Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – Page 2

IMSA LMP2 headliner at CTMP garners 35 entries

The combination of the LMP2 class being the headliner for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park next weekend and the conflict with the World Endurance Championship race at Interlagos in Brazil has created a wealth of opportunity for GTP drivers to get a little different view. Four GTP drivers are substituting in the 12-car LMP2 field in the first sprint race for the class this season and the first time LMP2 has raced at the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course since 2019.

The full field comprising LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD has 35 entries.

GTP drivers in the LMP2 category include Renger van der Zande joining John Farano in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA; Filipe Albuquerque with Danial Goldburg in the United Autosports No. 22; Pipo Derani driving the No. 88 AF Corse entry with Luis Perez Companc; and Louis Deletraz repeating his stint from the 24 Hours of Le Mans with PJ Hyett in AO Racing’s No. 99 ORECA.

It’s the familiar pairing of Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga — CTMP winners in LMP3 last year — who lead the points for Riley Motorsports, 252 to 248 for Era Motorsport’s Ryan Dalziel, who will be partnering with Stuart Wiltshire for the next two races. Nick Boulle and Tom Dillman are third for Euro Interpol with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports.

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Colin Braun and George Kurtz, fresh off a Pro-Am class victory in the 24 Hours of Spa (with Ian James and Nicky Catsburg), are looking for their first LMP2 victory in 2024. If they should manage the feat, Braun will have a rather unique distinction: he’ll have won at CTMP three years in a row, each time in a different class. He won LMP3 with Jon Bennett for CORE Autosport in 2022 and took the GTP class win with Tom Blomqvist in the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 last year. Braun has six victories at CTMP over the years.

Heart of Racing will have a couple of substitutes in its GTD PRO and GTD entries for CTMP as Alex Riberas and Ian James compete in Brazil, but they’re familiar ones. Mario Farnbacher takes Riberas’s spot with Ross Gunn in the No. 23 GTD PRO Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo that won at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen last time out with Riberas and Gunn. In the GTD entry, Spencer Pumpelly joins Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 for the third time this season.

GTD PRO points leaders Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx will be looking to rebound after a rough weekend at Watkins Glen and resume their winning ways for AO Racing. The pair have taken both sprint races so far this season in the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R. However, CTMP has been the spot of much success for Corvette Racing, with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor taking the victory last year.

Whether it’s points leaders Philip Ellis and Russell Ward for Winward Racing, their closest pursuers Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley for Tuner Motorsport, or someone else, GTD will not have a repeat winner from last year, as Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers and Paul Miller Racing have moved to GTD PRO where they’re looking for their first victory. Winward has taken the win in four of five races this season.

Seven Canadian drivers are entered for IMSA’s annual trip north of the border. They include John Farano (No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA), Mikael Grenier (No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3), Kyle Marcelli (No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2) and Misha Goikhberg (No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2).

The 2h40m Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is scheduled to kick off at 11:10am ET on Sunday, July 14. The race in its entirety will be broadcast on USA Network, as well as streamed on Peacock and on IMSA.tv and YouTube.com/IMSAOfficial outside the U.S. Qualifying will be streamed on Peacock and IMSA.tv on Saturday, July 13 at 3:55pm ET. Commentary for select sessions will also be provided by IMSA Radio on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com

ENTRY LIST

Corvette Racing has their greatest day – from Monza to Mosport

Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia scored their first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO victory since Sebring 2022 Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. On the other side of the Atlantic in Italy, their sister team finished fourth in the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Monza. Not a very remarkable result, but on the back of victories at Sebring, Portimão and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it clinched the GTE-Am championship for Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone with two races yet to run.

“A very good day. I don’t think it could have gone much better,” said Taylor after celebrating on the top step of the podium at CTMP. “We have our remote ops here as well, so during our pre-race meeting and warmup we were listening to their intercom and what was going on there. (Chief Engineer) Kyle Millay is usually on the WEC side, but he came here this weekend and they were still talking to him here during our pre-race meeting about strategy for there. It’s a team effort from both sides. Nicky texted us just now saying that they were on our intercom during our race. It’s one big family. They’ve obviously had an unbelievable year winning as much as they did – winning Le Mans and able to clinch the championship, so I think it was a good decision for Corvette to stay in the WEC to execute that championship and open up some doors for the future.”

