After a thrilling Chevrolet Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Motorsport Week has selected its winners and losers on some of the race’s most notable entrants.
The seventh round of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship hosted the fourth sprint race of the year for their only trip across the border into Canada.
A 2-hour and 40-minute event encompassed close proximity racing, close-calls and cautions, yet proved to be one of the best races so far this year.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) lent itself to great racing requiring full commitment from the drivers around the fast, sweeping bends – as opposed to a slow yet technical complex – of the 2.459 mile Grand Prix circuit.
One of the leading pre-race talking points was the absence of the GTP category from last year, instead headlining LMP2 as the leading prototype category.
Core Autosport took the last overall win with their #54 Oreca 07 LMP2 car driven by John Bennett and Colin Braun at Road America in 2018.
Fortunately, the Chevrolet Grand Prix delivered fantastic racing in the LMP2 category.
LMP2 drivers needed to be smart in that their high downforce cars cornered faster yet the ABS of GT3 cars – especially assisting late braking into Turn 5 – combined with their noticeably inferior but capable straight line speed, made traffic management a challenge rather than a breeze.
Motorsport Week has deliberately opted not to pick class race winners so that the obscure successes and losses can be uncovered, despite the hard-earned triumph of Inter Europol PR1’s first IMSA win and Heart of Racing’s consecutive victory in a different category.
Loser – #20 MDK by High Class Racing (LMP2): Dennis Andersen and Seth Lucas
Out of all 35 entries, the #20 Oreca 07 was undoubtedly the most ill-fated car having suffered during two of the most important sessions, qualifying and the race itself.
Qualifying hosted a traditional 15-minute session for the 12 LMP2 cars and their FIA Bronze-graded drivers, requiring the fastest lap times to set the starting grid for the race.
Whilst drivers acknowledged the impact of having a sufficient gap to the other cars and also remarked the potential that was left untapped, if the road was clear.
Andersen was out of the running on his third lap when he slightly locked the rear brakes, possibly caused during rapidly downshifting, into Turn 3.
His impact into the tyre barrier put him at the back of the 12-car LMP2 field, having lost his two only laps due to causing a red flag.
Admittedly at the start of the race, Andersen kept himself in fair form albeit fighting at the rear positions of the LMP2 category.
He demonstrated a fine save when a debuting Stewart Wiltshire (#18 Era Motorsport) and Anderson made contact down the hill towards Turn 8, thus putting the Dane off-track on the grass without taking critical damage and even avoiding the wall.
He picked up two advertising boards at the front of his #20 Oreca which necessitated a pitstop to remove the debris. Bizarrely, the team opted not to change the front end despite the left-side headlight out of place.
Unsurprisingly, Andersen was given a black and orange flag to pit not only for the out-of-place headlight, but also the debris accumulated at the rear of his #20 Oreca.
The mechanics changed the front and rear ends, the #20 went back out, and to conclude their CTMP woes, Andersen buried his red, white and black LMP2 into the tyre wall at the exit of Turn 9.
Winner – #11 TDS Racing (LMP2): Steven Thomas and Scott Huffaker
It was surprising to see none of the four LMP2s with GTP drivers at the wheel battled for the win, but a surprisingly valiant effort was made by the #11 Oreca 07 team.
Thomas qualified the #11 Oreca 07 in fifth position with a 1:09.824 lap time, and was + 0.242 seconds between himself and pole-sitter PJ Hyett.
During the race, however, the #11’s winning contention was owed to a quiet, opportunistic, and timely overtake.
Traffic management is a prominent factor in that it can enable overtakes to be made and positions to be lost.
Shortly after the track returned to green with 1-hours and 43-minutes remaining, Nick Boulle of the #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Oreca 07 tried to lap Danny Formal’s #45 WTRAndretti GTD Lamborghini Huracan, and did not succeed in the inside at Turn 1.
Boulle and Gar Robinson (#74 Riley Oreca 07) were blocked but Thomas took the chance on the outside which led him to move from fifth to second position.
Huffaker continued the momentum by turning quick laps in the #11 Oreca and challenging Tom Dilmmann’s #52 Oreca for the lead before #74 driver Felipe Fraga overtook him.
Needless to say, a third-placed finish for the #11 crew was unexpected and well-deserved.
Loser – #14 Vasser Sullivan (GTD Pro): Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat
It was unusual not to see a Lexus finish high and proud at the Chevrolet Grand Prix, as even the #12 Vasser Sullivan (GTD) Lexus fell back from their class pole position.
The #14 was an avid protagonist for the win during the race, but soundlessly dropped out on the count of a mechanical issue which forced them to retire after 88 laps.
