Simon Pagenaud’s ongoing recovery from the concussion he suffered at the Mid-Ohio NTT IndyCar Series race will keep the Frenchman out of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing cockpit for the remainder of the season. Pagenaud continues to seek clearance to …
Simon Pagenaud’s ongoing recovery from the concussion he suffered at the Mid-Ohio NTT IndyCar Series race will keep the Frenchman out of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing cockpit for the remainder of the season. Pagenaud continues to seek clearance to drive from IndyCar’s medical team, but it has not been granted.
In his place, MSR’s IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist, who will step up to IndyCar next year in a full-time role in the No. 06 MSR Honda, will pilot the No. 60 at Portland International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It will mark Blomqvist’s second and third appearances in the No. 60 after standing in for Pagenaud at Toronto in July.
The news is unfortunate for Pagenaud, whose contract with MSR is up at the end of the season and will be unable to race before entering free agency.
For Blomqvist, September becomes busier than expected as the September 1-3 Portland event and the Sept. 8-10 race in Monterey will now precede his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Indianapolis on Sept. 15-17 in the hybrid No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-06 GTP.
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“Obviously the circumstances are quite tricky with Simon’s recovery and the whole situation surrounding the 60 car – I know the whole team and myself included are thinking about him as he recovers,” Blomqvist said. “I’ve got to thank Jim (Meyer) and Mike (Shank) for getting me in the car and looking ahead now to next season having been confirmed to drive with MSR next year.
“It’s a good thing to be getting these races under my belt before the season and working in preparation for my full program in 2024. I got a brief test in Toronto under very challenging circumstances – without any real preparation whatsoever.”
Blomqvist takes over from Linus Lundqvist, who helmed the No. 60 for the last three rounds and did well enough to attract the Chip Ganassi Racing team’s interest for 2024. For Blomqvist, the chance to gain more mileage and experience will be invaluable as he readies himself for the open-wheel challenge that lies ahead.
“Now I’ve got a little bit more understanding and knowledge and I’m hoping it’s going to be easier this time. I’m going to have the opportunity to get into the simulator and I know a little bit more of what to expect in terms of the way the weekend runs. I don’t know Portland at all and I know everyone has been racing flat-out in the summer. It’s still going to be an absolutely huge challenge.
“The series is so, so competitive and I am still new to these cars. I’m not putting any pressure on myself and I’m just going to go out there and do my best. Hopefully I can do Mike and Jim proud and make progress with every session. Hopefully after these next two events I can be happy and put in some strong performances and go into winter break with more knowledge on the series and be able to build on this.”
Team owner Mike Shank and Tom Blomqvist, his new IndyCar driver for 2024, join RACER’s Marshall Pruett to share insights about why he’s being elevated from Meyer Shank Racing’s IMSA program and what the opportunity means to the prototype champion. …
Team owner Mike Shank and Tom Blomqvist, his new IndyCar driver for 2024, join RACER’s Marshall Pruett to share insights about why he’s being elevated from Meyer Shank Racing’s IMSA program and what the opportunity means to the prototype champion.
RACER’s IndyCar Trackside Report at the Gallagher Grand Prix is presented by Skip Barber Racing School. With multiple locations in the US, Skip Barber Racing School has developed more winning racers than any other school. Their alumni have taken the podium in all facets of motorsports including NASCAR, INDYCAR, SCCA, World Challenge and IMSA. Click to learn more.
The story behind Tom Blomqvist’s rise to earn a full-time shot with Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series is one we haven’t seen in more than 50 years. There are no modern examples of a sports car champion being given a paid ride in IndyCar, …
The story behind Tom Blomqvist’s rise to earn a full-time shot with Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series is one we haven’t seen in more than 50 years.
There are no modern examples of a sports car champion being given a paid ride in IndyCar, but that’s what we have with the 2022 IMSA DPi title winner, who is being taken to IndyCar by his WeatherTech SportsCar Championship squad which competes in both series.
The late American racing legend Mark Donohue, who won the 1967 United States Road Racing Club title for Roger Penske in Lola T70 prototypes, was taken to IndyCar by Penske for a few rounds in 1968 and went on to win a few races, including the 1972 Indy 500, but never had a full-time shot in the series. Sports car champion Scott Pruett paid for his first few IndyCar drives in 1988 with prize money earned from IMSA GTO and Trans Am championships, and 1984 IMSA GTP champ Randy Lanier used his private fortune to fund two seasons of IndyCar before the FBI and DEA curtailed that adventure.
