Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – Syndication Server

Woods-Toth scores a hat trick in FR Americas at CTMP

Patrick Woods-Toth swept the weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), winning all three Formula Regional Americas Championship presented by Mosport Karting Centre (FR Americas) races this weekend. A native of Saint-Lazare, Quebec, Woods-Toth got his start karting next door at Mosport Karting Centre, and locked in the 2024 FR Americas driver’s championship title while at CTMP this weekend.

Leading every lap this weekend, Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) once again led the field down the starting grid with Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) to his outside. Behind them, Jett Bowling (No. 02 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) and Hayden Bowlsbey (No. 3 IGY6 Motorsports / Save22 Ligier JS F3) lined up third and fourth, respectively. When the lights went out, Woods-Toth jumped to the point position with Sherlock tight on his gearbox. Behind them, Bowlsbey made his way around Bowling to claim third. The three exited Turn 3 side by side, when Sherlock wiggled causing a chain reaction and melee behind them.

With Sherlock, Nicole Havrda (No. 6 Valley Kitchens Ltd / Colonial Countertops Ltd Ligier JS F3) and Anthony Autiello (No. 07 A Autiello Construction Co. Ligier JS F3) all running into trouble, the safety car was deployed to allow crews to retrieve Autiello’s car from the circuit. As they returned to green, Woods-Toth, Bowlsbey, Bowling, Landan Matriano Lim (No. 73 739Racing Ligier JS F3) and James Lawley (No. 77 Kartbahn Racing Ligier JS F3) all ran nose to tail. Woods-Toth dropped a wheel off the racing surface as they careened toward the restart line, but that didn’t slow his pace, as he once again took control of the race.

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With the second half still to be contested, Woods-Toth ran away from the pack, opening up a multi-second lead within just a few laps. Behind him, the race for second was heated, with less than a 0.5s separating second-place Bowlsbey and third-place Bowling. Bowlsbey repeatedly held off advances from Bowling, but everything changed on the final lap. Bowling drove deep into Turn 3 as Bowlsbey slid through the corner, allowing the two to pull wheel to wheel and race two-wide through Turn 4. Pulling ahead to complete the pass as they exited Turn 5, Bowling hit all his marks to lead Bowlsbey to the checkered flag.

As they crossed the line, Woods-Toth held a 6.162s advantage over Bowling in second and Bowlsbey in third.

“What an amazing weekend,” said Woods-Toth from atop the podium. “It’s great to be at home with all my friends, family and all the fans here. We can see how full the paddock is this weekend with 20-30,000 spectators—this is awesome. Three wins out of three races, a clean sweep of the weekend, that’s perfect. I have good luck here at CTMP. With karting races, I don’t think I’ve lost a race here in probably three or four years. Thank you to Marvin, my mechanic over here, who took care of me back then, and to Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, Glen and Steven, who take care of my car now. The 27 is powered by Orlando and Ron Fellows; I can’t thank them enough. Thank you very much.”

FR Americas returns to the track for their 2024 season finale at Circuit of The Americas, October 31-November 3. A live stream of the COTA SpeedTour will be available on YouTube.com/SpeedTourTV with live timing and scoring accessed on the Race Monitor app. Additional news and updates will be posted on the series’ social channels: Facebook, Instagram and X.

RESULTS

Quimby completes F4 US weekend sweep at CTMP

Daniel Quimby completed the weekend sweep in Formula 4 United States Championship presented by Mosport Karting Centre (F4 U.S.) competition at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), winning all three races of the CTMP SpeedTour weekend. With three additional wins added to his stats, Quimby (No. 24 Cruise America / MIR Raceline / FIJI Airways / GalvanizeIns Ligier JS F422) pulled within five and a half points of the championship lead heading into the season finale at Circuit of The Americas in October.

Leading every lap this weekend, Quimby once again brought the field to the green flag at CTMP on Sunday morning. With a clean jump as the flag waved, Quimby took control of the race before the field reached Turn 1. Alex Crosbie (No. 41 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) lined up second, while Nicolas Stati (No. 15 AGI Sport Ligier JS F422) and Connor Roberts (No. 46 ApexSpeed.com / Entropy Cellars Ligier JS F422) filled the second row. Of the four drivers Roberts was the only one on fresh Hankook slicks, which required a bit of extra patience while they dialed in. Meanwhile, Stati was able to make his way around Crosbie overtaking the second position. A lap later, Roberts found his way around Crosbie, but the three continued to race nose to gearbox while Quimby drove away from the pack.

