best result to date, after it made its debut at Road America.
Six-time race winner No. 19 Dallara of Trading Paints Racing had a surprising off day at the long and winding roads of Virginia International Raceway, being involved in an unusually high number of incidents and scuffles. In the end Selena Ward and team-mate Jordan Erickson had to settle for sixth place, ending their winning streak at five.
Jacob Lange and Riad Mohammadi rallied to a seventh-place finish and also led one lap in their No. 38 Dallara P217.
Meanwhile the No. 66 VRG Sport Dallara, No. 86 GSE Racing eSports Dallara and No. 14 Fischer Motorsport Dallara rounded out the top-ten.
In the championship , Albrecht Motorsports has managed to cut into the points lead of Trading Paints Racing quite a bit, from previously 342 points to now just 197 points. Which begs the question: Are we in for an exciting final two championship rounds at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta, afterall? Trading Paints Racing will certainly try to avoid a repeat of this weekend but will have to face increased pressure as the championship battle heads into crunch time.
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