Catalano Outclasses SportsCar Challenge Foes

ALTON, Va. – The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge’s opening race in its three-race event at Virginia International Raceway served up a tasty appetizer of weekend action among its three classes, with familiar race winners in a caution-free 45-minute race.

Valentino Catalano (Le Mans Prototype 3, P3) and Jake Walker (Grand Touring Daytona X, GTDX) continued their recent run of form throughout the 2025 season. Both drivers won their fifth race in eight rounds this season.

There was a newer winner in Grand Sport X (GSX), with Steven Clemons surpassing a pair of RAFA Racing teammates to propel his singular No. 76 BSI Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 to that win. Clemons won his second race of the season, and first since the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June.

Most of the P3 battle was settled at the start, with Catalano (No. 30 Gebhardt Intralogistics Motorsports Duqueine D08) launching away from pole position and quickly building his lead north of 10 seconds. He maintained the gap from there over the 45-minute race, leading flag-to-flag to win by 21.115 seconds over new teammate Alexzander Kristiansson (No. 31 Gebhardt Duqueine) in his series debut.

“This track is my one of my favorites,” Catalano said after his first day at the 3.27-mile VIR circuit. “This track is just amazing. It’s so different compared to Europe and the Esses section is amazing. You go flat out with the car and you don’t have any runoff, just grass and water. It’s just an amazing experience here in Virginia.”

GTDX saw a similar start-to-finish run from the pole to win from Walker (No. 6 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3). With his fifth win in the last six races, Walker continued his methodical closing on championship leader Adam Adelson (No. 24 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R) with a win by 7.531 seconds.

“We had a really good start and I made a pretty good pass on a P3 car going up the Esses, which helped create a gap. From there we just kept clicking off consistent laps,” Walker said. “We’re making a bit of progress (in the championship). We’ve just got to keep our head down and hope for some luck.”

The GSX battle stood out as the most intense, action-packed racing of the day among three Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2s – Clemons’ No. 76 BSI Toyota entry against Kiko Porto in the No. 8 RAFA Racing Toyota and Ian Porter in the No. 68 RAFA Racing Toyota.

Porto led from pole for the first 15 laps, but Clemons asserted his potential with a pass on Porter for second on Lap 10. He started around the outside of Turn 1, then moved into the inside of Turn 3 to complete the move.

With that move in the bank, Clemons pulled off a near identical pass for the lead on Porto six laps later on Lap 16. He’d tried on Lap 14, running side-by-side with Porto to almost get the lead, but was unable to pass the rapid Brazilian driver. However, two laps later he got the lead, making a similar over-under move on Porto into Turn 3. From there he extended the gap to a winning margin of 4.998 seconds.

“I was able to just sit back, just let them do their moves, show their cards and be able to just make moves and see what stuck and just looked at where I could attack,” Clemons said. “I know we went side-by-side a couple times. I tried on the outside once. I figured if I could get on the inside, I figured that was the lane with rubber.”

“I felt the tires were pretty slick, and I thought it was just something related to temperature,” Porto said. “But in the third lap, I saw my tire pressure was already on the limit. So, in that moment, I realized we might have a problem for the long runs. And I started a second and a half slower in my own pace, then two seconds, then three seconds. When I got to three seconds, I was already defending Ian (Porter) first.

“Then once Clemons got behind me, it was just a matter of like how much time it can stay defending. But at one point it was almost risky. I tried to carry the same speed. And basically, when he had the inside of Turn 3, I tried to carry a little bit outside, just to stay on the outside and try something into Turn 4 and I almost spun. And in that moment, I realized, okay, this is my limit. It’s better to bring points home than put everything in the walls.”