Aschenbach Leads Acura Qualifying in Virginia

Aschenbach Leads Acura Qualifying in Virginia
• Lawson Aschenbach and Justin Marks will start seventh for Meyer Shank racing
• Mario Farnbacher qualifies eighth in NSX GT3 he will co-drive with Katherine Legge

DANVILLE, VA (August 18, 2018) – Lawson Aschenbach led the way for Acura Saturday at the classic Virginia International Raceway road course, qualifying seventh in his #93 Acura NSX GT3 in preparation for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIR.

Although today’s qualifying was held in hot and humid – but dry – conditions, heavy rains descended on the VIR grounds at the end of GTD qualifying, and the weather forecast for Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute race also includes a high probability of rain.

Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3s
The Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3s were well-balanced throughout practice, but were unable to challenge for the pole in today’s 15-minute qualifying session.

Aschenbach will start seventh in the #93 NSX he shares with Justin Marks after qualifying just six tenths of a second off the pole in the tight GTD field. Mario Farnbacher will start alongside his teammate, eighth, in the #86 Acura, before handing the driving duties over to GTD championship contender Katherine Legge.

Legge is second in the GTD Drivers’ Championship after eight of 11 rounds, 18 points behind Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow. Acura also is second in the Manufacturers’ Championship, 19 points out of the lead in the highly-competitive category that also includes Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.

Acura Team Penske Prototype
IMSA’s Prototype category is not a part of the IMSA weekend at VIR, but the Acura ARX-05s will return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the September 7-9 Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Featuring America’s Tire 250, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

Quotes
Lawson Aschenbach (#93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) qualified seventh: “The Acura NSX is running quite well, it has been really well-balanced. I think we got everything out of it that we could for qualifying, it’s just very clear that we have a speed deficiency compared to the other cars. I am really proud of everyone at the team, all of the other drivers and the guys at Acura. Everybody is doing everything they can so hopefully, we can put our best foot forward for the race tomorrow.”

Mario Farnbacher (#86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) qualified eighth: “I’m really glad to be back with MSR, especially at VIR, one of my favorite tracks. Qualifying didn’t go as expected. Both cars lost grip compared to the last practice session. The balance of the car was really good all weekend long. We struggled a little bit with power, but we improved consistently over the sessions. Unfortunately, everything was upside down for qualifying so we don’t really know exactly where we stand. But I know these guys will get everything sorted out for the race tomorrow.”