With Quimby approximately 4s ahead, the battle for second was down to Stati and Roberts, as the duo pulled away from Crosbie. Just before the race’s halfway point, Roberts was able to complete the pass for second, overtaking Stati around the outside of Turn 8. Then, Crosbie started to apply pressure to Stati in an attempt to overtake third. Stati locked up the brakes while racing through Turn 10 to complete lap 13, which allowed Crosbie to complete the pass and claim the third position. The battle wasn’t over just yet, as the two raced within a few tenths the entire second half of the event. With eight minutes left on the clock, Stati was able to make his way back around Crosbie, setting the two up for a race to the checkered flag.

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With Quimby and Roberts playing their own game of cat and mouse out front, Stati and Crosbie engaged in battle. As they crossed the line, Quimby led Roberts by 3.643s, while Stati and Crosbie crossed the line side by side, with Stati edging Crosbie by just 0.158s for the third and final podium position.

“It was an awesome weekend,” said Quimby after exiting the car. “Both Connor [Roberts] and Nicolas [Stati]–everyone was pretty quick this weekend. Atlantic [Racing Team] did a great job; the car’s been awesome. I’d like to thank my sponsors: Motorhome Republic, Fiji Airways, Cruise America, MIR Raceline, Hankook, Ligier and F4 U.S. Championship. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has been a great track; I hope we get to come back next year. Also, thank you to my mom and dad for all the sacrifices they make for me to come here to race. “

F4 U.S. will wrap up their 2024 season at Circuit of The Americas, October 31-November 3, with the season finale. A live stream of the COTA SpeedTour will be available on YouTube.com/SpeedTourTV with live timing and scoring available on the Race Monitor app. Additional news and updates will be posted on the series’ social channels: Facebook, Instagram, and X.

RESULTS

Menard and Matos both score fifth wins of Trans Am season at CTMP

The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli returned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the first time in a decade and put on an exciting race in front of legions of Canadian race fans. Paul Menard led the TA class for a majority of the race, but it seemed that Chris Dyson would take the checkered flag following a late race overtake. However, a spin by Dyson with two laps to go handed the race back to Menard, who earned his fifth victory of the season.

In the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series race, Rafa Matos led the field from flag to flag, holding off an ultra-fast Thomas Merrill and skillfully navigating through traffic in the multi-class affair, claiming his fifth win of the year and bringing him closer to his third TA2 championship.

Menard secured the pole position for the race in Saturday’s qualifying session with a blazing-fast lap, and when the green flag waved, he showed the same speed in his No. 31 Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang. However, Dyson was never far behind him in his No. 16 GYM WEED Ford Mustang. Lap after lap, the distance between the two drivers was never more than a second and a half, and as the two contenders battled through traffic, the gap dwindled at times to just inches.

On lap 34, Dyson was finally able to use the traffic to his advantage, taking the lead from Menard and opening up a gap in clean air. It appeared that Dyson would drive away with the victory, but with two laps to go, Dyson’s rear end kicked out on him, and he did a full spin. Although his car righted itself and Dyson was able to continue, he was slowed just enough for Menard to retake the lead. Dyson had the speed to catch Menard, but not enough time. Menard crossed the finish line first, followed by Dyson. Tomy Drissi in the No. 8 Drissi Motorsports/Lucas/Mission Chevrolet Camaro claimed the third podium spot.

“We had a fast car all weekend,” said Menard on the podium. “This track is all out. It takes a lot of commitment. Our guys worked really hard getting the car comfortable going through Turn 2 and Turn 4. Chris [Dyson] and I, we’re just so close on speed. Last week, this week, it’s like whoever’s in front has the advantage. These cars make a lot of downforce, so clean air is a big advantage. And we just got to run. I boogered up 5B, and he got a run all the way down the back straight. I didn’t want to challenge him too hard in Turn 8. I stuck to his bumper, he made a little mistake, and I was able to capitalize.”

The CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series field kicked off the race with the top three cars on the grid in the same order in which they sat in the points, with Matos first in his No. 60 Concord American Flagpole/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang, Merrill second in his No. 26 HP Tuners/Cope Race Cars Ford Mustang, and Ben Maier third in his No. 80 BOE Marine/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang. With valuable championship points on the line, every lap and every position counted for the trio. Matos got a clean start and led Merrill and Maier until a full-course caution was deployed on lap two. When racing resumed on lap 10, Matos and Merrill continued to lead the field, but Maier got shuffled back, dropping to sixth in the running order. This allowed Tyler Gonzalez in the No. 40 Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang to take over third, and he was followed by Thomas Annunziata in the No. 90 Bayshore Mortgage/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang and Josh Hurley in the No. 20 Greenlight Simulation/BCR Ford Mustang.

