Toyota, Hyundai End Respective Aston Martin, Honda Pole Streaks
By Tony DiZinno
ALTON, Va. – Both qualifying streaks in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition this season came to an end at VIRginia International Raceway. Heart of Racing Team had won the last three Grand Sport (GS) poles with either Hannah Grisham or Hannah Greenemeier in ther Aston Martin, while in Touring Car (TCR), Honda had won the previous four with either Rocco Pasquarella of KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering or LP Montour of MMG.
But a Toyota will lead the full 42-car field, including 29 GS cars, to green while a Hyundai will pace the 13-car TCR field.
Jaxon Bell scored his first Michelin Pilot Challenge pole at the same venue where he made his championship debut last year. The driver of the No. 23 Koch-Copeland Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 set a best time of 1 minute, 52.771 seconds (104.388 mph) around VIR’s 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit. He’ll share his Toyota with Ford Koch.
“The car is fast; it’s my first IMSA qualifying session, so I had to go out and throw down,” Bell said. “One-for-one. Just want to keep it out front and see what my teammate can do from there.
“It’s probably the most challenging track we go to on the IMSA schedule. I really enjoy the challenge of driving to the limit, without crossing it. The consequences are so big around here. Just looking forward to a fun race and getting up front.”
Series debutant Finn Wiebelhaus qualified the championship-leading No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 second, 0.467 of a second in arrears. Wiebelhaus’ teammate Robert Noaker holds a 100-point lead in GS entering the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix.
A second Toyota made it in the top three, with Caio Chaves qualifying the No. 54 PanAm Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. Greenemeier ended fourth, three spots shy of what would have been a fourth straight pole for the Hannahs.
The rest of the top six in the GS championship all start sixth or worse. The No. 66 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, now adorned in a white livery, rolls off sixth while Turner Motorsport’s No. 95 BMW M4 GT4 EVO was best of the BMWs in ninth.
TCR: New Lap Record, Pole for Morris
Bryson Morris set a new lap record in Touring Car (TCR) qualifying and ended Honda’s four-race pole streak in the process. Morris, driving the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR, set a best time of 1 minute, 54.920 seconds (102.436 mph) on his fifth lap and beat his own previous time set last year. Morris’ 2025 mark was 1:54.943. It’s his first pole of the season and eighth overall, his first since VIR last year. Morris and co-driver Mason Filippi lead the TCR championship by 150 points entering today’s race.
Morris’ pole ended a run of four straight poles by Hondas, including three straight by LP Montour in the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR. Montour qualified second at 1:55.111. With the No. 52 Baker Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR third and No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Cupra Leon VZ TCR fourth, all four TCR manufacturers line up in the top four spots on the grid.
An incident occurred during the session as the No. 5 car contacted the No. 18 car exiting Turn 12, which pitched the No. 18 car into the concrete barrier to cause front-end damage. The No. 5 car will look to rise from the rear of the grid for Saturday’s race later today.
Saturday’s Virginia Is For Lovers Grand Prix race goes green at 2:15 p.m. ET and local time. Live race coverage streams flag-to-flag on Peacock and ad-free, courtesy of Michelin, on the IMSA Official YouTube channel.