It leaves Blomqvist as a truly unique example of a sports car champion-turned-IndyCar full-timer who has made IMSA’s president extremely proud.
“One of the things that attracted me to endurance sports car racing from the time I was a little boy was the huge talent pool that existed and how, as a young fan, I would put my favorite sports car drivers toe-to-toe with any drivers from other disciplines in our great sport,” John Doonan told RACER. “I also always loved the crossover when drivers from NASCAR, open-wheel, or even two-wheel motorsports would come to an IMSA race primarily due to their deep passion for driving any car at any time.
“Clearly, this moment for Tom speaks to endurance sports car racing being a great proving ground for some of the greatest talent in all of auto racing. There is a short, yet now-growing, list of drivers who cut their teeth in sports car racing that have gotten the call to IndyCar, with likes of Mark Donohue, Bobby Rahal, and Lyn St. James coming to mind, and now Tom is part of that very rare list. Tom has a tremendous amount to be proud of as it relates to what he accomplished in IMSA, and all of his IMSA family members and friends will be cheering him on as he makes this new step in his career journey.”
So what was it about Blomqvist that caught Shank’s attention as an open-wheel option, and when did that revelation arrive?
“We tested Tom in October of ‘21 at Road Atlanta in the DPi and I would say within two runs, I understood what we had, immediately,” Shank said. “And he was a guy that not only had the raw speed that we need, but he also understood energy conservation, and he could do it at the highest level I’ve seen in a long time. So right away, we knew we had a really interesting person.
Donohue entered IndyCar off the back of his superb resume in sports cars. Dave Friedman/Motorsport Images
“Then we rolled to the Rolex 24 At Daytona and won that race and Tom has a few of his stints that were just mega. And I’m like, man, we this just gets more interesting, because as the year went on, he did some qualifying runs for us that really blew me away from a pure speed perspective. And it really started making me think, ‘what does this guy really want to do?’
“I started thinking about our IndyCar side, we started talking a little bit about it, and then we went on to win the DPi championship. And then we won Rolex again this year, and now we’re back in the points battle again, after even having a huge deficit from the mess we made for ourselves in January. So it really came down to two things: He has the intellectual capacity, which I think it takes to get the most from these new hybrid cars, as well as a ton of raw speed. And, by the way, he deserves a shot in IndyCar.”
Shank’s been on the lookout for drivers who fit the hunter/killer mindset in IndyCar, and in Blomqvist, he’s found it.
“Tom has a self confidence that I haven’t seen very much of; he really believes he’s the fastest guy out there, and whether he is or not, he believes he is or can be and I love that edge,” he said. “He’s not afraid of anybody. Remember, he’s the guy that beat Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen a lot of the time in Formula 3, and he ticks all the boxes for us.
“There’s always risks with a move like this, but I think it’s a good one. And with the way the driving situation here is an IndyCar today, you got to be really aggressive to find a diamond and to go get talent like Tom’s, sometimes you have to look outside the pond you’re fishing in.”
Although Blomqvist’s standout performances in 2022 were the trigger point for Shank to start thinking of him as his next IndyCar driver, he also highlights the 29-year-old’s efforts in the new Acura ARX-06 GTP this year as further confirmation of Blomqvist’s capabilities. Weeks after winning the Rolex 24 in January, the team was found to have cheated by running its tire pressures below the minimum target set by the series, and lost all of its points from the event, among other penalties that were assessed.
With a recent GTP win led by Blomqvist and co-driver Colin Braun in Canada and two additional podiums earned since June, MSR’s No. 60 Acura ARX-06 is on the fringes of the championship fight, and Shank’s new IndyCar driver has been a big part of making that possible.
“That’s a huge moment of pride for me when we got out of that mess in January, and it was super bumpy at first,” Shank said. “It was so much bad mojo after that we needed to dig ourselves out of a hole and I pushed these guys just to focus on every race by itself. After a bunch of good runs, with Tom doing his thing and Colin doing his thing, we’re here now and we’re back kind of in contention again and it’s a real testament to how good this team really is. And trust me, if we get to (the season finale at) Petit Le Mans and we’re in the title fight, it is going to be a Martinsville short-track race out there to try and get another championship.”
