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Stevenson takes GTD pole for DragonSpeed, Catsburg P2 overall in No. 4 Corvette
ALTON, Va. (August 22, 2026) – Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will be on the front row in both classes Sunday for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR with hopes of a double-victory in the season’s lone GT-only race.
Casper Stevenson gave DragonSpeed its first pole position of the season with the No. 81 Corvette in the GTD class. It’s the second GTD pole of the year for the Corvette following Robert Wickens’ pole start at Long Beach for DXDT Racing.
In GTD PRO and the overall order, Nicky Catsburg will start on the outside front-row in the No. 4 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. He and Tommy Milner sit second in the class Drivers Championship with Chevrolet leading the Manufacturers’ chase.
Catsburg’s best time was a 1:44.924 (112.195 mph) lap that was 0.151 seconds off Andrea Caldarelli’s pole-winning lap. It matches the best start for Catsburg and Milner this year as they also started second in GTD PRO at Detroit.
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports won last year at VIR with the No. 3 of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims, who was ninth in qualifying Saturday. Corvette Racing as a program has won nine races at the track – seven in IMSA competition.
Stevenson’s GTD pole run in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette continued the team’s strong momentum from Road America. He and Giacomo Altoé finished fourth there with Alec Udell, and Stevenson was second-quickest in class in Saturday’s final practice at VIR.
All three GTD Corvettes qualified in the top-10 for the first time this season. DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette qualified seventh after Mason Filippi’s lap of 1:46.251 (110.703 mph). He was less than a second clear of Orey Fidani in 13 Autosports’ No. 13 Corvette, its best qualifying result of the season.
The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Sunday. It will air live on NBC starting at noon ET as does streaming coverage on Peacock in the U.S. and IMSA’s YouTube channel internationally. IMSA Radio will air on-track sessions at IMSA.com, XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.
ANDREA HIDALGO, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to Casper and the DragonSpeed team on taking the GTD pole at VIR today. The team's pace has been impressive all weekend and it's a great follow-up to its strong run at Road America. All three GTD Corvettes in the top-10 gives us all optimism for great results tomorrow. It’s the same for Nicky's front-row starting spot in the No. 4 Corvette. That is an important result for the GTD PRO championship and the team can hopefully convert that to a win or another podium."
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
CASPER STEVENSON, NO. 81 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R - GTD POLE-WINNER: "It was really good. This track had quite some grip in it. It was a lot of pressure but I delivered, and the car was great. Hopefully this is a clean race and I can set Giacomo up well. He's the best in the business.
"The key was a good qualy strategy. which we had. We did a warm-up on the used tires and a warm-up on the new. Then it was just doing the time while the tires were there. That was the key... putting it all together. You can easily get the driving part right late in the run, but that's when the tires start to fall off. It's really hard to pass here and isn't good to follow. It sets up well and that's what my job is."
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "This is exactly what we needed. I have to say, thanks to the guys on the team because the car was very, very strong in qualy on both sides. I think we nailed set-up pressures, the guys did a good job. Sure there is some more time in there, but it's the same for everyone. So I'm very happy with P2. We were\ a little bit lucky with the BMW losing his best lap, but still, it's very nice. The 9 car looks very strong also in their long run like us. So I feel like the 9 might be the one to beat. But that also shouldn't be our focus. Our focus should be to beat the No. 1, to beat the 77, and the 9 can finish ahead if they want to."
Stevenson takes GTD pole for DragonSpeed, Catsburg P2 overall in No. 4 Corvette
ALTON, Va. (August 22, 2026) – Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs will be on the front row in both classes Sunday for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR with hopes of a double-victory in the season’s lone GT-only race.
Casper Stevenson gave DragonSpeed its first pole position of the season with the No. 81 Corvette in the GTD class. It’s the second GTD pole of the year for the Corvette following Robert Wickens’ pole start at Long Beach for DXDT Racing.
In GTD PRO and the overall order, Nicky Catsburg will start on the outside front-row in the No. 4 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports. He and Tommy Milner sit second in the class Drivers Championship with Chevrolet leading the Manufacturers’ chase.
Catsburg’s best time was a 1:44.924 (112.195 mph) lap that was 0.151 seconds off Andrea Caldarelli’s pole-winning lap. It matches the best start for Catsburg and Milner this year as they also started second in GTD PRO at Detroit.
Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports won last year at VIR with the No. 3 of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims, who was ninth in qualifying Saturday. Corvette Racing as a program has won nine races at the track – seven in IMSA competition.
Stevenson’s GTD pole run in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Corvette continued the team’s strong momentum from Road America. He and Giacomo Altoé finished fourth there with Alec Udell, and Stevenson was second-quickest in class in Saturday’s final practice at VIR.
All three GTD Corvettes qualified in the top-10 for the first time this season. DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette qualified seventh after Mason Filippi’s lap of 1:46.251 (110.703 mph). He was less than a second clear of Orey Fidani in 13 Autosports’ No. 13 Corvette, its best qualifying result of the season.
The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET on Sunday. It will air live on NBC starting at noon ET as does streaming coverage on Peacock in the U.S. and IMSA’s YouTube channel internationally. IMSA Radio will air on-track sessions at IMSA.com, XM 206 and SiriusXM Online 996.
ANDREA HIDALGO, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER: “Congratulations to Casper and the DragonSpeed team on taking the GTD pole at VIR today. The team's pace has been impressive all weekend and it's a great follow-up to its strong run at Road America. All three GTD Corvettes in the top-10 gives us all optimism for great results tomorrow. It’s the same for Nicky's front-row starting spot in the No. 4 Corvette. That is an important result for the GTD PRO championship and the team can hopefully convert that to a win or another podium."
CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES
CASPER STEVENSON, NO. 81 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R - GTD POLE-WINNER: "It was really good. This track had quite some grip in it. It was a lot of pressure but I delivered, and the car was great. Hopefully this is a clean race and I can set Giacomo up well. He's the best in the business.
"The key was a good qualy strategy. which we had. We did a warm-up on the used tires and a warm-up on the new. Then it was just doing the time while the tires were there. That was the key... putting it all together. You can easily get the driving part right late in the run, but that's when the tires start to fall off. It's really hard to pass here and isn't good to follow. It sets up well and that's what my job is."
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "This is exactly what we needed. I have to say, thanks to the guys on the team because the car was very, very strong in qualy on both sides. I think we nailed set-up pressures, the guys did a good job. Sure there is some more time in there, but it's the same for everyone. So I'm very happy with P2. We were\ a little bit lucky with the BMW losing his best lap, but still, it's very nice. The 9 car looks very strong also in their long run like us. So I feel like the 9 might be the one to beat. But that also shouldn't be our focus. Our focus should be to beat the No. 1, to beat the 77, and the 9 can finish ahead if they want to."
OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I’m really happy with qualifying and with how the car feels. The team has worked incredibly hard all weekend, making adjustments session after session, and we’ve made a lot of progress. P10 gives us a solid starting point, and I think we have a really good race car underneath us. I’m excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”
MASON FILIPPI, NO. 36 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: "Our DXDT team has been working really hard, and we've been moving up positions every session and finding more time in the car. We've learned things every single time we've been out there on track, and our Corvette's been great. We see a Corvette up front on the pole so we're gonna try to go get them."
Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith
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