GM Sports Car Racing Program Manager Laura Wontrop Klauser was at Monza to see the team linch the WEC title. In the second year of running a dual IMSA and full WEC program, it’s certainly a trans-oceanic success for the ages.

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“I can’t think of a better weekend for Corvette Racing,” Klauser declared. “A World Championship in the WEC and a race win in IMSA on the same day is something we all will remember. It shows how strong this program is in both series and how much both sides work together to get the most out of these Corvette race cars. I’m incredibly proud of both the No. 33 and No. 3 Corvette teams on this unbelievable day.”

Ben Keating, the defending GTE-Am champion who came on board the Corvette program for this season after WEC shelved the GTE-Pro class, is often lapping the No. 3 Corvette regularly in IMSA competition aboard the PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 car. But he is now part of the Corvette championship family.

“I’ve said it over and over, but in this championship and in each one of the five races we’ve had, it has been a true team performance overall. You win as a team and you lose as a team, but we’ve also been lucky in quite a lot of places. It’s just been a magical season,” he said, a sentiment echoed by Catsurg.

“Honestly, this season might have been one of my nicest in motorsport,” Catsburg said, who also wont he 24 Hours of Nürburgring, albeit with a different marque. “It has been so cool right from the start. It was always very relaxed with not a lot of pressure. Somehow the results just kept coming. I cannot deny that we have a great car, a great team and we have an awesome lineup. But we still need to execute, and I feel like we did that really well.”

For Garcia and Taylor, there is still the opportunity to produce a championship of their own. They are third in the GTD PRO points, although with a 109-point deficit to championship leaders Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth, it’s going to take a lot of luck in the five remaining races to achieve. For now, though, they get to celebrate Corvette Racing’s “unbelievable” day.

WTR on staying in the mix: ‘We feel so lucky to be still in the fight’

Daytona seemed a sure indicator that Wayne Taylor Racing was going to have another strong season, just as Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque have taken the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to the wire the last two years, albeit falling short each time. While they missed standing on the top step of the podium at Daytona with the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 in Victory Lane, they showed pace as the new era of GTP began, and after penalties were applied to Rolex 24 winners Meyer Shank Racing, had the points lead.

Fighting for victory in the latter stages of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Pole and dominance at Long Beach until a pit stop miscue. In both those races, while lunging for the lead, there were disasters and DNFs. Last year WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca produced WTR’s first win of the season. This year they were fourth. Then came a mechanical DNF at the Glen. Finally, Sunday, another second-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports park that, had the yellows fallen a bit differently, could very well have been a victory.

Still, Albuquerque and Taylor, in three years together at WTR, haven’t been winless this far into a season. Yet Sunday’s result, with some bad luck by other contenders, have them third in the championship, only 29 points out of first, occupied by Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims. The No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R fielded by AXR, despite showing good pace, fell afoul of some unfortunate yellows that didn’t jibe with their pit stop strategy, plus Sims had to make an extra trip through the pits when they tried to beat a full-course caution and entered a closed pit lane.

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“We feel so lucky to be still in the fight,” Taylor declared. “The No. 31, they had bad luck today — as much luck as we had to beat that yellow that we weren’t even trying to beat. And for it to be a short yellow on top of that… And for them to enter the closed pit by, like, nothing… That was a lot of luck in our favor, and a lot of bad luck against them. That’s racing, and it comes and goes. Just like the traffic comes and goes, that luck comes and goes and hopefully that’s a sign that our season is headed in the right direction. We don’t expect to get these kinds of days every weekend, so we’re going to need to execute and keep doing these sorts of clean performances the rest of the year and make sure we put in put ourselves in a situation to be lucky more often.”

The fact that WTR has three DNFs, no wins, and is still in the thick of the title fight shows the part that luck plays in motorsports, and perhaps never more than this season in which everyone is dealing with new equipment. Until CTMP, no team has scored a repeat victory, and even then, Meyer Shank Racing doesn’t have the points to reflect two wins.

“We were talking…the other day that we rarely do DNF,” said Albuquerque. “But it happens. And I think this season has been demonstrating exactly that it is ups and downs for everyone. Like Watkins Glen … right after, I think the championship was done for us, because the gap to the Porsche was too much. Then they got penalized and, oh, there’s some hope. And then the No. 31 — they were doing a really good job, but then it just tricked them.

