By John Oreovicz and Tony DiZinno
IMSA Wire Service
ALTON, Va. – Andrea Caldarelli takes special pride in seeing the Lamborghini Temerario GT3 achieve success in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and sports car racing globally.
Caldarelli, who along with Marco Mapelli served as the chief development drivers as Lamborghini Squadra Corse developed its first clean-sheet GT3 racing car, scored the Temerario’s first IMSA and global victory in the most recent round of the WeatherTech Championship at Road America with co-driver Sandy Mitchell for Pfaff Motorsports.
Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway, he earned the Temerario GT3’s first pole position. He notched the Motul Pole Award both in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and overall for the Michelin GT Challenge with a lap around VIR’s 3.27-mile, 17-turn Full Course in 1 minute, 44.773 seconds for an average speed of 112.356 mph.
That just eclipsed Nicky Catsburg, who clocked 1:44.924 (112.195 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R he shares with Tommy Milner.
Neil Verhagen posted the second fastest time but will roll off third instead, as he lost his fastest lap for causing a red flag in practice. Verhagen and teammate Connor De Phillippi lead the GTD PRO championship in their No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Caldarelli has his third pole in IMSA competition, and his first at VIR. It’s the first for Lamborghini at this track though in nearly a decade, since 2017 when Jeroen Mul grabbed the pole. Caldarelli and Mitchell will hope to emulate Mul and Corey Lewis, who went on to win in GTD that next race day.
“Definitely good momentum,” he said. “We didn’t come testing here and we had a small issue in first practice with a wheel sensor and I only got one lap, so we were flying a bit blind for qualifying.
“I think this really shows how strong this group is working in the engineering room and with Pfaff and Lamborghini to understand the car better in the last few events and give us some good direction. It feels really good to be on pole at a track we like.”
The Temerario made its worldwide debut in March at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and has been on a steady path of progress ever since. Caldarelli and Mitchell broke through for the car’s first podium at the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic prior to the Road America triumph.
“People forget that when you put a brand-new car on track, it’s not as easy as it looks,” Caldarelli noted. “There should be a bit of respect for the work that people are doing back at home and at the track. It’s not for granted that you’re going to put the car on the track and be competitive from day one. So, I am very proud of the effort.”
After the leading Lamborghini, Corvette and BMW, the first McLaren, Aston Martin and Ford make it six manufacturers in the top six grid positions for Sunday’s race.
Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is live and flag-to-flag on network NBC at noon ET, with streaming via Peacock domestically and IMSA’s Official YouTube Channel internationally.
Stevenson Authors New Pole Tale for DragonSpeed in GTD at VIR
DragonSpeed is in a new class, with a new car, and a new driver lineup as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns to VIRginia International Raceway for the annual Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.
But the newness produced the same result in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) qualifying as it did 12 months ago in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO).
Casper Stevenson took the No. 81 Corvette Z06 GT3.R to his second (first since Indianapolis last year), and the team’s seventh, WeatherTech Championship pole (first since this race last year with Giacomo Altoè in a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the GTD PRO class). DragonSpeed is also the third Corvette entrant across both GT classes to win a WeatherTech Championship pole in 2026, joining Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and DXDT Racing.
With a best lap of 1 minute, 45.188 seconds (111.913 mph) around VIR’s 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit on his fourth tour, Stevenson had enough in the bag to hold off some of the other rivals in the 15-minute session.
“It’s hard to say why, since they did change cars,” Stevenson laughed. “But DragonSpeed puts out good race cars. At a track like this, which is very tight, twisty and about handling, that has something to do with it.”
Stevenson will share the No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette with Altoè on Sunday. Altoè and Albert Costa finished second in GTD PRO last year behind eventual champions Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims.
Lorenzo Patrese nearly delivered Ferrari a pole but came up 0.058 of a second short in his No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO. He’ll race with Costa, who returned to Conquest this season.
Russell Ward qualified the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in third. It’s a fitting number as he and Philip Ellis seek their third straight win this season (after back-to-back wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America), third win in the last five years at VIR (2022, 2025), and third straight class championship; they enter the weekend second in points, 24 behind championship leader Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello.
The No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 and No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO complete the top five on the grid.
Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is live and flag-to-flag on network NBC at noon ET, with streaming via Peacock domestically and IMSA’s Official YouTube Channel internationally.