With conditions remaining green for the remainder of the race, competitors fought both each other and the racetrack, which offered limited passing opportunities, all while dealing with traffic from other classes. As the laps ticked away, Merrill remained tight on Matos’ rear, but never had quite enough to challenge for the lead. When the checkered flag waved, Matos took the victory, followed by Merrill and Gonzalez in the final podium position. Annunziata and Hurley rounded out the top five.

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“I think today was about managing traffic,” said Matos in GYM WEED Winners Circle. “The car was really good. I was able to build up that gap and manage my distance to Thomas [Merrill]. I think the track was really slick, maybe because of the rain this morning and the NASCAR cars that ran a little bit earlier and took off some of the rubber, but the car was fantastic, indeed. I want to thank Nitro Motorsports for prepping six very fast racecars. We got Tyler [Gonzalez] on the podium; he definitely had a really good pace all weekend long. Hats off to Concord American Flagpole for trusting and believing in this project. Thanks to Chris Dyson, a big supporter of ours. Just an amazing weekend overall. Twenty years ago, I was here at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. I had a pole position in the Star Mazda Series and finished second. Today, I changed my luck around and we won the race. This is a great moment for us and a huge step towards our third championship here.”

Kaylee Bryson in the No. 02 Logical Systems Inc./Sam Pierce Chevrolet Corvette led the SGT class to green and was untouchable for the 41-lap event. She held a considerable advantage over David Hampton (No. 14 AR Motorsports/Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport) and Milton Grant (No. 55 Sentry Self Storage/Springhill Suites Porsche 991.3 GT3 Cup), who was battling transmission issues. Without having to watch her mirrors for her SGT competitors, Bryson was able to mix it up with CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars, holding her own with the faster vehicles. As the race concluded, Bryson led Hampton and Grant over the finish line, claiming her second win of the 2024 season.

“This feels good; it was fun to bring the GT car out here and race with the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars and TA cars,” said Bryson. “They’d really kill me on the straightaway, but I had something for them in the corners, which made it a little bit of fun. We were racing around quite a bit with the TA2 cars and passed a couple of them, which made it really exciting for us and our team. We want to come out here and race and put down really quick laps. I’m so thankful to have a car that makes it all 100 miles, and I’m really thankful for the whole crew for all the work they put in. It’s fun to be back on the top step.”

The highlight show of Saturday’s race will air on MAVTV on Thursday, September 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The Trans Am Series will next hit the track at VIRginia International Raceway for the penultimate race of the season, October 3-6.

RESULTS

Quimby sweeps first two F4 US races at CTMP

Daniel Quimby won the first race of the weekend for Formula 4 United States Championship presented by Mosport Karting Centre (F4 U.S.) at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) on Saturday morning. After rain showers soaked the track early this morning, Quimby (No. 24 Cruise America / MIR Raceline / FIJI Airways / GalvanizeIns Ligier JS F422) overcame challenging track conditions to earn his third win of the 2024 season.

With a drying circuit, drivers and teams were given the choice to select between treaded Hankook wets or racing slicks before heading out on track as the first race group of the day. Three formation laps allowed drivers to observe track conditions before the green flag waved. Quimby got a solid start to pull ahead of second-place qualifier Nicolas Stati (No. 15 AGI Sport Ligier JS F422) before they reached Turn 1. Fourth-place qualifier Alex Crosbie (No. 41 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) suffered a mechanical issue during the formation laps, allowing Barrett Wolfe (No. 13 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F422) and Lincoln Day (No. 54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS F422) to both climb in the running order when the green flag waved. However, a spin and continue by Day relegated him in the field, as Wolfe moved into fourth. Minutes later, the safety car was deployed for a full-course caution when Wolfe made light contact with the Turn 10 tire barrier. Unable to restart the race before time ran out, Quimby led the field across the finish line with Stati behind him in second and Connor Roberts (No. 46 ApexSpeed.com / Entropy Cellars Ligier JS F422) in third.

“It was a tricky race this morning,” said Quimby after the race. “Track conditions were tough. It was pretty damp, and it can be hard to pick up where the grip is around the track. It was a quick race, but hopefully we’ll get a good run in this afternoon. I’d like to thank Motorhome Republic, Fiji Airways, Atlantic, MIR, my team—Lucas, Trevor—my dad, and everyone that’s supporting me out here.”