“It’s impressive how it swings back to one side from the other, so I think (it’s) just a good lesson as well — whoever is behind, it’s still possible to go for the front. So we just need to be staying away from problems. I think the team did an amazing job. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to jinx this this thing. But I think we covered our strategy in a way that we pitted the first moment that it was possible to (go to) the end. And then, yes, we were lucky that the yellow came on. But we were already there.”

There are three races left for the GTP competitors – Road America, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans – and it’s still anyone’s fight. The spread between first and fourth in the championship is only 63 points, less than the difference between first and fourth in a single race. And that top four encompasses four different teams and four different manufacturers — a scenario that seemed most unlikely as the season began; almost as unlikely as Albuquerque and Taylor being in the battle with the season they’ve had so far.

Corvette, Paul Miller Racing stay out of trouble to win GTD at CTMP

Going a bit off strategy, plus some misfortune for competitors, allowed Corvette Racing with Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia to claim their first GTD PRO victory of the season in the No. 3 C8.R at the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Brian Sellers and Madison Snow, meanwhile, claimed their third GTD victory of the season for Paul Miller Racing in the sixth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Taylor brought the Corvette into the pits for the first time only 33 minutes into the race – far earlier than necessary, but far enough in that they could likely make it to the end with one more stop – and handed the car over to Garcia. Meanwhile, local favorite Pfaff Motorsports went for an opposite strategy, pitting as late as possible — the differing strategies actually coming together at the end of the race.

Without some misfortune for the frontrunners, though, Corvette Racing would have had a tougher time taking the win. The first GTD PRO competitor to fall brought out the race’s first full-course caution halfway into the race. Contact between Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and Jules Gounon in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG in Turn 8 sent Gunn’s Aston hard into the tire wall. Gunn was evaluated by the medical team and released; the No. 79 had to serve a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

The second incident occurred on the penultimate restart with a little more than an hour in the 2h40m contest left with Patrick Pilet leading in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus attacked for the front, but ran out of room and went off track; Garcia seized the moment to pass them both and take the lead.

“On the restart, I knew that the Porsche was the only one that gambled on a different strategy, jumped us, and I was kind of first-row spectator into Turn 1 watching them going side by side, which I think never works here,” said Garcia. “Once I saw that, I was kind of alert and going for it and made the move, went into the lead. Then I think we had strong pace, especially on the front.”

Meanwhile, Barnicoat took the Lexus to the pits with a leak in the cooling system, the car eventually going behind the wall and ending an 11-race podium streak for him and Jack Hawksworth. However, with Gunn out, the No. 14 squad still collected fourth-place points.

Garcia was able to hold off Pilet to the end, the Corvette Racing team collecting their first victory since Sebring last season, with Pfaff’s Pilet and Klaus Bachler second followed by Gounon and Daniel Juncadella in third.

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“We’ve definitely struggled here and there,” said Taylor. “But I felt like we’ve been executing very well in a lot of the races and the results just haven’t been there. We’ve had a lot of podiums here and there, but it’s nice to for everything to click and go our way. The guys called great strategy to kind of undercut everyone at the beginning, jumped up a couple spots into second and Antonio had a great restart there to jump into the lead. It was kind of stressful to watch, being mixed in with the GTD cars, but he stayed out of trouble and I think we had a pretty quick car in clean air. It’s nice to get a Corvette back into victory lane.”

Snow and Sellers were aided by some misfortune for a close competitor as well. The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz qualified second but had to have an engine change after morning warmup and thus started at the back. In addition, because they missed the installation lap, the No. 12 had to start from pit lane and serve a drive-through penalty and were never a factor.

That left only polesitter Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage for Snow to deal with at the start.

“After qualifying yesterday, I knew it was gonna be tough,” Snow said. “We got fortunate with the Lexus with their engine change and starting at the back, so I just had Roman to fight with. There were two GTD PRO cars I had to deal with, but once they were out of the way, and it was just Roman, Roman and I raced hard for a couple of laps and then I ended up getting him around the outside of (Turn) 8. It shows in this field that you can’t do that with everybody that’s out there on the track with you. Roman’s one of them that you definitely can, so he’s a great person to race with.”