Helio Castroneves will transition from his role as a full-time NTT IndyCar Series driver for Meyer Shank Racing into a new ambassadorial position for MSR that includes an ownership stake in the team and a seat in a third MSR entry at the 2024 and …
Helio Castroneves will transition from his role as a full-time NTT IndyCar Series driver for Meyer Shank Racing into a new ambassadorial position for MSR that includes an ownership stake in the team and a seat in a third MSR entry at the 2024 and 2025 Indianapolis 500s.
With his four Indy 500 wins, including his triumph at the Speedway for MSR in 2021, the Brazilian will complete the year in the No. 06 Honda before handing the reins to MSR’s defending IMSA prototype champion Tom Blomqvist (pictured above), who becomes the team’s first confirmed driver for the 2024 season.
For the 48-year-old Castroneves, the transition will complete a full-time IndyCar career that began in the former CART IndyCar Series in 1998 with the Bettenhausen Racing team. His open-wheel stardom took flight after joining Team Penske in 2000 where he became a perennial title contender and win dozens of races and poles along with three Indy 500s. A detour to sports car racing with Penske delivered his first major championship in 2020 in IMSA’s DPi class in a factory Acura ARX-05 prototype, but a rebirth in IndyCar was not offered.
A chance to continue in IndyCar with MSR in 2021 produced the team’s maiden win in the series at the biggest event of all and elevated Castroneves to the exclusive four-time Indy winner’s club. His full-time status was regained in 2022 alongside fellow former Penske driver Simon Pagenaud where he’s delivered four top-10 finishes in the No. 06 car.
“I want to thank Mike, Jim and Liberty for accepting me as part of the ownership group,” said Castroneves (pictured above). “Throughout my career I’ve been very fortunate to surround myself with an amazing group of people and this journey will be my next chapter and I can’t wait for that. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of fuel to burn inside in terms of driving and I will do that at the Indy 500 as I continue my pursuit of the ‘Drive for Five.’”
In Blomqvist, a nice piece of symmetry is found in his elevation to IndyCar where — like Castroneves — it comes on the back of winning the IMSA DPi championship using the same Acura ARX-05 model. The 29-year-old who was born in England and raised in both the UK and New Zealand, has one of the deepest backgrounds of any incoming IndyCar rookie.
The son of Swedish rallying champion Stig Blomqvist was a race-winning standout on the European open-wheel ladder, placing second behind Alpine Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon and ahead of current world champion Max Verstappen in the 2014 FIA Euro Formula 3 series, but was diverted to the German DTM silhouette championship as a factory driver for BMW when opportunities to reach Formula 2 did not materialize.
Blomqvist raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship in LMP2 and GTE-Pro along with FIA Formula E and IMSA’s GT Le Mans category with BMW in the intervening years. A call from Shank leading into 2022 with a stated need of leading MSR’s IMSA DPi program turned into a perfect fit for the team and driver.
With Blomqvist given instructions to attack at all times, two giant wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Petit Le Mans — along with five other podiums from 10 races — delivered the 2022 DPi title for the team and Acura with support from co-driver Oliver Jarvis and endurance teammates Castroneves and Pagenaud.
“Firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to Mike and Jim and all the partners — AutoNation, SiriusXM, Arctic Wolf, Clopay and Cleveland-Cliffs — for believing in me and giving me this opportunity,” said Blomqvist. “It’s been a good ride the last two years in IMSA, but I’ve been itching to make the step up to IndyCar and this is an opportunity I’m eager and motivated to make the most of. IndyCar is an incredibly competitive series and I’m under no illusions in how difficult this championship can be, but I am extremely motivated to make the most of this exciting new challenge.”
Paired this year with Colin Braun, the two have claimed two more wins and stood on the podium in four of seven rounds. Based on everything he’s seen Blomqvist do in MSR’s wickedly fast Acura DPi and the new hybrid Acura ARX-06 GTP machine, Shank and co-owner Jim Meyer knew Blomqvist was going to be their new IndyCar driver many months ago.
“We are thrilled to bring Tom over to our IndyCar program full-time starting next year, and to be able to keep Helio as a key part of our program moving forward and go for a fifth Indianapolis 500 victory next year,” said Mike Shank. “I feel like all the planets aligned for us to be able to do this, so I’m really grateful for us to be making this next step as a team. Helio brings so much to what we do overall as a team, both in terms of our competition package and all of his experience, as well as how he’s able to engage with our partners. So having him transition to this role is really exciting for everyone involved.”