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Quimby took the victory again in a thrilling second race Saturday afternoon. Overtaking the leader just minutes into the race, Quimby opened over a 13s lead en route to the checkered flag in a race that stayed green from flag to flag.

Setting the fast lap in race one Sunday morning, Stati led the field down the starting grid with Quimby lined up to the outside. Jumping out front as soon as the green flag waved, Stati took command of the race. However, with Quimby and Roberts tight on his gearbox, the three raced around the circuit with less than 0.3s separating them as they completed the first lap. While they battled up front, Crosbie was on the move at the back of the field, moving up to fourth from his sixth-place starting position within the first two laps of the race. As they completed the fourth lap, Stati made a mistake racing through Turn 10, which allowed Quimby to make a move around the outside and overtake the lead. With Quimby crossing the line just 0.295s ahead of Stati, Stati soon had his mirrors full of Roberts’ machine, with Roberts completing the pass for second the very next lap.

Opening up a 2.273s gap before they made it back to the start/finish line, Quimby never looked back as he ultimately opened more than a 13s lead. Meanwhile, Roberts started to fall into his rhythm in the runner-up position. Behind him, Crosbie was chasing down Stati with the intention of overtaking third. Completing the pass just after the race’s halfway point, Crosbie turned his focus to Roberts, but was unable to complete the pass before the checkered flag waved.

As they crossed the finish line, Quimby led, with Roberts in second and Crosbie in third.

“It was a tough race,” said Quimby after climbing from the car. “We got to cut a couple more laps than this morning, which was nice. The car was good; obviously, we had new tires that race. I was trying to save my tires at the beginning, so I sat behind him for a little bit. I think I managed my tires a bit better than I think he did. Once I passed him, I was able to control the race from there and got to save a bit of tire for tomorrow.”

F4 U.S. wraps up their weekend in the Great White North with race three at CTMP scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET Sunday. Live timing and scoring for all of this weekend’s sessions will be available on the Race Monitor App, with additional news and updates posted on the series’ social channels: Facebook, Instagram and X.

RACE 1 RESULTS

RACE 2 RESULTS

Woods-Toth dominates FR Americas’ first race at CTMP

Patrick Woods-Toth (No. 27 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3) dominated in the Formula Regional Americas Championship presented by Mosport Karting Centre (FR Americas) on Friday afternoon to win race one at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). Leading from lights to checkers, the Saint-Lazare, Quebec native drove away with the win while holding a 0.616s margin over second-place finisher Titus Sherlock (No. 31 Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport Ligier JS F3).

“Today was a battle of managing the tires,” said Woods-Toth atop the podium. “We’ve had some blistering on the rears all weekend, so we just had to keep it calm. Titus [Sherlock] was pressuring me, which was hurting my tire saving, but honestly, I think our tires are the best out of the three of us, so it was a good race for us. I have to thank Ron Fellows—thanks to him, I got my first seat in a race car. And, of course, Orlando, who has been sponsoring us for the last two years. Those two have done the world for me, and I can’t thank them enough. My team at Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport, my friends, my family and all the fans here—thank you to everyone.”

FR Americas will contest race two at CTMP Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET. Live timing and scoring for all of this weekend’s sessions will be available on the Race Monitor App, with additional news and updates posted on the series’ social channels: Facebook, Instagram and X.

RESULTS

Trans Am points leaders Menard and Matos grab poles at CTMP

Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli points leader Paul Menard, in the No. 31 Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford Mustang, was fastest overall on Friday and claimed his fourth pole of the season with a time of 1m13.255s at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park …

“Traffic has been the name of the game in practice and the three test sessions,” said Menard. “There’s a lot of speed disparity, so you try to work on your car in segments. You get a clean segment, kind of work on what the car needs, get another clean segment, work on what the car needs again. In qualifying, I just had that one lap that would put it all together. We adjusted the car a lot throughout the weekend. It wasn’t very comfortable early on. We got it better, but it still was missing a little something. We found it after practice. We had a little hiccup that we fixed, and the car is really good right now.”

TA2 points leader Rafa Matos in the No. 60 Concord American Flagpole/Nitro Motorsports Ford Mustang was fastest of the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series competitors with a best time of 1m18.327s, earning his third pole of the year.