From there it was relatively smooth sailing for Snow and Sellers, although Sellers had a hard-charging Frederik Schandorff in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren catching him in the closing stages. The final full-course caution with only five minutes left put play to any challenge, and Schandorff and Brendan Iribe finished second. Mike Skeen and Mikael Grenier were third in the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG.

Gradient Racing suffered a heartbreak while in a good position for Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk to score a good placing, or even a victory, in the No. 66 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. Having pitted right before the short yellow with 57m left, Legge would be able to make it to the end while the rest of the GTD cars in front of them would have had to pit without another long yellow. A short time later, Legge was back in the pits with a brake issue, the screw that holds the pads in the left-rear caliper backing out. The Acura was repaired and continued, seven laps down.

Barnicoat and Hawksworth hold the GTD PRO points lead at 2110, 96 points ahead of Gounon and Juncadella, with Garcia and Taylor another 13 points back. Sellers and Snow extended their GTD points lead, now at 212 over De Angelis and Marco Sorensen. Telitz and Montecalvo are another seven points back in third, with Shandorff and Iribe moving into fourth.

The GTD PRO and GTD cars get their own race next, with a GT-only contest at Lime Rock Park in two weeks.

RESULTS

MSR Acura stretches fuel stint to take critical win at CTMP

Two full-course cautions in the final hour allowed Colin Braun in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 to go 76 minutes and 52 laps from the team’s final pit stop to claim victory for he and Tom Blomqvist in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. It was the team’s second official win of the season, and the team became the first to repeat victory in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season after their victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, for which they were subsequently docked points for manipulating tire data.

“I managed to hand the car over in the lead early on to Colin, but then it kind of went against us a bit,” said Blomqvist. “We lost (position) in the stop – which we didn’t really foresee, so we need to look at that, understand what went went on – which made our life a little bit more difficult.

“We kind of just rolled the dice and said, ‘There’s no point finishing third, we’re not really in the championship. Let’s roll the dice, hope for some yellows.’And that was really the only chance. We were going for the win. And that last yellow really saved us because it just enabled us to basically go almost flat out to the end. So yeah, awesome job by Colin,” he continued.

Blomqvist had already proven the team’s pace by putting the car on pole and leading the first stint as both Acuras pulled away from the rest of the field, Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura pursuing him. But that pace was nearly negated by strategy and a lucky break for the No. 10. Just before the race’s second full-course-caution with 55m left, Filipe Albuquerque brought the No. 10 in for what would be its final stop; if there were no more yellows, most of the rest of the field would have to stop and the WTR crew would be sitting pretty.

“It was a roller coaster in terms of strategy going on,” Albuquerque stated. “So we were lucky, initially, to go to the pits and then right after a yellow came. I didn’t know if this was good or not for us. If everyone pitted, then we were kind of virtually P1. Then the No. 60 car just took a massive risk, which paid out to go to the end. My initial feeling I got from the team was they are on fumes, like they don’t have enough fuel and old tires, so they might struggle. So I just took it easy; I think it was super important to finish somewhere on top.”

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When Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 ran into the back of Aaron Telitz in the No, 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 in Moss Corner and ended up off track with broken suspension, Braun had the opportunity to get into the pits before the third full-course caution came out and the pits closed. However, he drove on past, and the ensuing long yellow allowed the No. 60 to go to the end. A hard crash for the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, Renger van der Zande going into the tires at Turn 8 after contact with Augusto Farfus in the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M Hybrid V8, with five minutes left sealed the victory.

“I still had a bit bit of fuel save to do, but I pushed pretty hard for the first couple laps (after the final restart),” Braun explained. “I knew if I could get a bit of breathing room then I could hit some of these fuel numbers a bit easier and not have to worry so much about about the 10 coming back in some of the brakes zones where you’re lifting early to save. So once once I got a bit of a gap, I kind of settled in and started hitting that fuel number really well. I was surprised the kind of the number we could hit and the pace we could still go.”