So Hawksworth put the #14 on the front row of GTD Pro at +0.267 seconds away from Alexander Sims in the #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which added promise to the Lexus package with the #12 of Frankie Montecalvo right behind.
As the race went green, the GTD Pro fight for second place was between Hawksworth and Tommy Milner’s #4 who had overtaken the #14 and in less than no time, passed the #14.
Meanwhile the #12 fell back down to fifth in GTD after starting in class-pole, even though he lost three-in-one collectively by #32 Mikael Grenier’s #32 Mercedes-AMG followed by Patrick Gallagher’s #96 BMW M4 and Brendan Iribe’s #70 McLaren 720S.
Later, with Barnicoat at the wheel, the #14 could not make any further ground after suffering an engine issue towards the end.
For the reigning GTD Pro champions, this cost one position in the standings behind the #23 Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn.
Winner – #57 Winward Racing (GTD): Russell Ward and Philip Ellis
Consistency is a rewarding way of scoring major results in IMSA, especially when the points system inherently keeps the championship fights close to the end. That is all but in the GTD category.
The #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with all four class wins in the previous races, the drivers extended their championship lead further with scoring second place at the Chevrolet Grand Prix.
Emulating the record GTD campaign from Paul Miller Racing last year – who are in GTD Pro for this year – the Winward Racing team drove cleanly without picking up any costly penalties unlike some of their rivals from track limits excursions.
In addition to flawless pit stops, their race form rewarded them with a steady yet comfortable final stretch to the end having secured a spot on the podium with ease.
In the GTD standings, Winward Racing’s Ward and Ellis have increased the margin over second-placed #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 drivers Robby Foley and Gallagher; from 305 points to 340 points.
Loser – #99 AO Racing (LMP2): PJ Hyett and Louis Deletraz
The car which started on pole for the third consecutive time slipped away from their maiden win for ‘Spike the Dragon’.
Devastatingly, the causation was immediate, simple and avoidable.
Hyett seemingly asserted a commanding race start having only built a larger gap as each lap ticked by at up to four seconds, and his laps were evidently the fastest out of any of the 12 LMP2s.
Unfortunately, the start was too strong as a replay package showed him moving across before the start-finish line, instead of maintaining the 2-by-2 formation at the rolling start.
Hyett was the quickest ‘amateur’ driver and was not able to capitalize on his form whatsoever due to this error which ensued a drive-through penalty, and will stand as a hard-learnt reminder on how not to start from pole.
Even after serving the penalty, he was setting the quickest laps with clean air prior to the first caution period.
When Deletraz took over, he was unable to move up the field as managing GTD traffic proved challenging enough, plus there was an emphasis on tyre management to save them for towards the end.
A half-spin at Turn 2 – after side-to-side contact with #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 driver Colin Braun – did not make the situation easier as the pair were in the midst of GTD traffic whilst fighting for position.
Braun continued onwards as Deletraz continued to fend his corner though made contact and went into a half-spin to the tarmac run-off at Turn 2.
Saving tyres for the end was a simple goal but one which required concentration to avoid such situations to cause flat spots.
Whilst it was not clear how damaging the half-spin was, it did mark an underwhelming race given their starting position of P1 and finishing position of P8.
Winner – #64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports (GTD Pro): Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller
The Ford Mustang demonstrated even better form than at Watkins Glen when it was fighting for the podium and even the GTD Pro win at one point.
In doing so, the #64 secured a personal best for the Mustang GT3 so far of fourth position, regrettably missing out on the podium if Tincknell’s pace was to conclude on.
Firstly, Tincknell qualified fourth in GTD Pro behind #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R driver Tommy Milner, an encouraging improvement from seventh at the Glen.
Slowly but surely, the new car in which marked the Detroit make’s return to IMSA WeatherTech GT racing since their GTLM program was making positive steps.
In the hands of Tincknell during the opening portion of the sprint race, the Mustang looked in its element as a competent and composed machine able to threaten the top names in the category.
In the fight for the podium, overtook Hawksworth’s #14 Lexus and then Milner’s #4 Corvette, which are far from easily carried out at this professional level of talent.
Traffic played a part in reeling in Sims’ lead as he was stuck behind a GTD car, before Tincknell took on the same treatment which enabled Sims to establish a reasonable 2-second gap.
During the latter phase of the race, the #64 was unfortunately not able to catch up to the pair of Corvettes as Rockenfeller drove a noble effort without being able to match them on pace.
Whether this was due to tyre management, or other reasons, the #64 Mustang was on the cusp of a podium finish which could be on the cards next time out at the Road America sprint race.