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“My last time here at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was 20 years ago when I came and ran Star Mazda,” said Matos. “The track hasn’t changed much, so I had really good memories here. I had the pole position in that race, and I finished second, so hopefully my luck will change around tomorrow. We had speed all weekend long; we were just kind of chipping away and working with the setup, massaging the setup of the car, working with my teammates, making sure that every car is competitive. I knew I had the speed, I just had to put the lap together. I had a really good lap going in the last practice, but I just made a small mistake in the last corner and that cost me a couple tenths. I knew I had the speed and just needed to get it together, so I had everything in my head. I mentalized the lap and I was able to get it done.

“Big hats off to Nitro Motorsports, assembling the car and working with six cars this weekend. Thanks to Concord American Flag Pole for believing in this process, Chris Dyson, and every single person that has been involved with this program, directly and indirectly.”

The all-class race goes green Saturday at 2:15 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on MAVTV and streamed live here. The highlights show of the race will air on MAVTV on Thursday, September 5 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

RESULTS

Jones finds redemption in wet VP Challenge nightcap at CTMP

Neither sickness nor rain could prevent a determined Jagger Jones from getting back to victory lane in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. A day after a win in the No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 was negated by a postrace …

Neither sickness nor rain could prevent a determined Jagger Jones from getting back to victory lane in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.

A day after a win in the No. 87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 was negated by a postrace technical infraction, Jones rebounded to win Sunday’s 45m race at the 10-turn, 2.459-mile high-speed road course. Jones was hampered throughout by a stomach illness and endured a treacherous final few laps racing in wet conditions after a light rain fell around the circuit and the entire field was brought into the pits for a mandatory change to wet-condition Michelin tires. Still, he persevered to pick up his fifth overall and Le Mans Prototype 3 (P3) win in the last six VP Racing Challenge races.

“We really dominated on track both days this weekend, which is awesome,” Jones said. “It looked smooth from the outside but I was super nauseous for some reason; I’ve been really sick all weekend. We brought it home nice and clean, thank you to the Remstar FastMD guys. A little mistake yesterday but today everything’s all cleaned up and another win for us.”

The race began in the dry, with Jones bumping his way past polesitter Steven Aghakhani (No. 6 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320) as they battled through Turn 2 on the opening lap. Rain began on parts of the track less than 10m later, with a full-course caution ordered shortly after. Race officials declared it a wet race at the halfway point, bringing all cars in for the grooved Michelin tires and returning them to the track in the same running order.

Racing resumed with just under six minutes to go and Jones was off and running away. He took the checkered flag 8.365s ahead of Aghakhani, with Alex Kirby (No. 7 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier) finishing third for the second straight day.

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“Once we went on the rain tires, they were super solid,” Jones said. “I’ve only done like six laps on these rain tires before, so I was a little hesitant at first. But once I built that gap, I just kind of managed it.”

With two rounds and four races remaining this season, Aghakhani holds a comfortable 500-point lead over Brian Thienes (No. 77 Forte Racing Ligier) atop the standings. Jones is third, 100 points behind Thienes.

Rain dance pays off for Green with maiden series win in GSX

Josh Green was hoping it would rain in Sunday’s race, sensing he could make his way to the front in the Grand Sport X (GSX) class. Green’s wish came true and so did he, making a strategic pass in traffic on the penultimate lap and rolling on to his first VP Racing Challenge victory in the No. 78 Thaze Competition Mercedes-AMG GT GT4.

Green sat in third place when the race restarted late in the wet conditions, trailing Race 1 winner Jack Polito (No. 98 Polito Racing Ford Mustang GT4) and Jesse Lazare (No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4). Three laps later, a slower P3 car balked the trio and Green made his move to maneuver past both Polito and Lazare.

From there, the Mount Kisco, New York, resident edged away to win by 1.208s over Lazare.

“I was doing the rain dance the whole weekend,” Green said. “Once we put the wets on, I was pretty confident. I’ve had a lot of great races in the rain.

“We got a P3 car kind of stuck in front of us and he blocked everyone,” he added. “I knew that that was going to be the opportunity to get clear. It feels sweet, I’m so happy. This is such an awesome group, it’s like family to me. I’ve been so lucky that they took me under their wing. It’s my first real season in sports cars and to win it on my third try is awesome.”

Lazare trails GSX championship leader Luca Mars (No. 59 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4) by 190 points with four races remaining. Both classes race next at VIRginia International Raceway as part of the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR weekend from Aug. 23-25.