Albuquerque and Taylor ended up second for an Acura one-two. The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly gambled with a different strategy early, coming in after less than 20 minutes to top off the energy, and the team came away with a third-place finish, BMW M Team RLL’s 100th podium, to create a virtual tie at the top of the points with Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims. Derani and Sims’ No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac finished seventh after an extra trip through the pits when they didn’t make it into pit lane before it was closed for a full-course caution.

Sims and Derani still lead the points with 1872. De Phillippi and Yelloly are only 10 behind, and Albuquerque and Taylor were propelled back into the championship fight, sitting at third with 1843, 34 points ahead of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy.

The surprise of the race in GTP was Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm finishing fourth in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963, the highest placing Porsche. The No. 5 made its first stop earlier than most of the other GTP cars, and hit its third stop with perfect timing, just before the race’s third full-course caution.

LMP3 turned into a battle between a driver with immense local knowledge and the team that has now won every LMP3 points race this season. Felipe Fraga, after taking over the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier from polesitter Gar Robinson, was leading on the penultimate restart. But Ontario native Garret Grist in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier he shared with Ari Balogh was coming hard. Grist took the lead from Fraga shortly after the restart.

However, Grist lost any advantage he had with some unlucky breaks in traffic, and with less than 10 minutes to go, Fraga attacked, going inside Grist in the final turn. Running side-by-side through the turn, Grist had no room at the exit and went off course, Fraga sailing by while Grist recovered. The incident was reviewed by officials, but no action was taken.

“It was a crazy race,” said Fraga. “Today they were a little bit faster than us, especially in the straights. At Watkins as well, we were fighting crazy hard. In the GT traffic, I basically caught (Grist), two or three seconds in two laps. I think he didn’t expect me to try in the last corner, and I did it. I tried to put him inside, he turned on me, and we had contact. I think that’s what happens when you race really hard. I’m really happy; I expected to finish second today because of our pace, but I’m happy it worked out.”

Grist disagreed with Fraga’s assessment of the situation. “It’s pretty clear what happened. At Watkins Glen I raced clean, here I raced clean. I guess we know how we can race now.”

Fraga and Robinson ended up with the victory, Grist and Balogh were second, and Wayne Boyd and Anthony Mantella were third in the No. 17 AWA Racing Duqueine. Fraga and Robinson have 1115 points, with Boyd and Mantella in second with 934. Grist is alone in third at 928 after Balogh missed the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

RESULTS

Toyota, Hattori Motorsports take first MPC win at CTMP; Audi charges back to win in TCR

The No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota GR Supra GT4 was awarded the overall and Grand Sport (GS) class win in Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, when the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (G82) was …

The No. 95 BMW was found to have a refueling time less than the minimum permissible and also found to be under the minimum allowed weight. The penalties moved the car to the rear of the 24-car GS finishing order and advanced the No. 50 Hattori Motorsports Toyota co-driven by Parker Thompson and Billy Johnson to the race victory. It marks the first Michelin Pilot Challenge triumph for Toyota and made Hattori Motorsports a winner in its series debut. It’s also the first series victory for Thompson and the 24th for Johnson, making him the winningest driver in Michelin Pilot Challenge history.

During the race, the No. 95 BMW, with drivers Robert Megennis and Cameron Lawrence, executed a one-stop strategy to cross the finish line 27.234s ahead of the No. 50 Toyota that started the two-hour race from the pole position. With the penalties assessed, the No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R shared by Frank DePew and Robin Liddell moves to second place in the provisional results, with the No. 19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and co-drivers Rory van der Steur and Austin McCusker finishing third.

The GS class returns to action Aug. 6 in the Road America 120 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

No. 17 Audi charges back to win TCR

Down 20s halfway through, Mikey Taylor wasn’t sure he could claw back and win the Touring Car (TCR) portion of Saturday’s race. But cagey strategy coupled with a bump-and-run pass for the lead on the penultimate lap took Taylor and co-driver Chris Miller to victory in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

Miller started from pole in the No. 17 and led the bulk of his stint, with Harry Gottsacker in the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR hot on his heels the entire time. Gottsacker pitted from second position with 1h7m minutes to go, turning the No. 33 Hyundai over to Robert Wickens – the latter seeking a second straight win at his home track.

Miller stopped five minutes later but Taylor was staring at a 20s deficit when he returned to the track in the No. 17 Audi. From there, the South African put on a calculated comeback as Wickens tried to conserve fuel in a gambit to make it to the finish.