RESULTS

Cicero’s right place at right time lands MX-5 Cup win at CTMP

With five minutes left in the Round 10 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, it didn’t look like a win was in the cards for Nate Cicero (No. 83 McCumbee McAleer Racing). Then, a series of events transpired that quickly launched Cicero from fifth to first. Joining him on the podium was rookie Julian DaCosta (No. 78 JTR Motorsports Engineering) and the driver with more Mazda MX-5 Cup starts than anyone else: Alex Bachoura (No. 33 Spark Performance).

In a deja vu moment that echoed Saturday’s race finish, the driver who crossed the finish line first, was not declared the winner. Jeremy Fletcher (No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing) had been issued a 10s penalty earlier in the race for contact with another car. With the time penalty assessed at the checkered flag, the win went to his teammate Cicero.

Another similarity to Saturday’s race was the number of cars in the lead pack. A train of 11 cars circulated the track nose-to-tail and Cicero was right in the middle of it.

“I was struggling a little bit coming onto the straight,” Cicero said. “With the pack stacking up, it was kind of hard to time your acceleration point if you’re in the middle of a pack. I was just trying to stay in my spot and keep working with Jeremy [Fletcher].”

At the front of the pack, polesitter Jared Thomas (No. 96 JTR Motorsports Engineering) was working with teammate Aaron Jeansonne (No. 24 JTR Motorsports Engineering) to keep the lead and hold off Saturday’s race winner, Westin Workman (No. 13 BSI Racing).

When contact damaged Jeansonne’s wheel and necessitated a pit stop, Workman began to take looks at Thomas for the win. It was about this time that Workman and Gresham Wagner (No. 5 McCumbee McAleer Racing) made contact, sending Wagner into the Turn Nine tires. This brought out the first of two full-course caution periods during the 45m race.

Workman resumed his fight with Thomas when the green flag came back out, but this time he was being pressured by Thomas’ teammate, Nathan Nicholson (No. 56 JTR Motorsports Engineering).

The trio came together in the same spot as Wagner’s crash. Unbelievably, nobody spun or hit the wall, but the three leaders all took evasive action to stay pointed straight. That was all Fletcher needed to go from fifth to first.

“I just saw a little bit of contact and they [Thomas, Nicholson and Workman] all went wide and Jeremy and I were able to go through,” Cicero said.

A lap later, the safety car was deployed again for Heather Hadley (No. 54 BSI Racing), who lost a wheel exiting Turn 8, sending her sideways into the tire wall. Hadley walked away unscathed, but less than three minutes remained on the race clock, so the race ended under yellow.

Cicero was ecstatic as he crossed the finish line, but not for himself; he was unaware of Fletcher’s 10s penalty.

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“I was so happy for him [Fletcher] to get his first win and was celebrating with him across the line,” Cicero said. “No one told me that he had gotten a penalty. I feel for him. He’s going to get a win this year, probably multiple. He’s been super-fast even in the backup car, so I know he’ll get it soon.”

He continued to heap praise on his MMR teammates for helping him get the win and was greeted at the podium by Wagner, who was unharmed in his lap eight incident.

“[After Saturday’s race] I learned a lot about where to pass,” Cicero said. “Especially from watching my teammates’ videos and seeing what they’re doing different than me. We have four amazing drivers on the team. We’re all in the top 10 usually, so there’s a lot to learn for all of us and we can all help each other.”

The drivers sharing the podium with Cicero were equally surprised.

DaCosta, the runner-up, started the race dead last due to an engine change after Race 1. It is the rookie’s first podium finish.

“Yesterday was a bit more than heartbreaking,” DaCosta said. “Today definitely lifted everybody’s hearts and spirits and I want to thank everybody coming into this weekend. I’m really excited to be partnering with the Austin Hatcher Foundation and I think we have a lot ahead of us now and we’re gonna continue this positive energy for sure.”

Earlier this year Bachoura took over the record for the most MX-5 Cup race starts. After more than 100 races, he finished on the podium for only the second time Sunday. Bachoura was elated with the third-place finish. He knew incidents and penalties played a part but was rightly proud of his driving.

“It was unexpected,” Bachoura said. “I was in fourth and I knew the race finished, but when I heard there was a penalty and I was third, I was ecstatic. I love being lucky, but I did stick with the front pack the whole time. Sparky and Spark Performance gave me an amazing car. I felt like I had the fastest car in the turns. It was a really good car, good driving and a little bit of luck.”

Jeansonne went on to finish fourth, salvaging valuable championship points.

Woody Heimann (No. 82 JTR Motorsports Engineering) earned a career-best fifth place.

He was followed by Mazda Women in Motorsport Scholarship winner Sally Mott (No. 15 Spark Performance) who earned a career-best sixth.

Mazda MX-5 Cup teams have a break before Rounds 11 and 12 at VIRginia International Raceway, August 23 – 25.

All MX-5 Cup races are available to re-watch anytime on the RACER and IMSA YouTube channels.

Inter Europol, Corvette celebrate day of IMSA firsts at CTMP

Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports took its first win of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season, holding on through a 9m sprint finish to win the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Nick Boulle started the race …

Nick Boulle started the race and gained the early advantage once polesitter PJ Hyett was given an early drive-through penalty for moving out of line at the start of the race. From there, Tom Dillmann took over and maintained the green and yellow No. 52 ORECA LMP2 07’s advantage, keeping the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA of Steven Thomas and Scott Huffaker behind.

With less than 20m left, Ryan Dalziel crashed in the Esses to bring out a full course yellow — just after Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley ORECA had overtaken Huffaker for second place.

Fraga closed to within a second of Dillmann with two laps left, but Dillmann’s masterful maneuvering through traffic allowed him to hold Fraga at bay for the victory — the first win for Inter Europol Competition in IMSA, and the first IMSA win for both drivers.

Fraga and Gar Robinson finished second, just 0.658s away from their first win of the year, while the No. 11 TDS ORECA of Thomas and Huffaker completed the overall podium in third.

Behind them were the two United Autosports USA ORECAs, the No. 2 (Ben Keating/Ben Hanley) and the No. 22 (Daniel Goldburg/Filipe Albuquerque) in fourth and fifth; the No. 8 Tower Motorsport Oreca (John Farano/Renger van der Zande) came home sixth.

The No. 99 AO Racing ORECA of Hyett and Louis Deletraz dropped to eighth after Deletraz spun following contact with the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA (George Kurtz/Colin Braun), which finished just ahead of them in seventh.

Robinson and Fraga now lead the LMP2 championship with three races remaining in their season, but only by 12 points over Boulle and Dillmann. Robinson also took the lead in the Jim Trueman Award standings, with Boulle just 20 points behind him in the race for the golden ticket to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]

The new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R took its long-awaited maiden victory in IMSA competition — via a 1-2 finish for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports in GTD Pro.

The No. 3 Corvette of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims scored the victory, just ahead of the No. 4 of Nicky Catsburg, and Tommy Milner, who previously gave the Z06 GT3.R its first win in GT World Challenge America earlier this year.

Sims and Garcia led almost the entire 2h40m race, only surrendering the lead during the first round of routine pit stops. This came just after Dennis Andersen crashed his No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca at Turn 9, which led to the first full course yellow of the race.

While the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx just held on for third place, the two were the winners in terms of the GTD Pro championship battle — after the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 (Jack Hawksworth/Ben Barnicoat) retired with 30m left due to a suspected engine failure.

The No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 (Harry Tincknell/Mike Rockenfeller) and the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (Ross Gunn/Mario Farnbacher) rounded out the top five in GTD Pro, with the red plaid No. 9 Pfaff Motorsport McLaren GT3 Evo (Oliver Jarvis/Marvin Kirchhofer) sixth in the team’s home race.

For the second time in three years, Ontario native Roman de Angelis won his home race in the GTD class. This time, veteran driver Spencer Pumpelly was his co-pilot as the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin finally got its first win in 2024, in what has been a tough season for them.

Pumpelly took the lead just after half-distance, taking advantage of a spin from Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher, and he and de Angelis never relinquished the advantage.

The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis extended their massive GTD championship points lead with a second-place finish in class, while the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren of Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff put on a late charge to take third place from the No. 96 Turner BMW of Gallagher and Robby Foley.

Rounding out the top five in GTD was the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus (Frankie Montecalvo/Parker Thompson).

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns with all four classes in action at Road America on August 4.

RESULTS

RS1’s strategy brings CTMP MPC win, Wickens ends drought in TCR

Trent Hindman isn’t usually one to get emotional after winning races. That changed Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. As Hindman emerged victorious from the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport, he shouted and showered his teammates with …

Trent Hindman isn’t usually one to get emotional after winning races. That changed Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

As Hindman emerged victorious from the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport, he shouted and showered his teammates with water.

“IMSA wins are so special,” Hindman said after teaming with Stevan McAleer to win the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, the sixth race of the 10-race IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season.

“Unfortunately, you learn the hard way how hard it is to win in this championship – how hard it is to win in any level of IMSA competition,” he continued.