“The team was just telling me what numbers to hit and what to do, and we were closing down on those guys,” Taylor said. “Save fuel, go fast, it’s a bit of a balance. It was just a management game the whole race.”

The leaders ran nose-to-tail late until Taylor dove inside Wickens into Moss Corner with under two minutes to go. The cars made contact, forcing Wickens wide and allowing Taylor to take the lead. Sensing damage to his Hyundai, Wickens made another pit stop for a splash of fuel and a quick check of the car. He returned nearly a lap down but still came home second, ahead of the sister No. 98 Hyundai shared by Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi.

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“There was a little bit of contact but we were both saving fuel and he was saving a little bit more than me,” Taylor explained. “I went down the inside and he turned in and I was there. That’s racing.”

Wickens said his car was challenging to drive on top of the need to conserve fuel.

“That was the only pace I had and I knew he was catching me,” he said. “My only plan was hopefully to have enough tire left to make a run at the end. Unfortunately, he hit me in (Turn) 5B to take the lead and then we had to pit the next lap. It is what it is.”

The win was the first for Miller and Taylor since Lime Rock Park last season and the first in the updated version of the Audi RS3 LMS.

“We’re learning more about this new Audi every race,” Miller said, “And it’s been a great job by the team to continue to develop it, get better with our pit stops. I think we’re in great shape for the rest of the season now.”

Despite losing out on the victory, Wickens and Gottsacker unofficially took sole possession of the TCR class lead after five races by 20 points over Wilkins and Filippi and 30 up on Miller and Taylor.

“Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for us today, but it’s coming,” Gottsacker said. “It’s good points for us but we want that win pretty badly.”

The Lime Rock Park 100, a TCR-only race at the Connecticut road course, is next on the schedule on Saturday, July 22.

RESULTS

Ricky Taylor quickest in FP2 as Acuras go one-two at CTMP

Ricky Taylor and Tom Blomqvist jockeyed for fast time in the final 15 minutes of the second practice session for the IMSA WeatehrTech SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Taylor eventually dipped into the 1m05s range in the No. …

Ricky Taylor and Tom Blomqvist jockeyed for fast time in the final 15 minutes of the second practice session for the IMSA WeatehrTech SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Taylor eventually dipped into the 1m05s range in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 to edge last year’s polesitter by 0.268s with a 1m05.870s lap. Blomqvist posted a 1m06.138s in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 to make it an Acura one-two in the session. There was a 0.6s back to the best of the rest, Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963.

Sebastien Bourdais spun the No. 01 Cadillac exiting Moss Corner on fresh tires, bringing out a red flag in the final 15 minutes and perhaps throwing a wrench into the pro teams’ qualifying simulation plans. Although the stoppage was short, it came during a crucial time for the teams to get heat into the tires and put in a fast lap. Bourdais recovered to post a 1m06.776s lap for fourth in the session, followed by Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 PPM 963.

Jack Hawksworth threw in a flyer in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 before the Vasser Sullivan team brought him into the pits to practice pit stops. His 1m14.959s lap to lead GTD PRO was quickest of all the GT cars. Behind GTD leader Loris Spinelli, Jules Gounon was second for WeatherTech Racing in the No. 79 Mercedes AMG at 1m15.309s, followed by Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R, another 0.175s back.

Spinelli continued to show his pace and the continued improvement of the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracán Evo2, finishing the session with the fastest lap of the GTD cars, 1m15.269s. Frederik Schandorff in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S was second, 0.408s off Spinelli’s best, followed by Madison Snow was third with a 1m15.721s lap in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3.

Mikael Grenier (No. 32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG) and Kay van Berlo (No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3R) completed the top five in GTD. The No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R missed the majority of the session while the team finished an engine change, only making a few laps at the end.

Home-track knowledge continued to show the way in LMP3 as Garett Grist again topped the charts with a 1m11.766s lap in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier. The order from yesterday’s first practice was repeated in the top three, with Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier second (1m11.960s) and Matt Bell in the No. 13 AWA Racing Duqueine third at 1m12.109s.

UP NEXT: Qualifying at 12:45pm ET, streamed live on IMSA.tv.

RESULTS