The timely victory ended a run of bad luck for RS1 – with one second-place finish this season but all others seventh place or worse. The team’s strategy play Saturday put the Porsche into the overall and Grand Sport (GS) class lead after McAleer’s opening stint.

“Track position was important,” McAleer said. “I feel that we’re the best driver pair in the series and it’s kind of shown at most of the events. We just haven’t been able to execute. I’m hoping this is a turnaround for us in the season with four events left. Trent was incredible. He was flying all weekend.”

Hindman credited the call that got the Porsche the lead after a full-course caution just past the midpoint of the two-hour race. The RS1 Porsche was among eight cars opting not to pit for a splash of fuel and moved to the front of the field, where Hindman remained for the final 43m of green-flag racing.

“Fortunately, it worked out,” Hindman said. “I had to do a lot of fuel saving in the end, for sure, but I knew our car was super quick, and I knew we could keep our momentum up and still save fuel. If we were in traffic, it would’ve been a different story.”

Scott Andrews brought the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 he co-drove with Rory van der Steur home in second place, 2.537 seconds behind the winning Porsche. The No. 46 Team TGM Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driven by Matt Plumb and Paul Holton finished third. All three podium finishers opted for the one-stop strategy and went into fuel-saving mode to the finish.

RS1’s victory – the 11th for both Hindman and McAleer in the Michelin Pilot Challenge – also marked the sixth different GS team to win in as many races this season.

With the third-place finish, Plumb and the No. 46 Aston Martin unofficially extended their GS lead to 430 points over van der Steur and the No. 19 Aston and to 450 over Hindman, McAleer and the No. 28 Porsche.

Wickens, Gottsacker End Drought with TCR Win in No. 33 Hyundai

There’s something about his home track that brings out the racing best in Robert Wickens and the results again bear that out. Wickens and co-driver Harry Gottsacker drove the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR to victory in the Touring Car (TCR) portion of Saturday’s race.

In three Michelin Pilot Challenge races at CTMP, Wickens has now finished first, second and first. He won with co-driver Mark Wilkins in 2022 and was runner-up with Gottsacker last year on their way to the TCR championship without recording a win. Saturday’s triumph was Wickens’ first since the July 2022 CTMP victory and Gottsacker’s first since Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May of the same year.

“I don’t know what it is about this place, but I just seem to get on really well with it in the TCR car,” Wickens said. “It’s not just me. Harry’s opening stint was so strong, he extended one lap longer than the (No.) 17 Audi to basically put us in prime position. … He put us in a position where I could push and attack instead of just saving fuel and trying to make it to the end.

“That’s exactly what we did, and once we capitalized on the misfortune of the [No.] 17, it was just managing the gap behind at that point.”

Gottsacker and Wickens ran second for most of the race to the championship-leading No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR of Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor. The race took a dramatic turn when Taylor suddenly pulled off course with a mechanical failure with 27m to go. It opened the door for the No. 33 drivers and engineer Mark Weida – a racing veteran making his debut with the team – to snatch the much-desired victory.

“I’m retiring now,” Weida joked. “I’m one-for-one so that’s it. I’m done.”

“It’s unfortunate what happened to [the Audi] but I’ll take it,” Gottsacker said. “It’s racing, things happen. It’s a huge relief [to win again]. I know that we could’ve done it last year, it just never worked out. But yeah, it feels really, really good.”

Wickens never surrendered the lead after the Audi’s exit, though was constantly harried by Karl Wittmer in the No. 93 Montreal Motorsport Group Honda Civic FL5 TCR. Wittmer was handicapped by a loss of the anti-lock braking system for the final 20m and unable to mount an overtake attempt. He and co-driver Dai Yoshihara held onto second place, 0.723s behind the winners.

“To have a well-deserved podium finish at our home track with this crew that’s been putting in sweat and tears since the start of the year is so rewarding to them,” Wittmer said. “I’m so happy, I can’t wait to party with these guys!”

The No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai, with co-drivers Denis Dupont and Preston Brown, took third place, meaning Canada was represented by a driver on each step of the TCR podium (Wickens, Wittmer and Dupont).

“Pretty stacked podium, if you ask me,” Wittmer quipped.

The No. 17 Audi wound up eighth in class and saw its championship lead trimmed to 150 points over the No. 76 BHA Hyundai and 190 over the winning No. 33 Hyundai.

The next Michelin Pilot Challenge race is the Road America 120 from the Wisconsin road course of the same name on Saturday, Aug. 3.

RESULTS