Blomqvist is scheduled to complete his first oval test immediately after the season finale in Monterey, which would make him eligible for all forms of IndyCar competition in 2024.
Most rookies would be thrilled to start 20th out of 27 cars for their first NTT IndyCar Series race, especially on three days’ notice, on a track they hadn’t driven before Friday, and while it was raining. But not Tom Blomqvist. The reigning IMSA …
Most rookies would be thrilled to start 20th out of 27 cars for their first NTT IndyCar Series race, especially on three days’ notice, on a track they hadn’t driven before Friday, and while it was raining. But not Tom Blomqvist.
The reigning IMSA DPi champion, who also starts third among the five rookies in the field, was visibly disappointed after earning 20th for Meyer Shank Racing, which speaks to the Briton’s high expectations for himself in even the most daunting circumstances.
Frustrated by his inability to transfer into the Firestone Fast 12 as his group searched for traction on the wet, gripless street circuit, Blomqvist wanted more from the session and struggled to find satisfaction after stepping from the No. 60 Honda normally occupied by Simon Pagenaud.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get a dry session, in a way, because I think we were making a step in the right direction,” Blomqvist said. “That was obviously another challenge with the wet. I didn’t know what to expect. I just need some more laps, which is the story of the weekend. But we kept it on the black stuff.”
Although he wasn’t impressed with his qualifying result, Blomqvist eventually managed to smile and did concede that things are looking up after his first two days as an IndyCar driver.
“Nonetheless, it’s the first weekend,” he said. “And every little bit, it’s been getting better and better, slowly.”
Team co-owner Mike Shank had nothing but compliments for his full-time IMSA star.
“I put him in the car as a test. I wanted to see how he adapted to something that was totally different,” he said. “I know he can be hard on himself — all drivers want to be up front — but we are happy with where he is at. He is progressing just like we wanted him to and making all the right strides to keep improving. We’ve definitely thrown a lot at him and it’s been like drinking from a fire hose for him, but he’s doing great, and just where we thought he would be.”
Bumps and track evolution were the centerpiece of Friday’s opening practice session for the NTT IndyCar Series on the streets of Toronto. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong was the early pacesetter with a 1m03.5s lap around the 1.8-mile circuit, …
Bumps and track evolution were the centerpiece of Friday’s opening practice session for the NTT IndyCar Series on the streets of Toronto.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong was the early pacesetter with a 1m03.5s lap around the 1.8-mile circuit, and with 75 minutes made available to teams and drivers to adapt to the bone-jarring course and its increasingly severe surface, Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood lowered the best lap to a 1m01.8 on Firestone’s primary tires.
Once the field switched to the faster green-banded alternate rubber in the final 15 minutes of the lone outing for the day, Kirkwood fired in the top lap of the session with a remarkable 1m00.8075s tour in the No. 27 Honda to lead a strong 1-2 for Andretti with Romain Grosjean’s No. 28 Honda close behind (+0.05s).
Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist broke up the Andretti party in third with the No. 6 Chevy (+0.0532s) and had Colton Herta in his shadow with the No. 26 Andretti Honda in fourth (+0.1060s). McLaren’s Alexander Rossi was next in the No. 7 Honda (+0.1625s), and in sixth, CGR’s Marcus Ericsson led the team home in the No. 8 Honda (+0.1865s).
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Outside the lead group, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott was quick to open the event after running 13th in the No. 77 Chevy (+0.8053s). Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves also ran well in 14th with the No. 06 Honda (+0.8166s), and in 16th Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal was once again the fastest among RLL’s trio in his No. 15 Honda (+0.8908s); teammate Christian Lundgaard was directly behind him in the No. 45 Honda (+0.8921s).
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay closed the session as the fastest intrasquad driver with the No. 20 Chevy which ran 18th (+1.046s); teammate Rinus VeeKay was 23rd in the No. 21 Chevy (+1.7794s).
Series newcomer Tom Blomqvist was the busiest driver on the day as he turned 39 laps in the No. 60 MSR Honda in a substitute role for MSR’s injured Simon Pagenaud. Lacking the opportunity to learn the track on a simulator before his last-minute call-up, Blomqvist was wise to tread carefully around the circuit and returned the car in one piece. To his delight, he wasn’t the slowest driver in the field, earning 26th (+2.9904s) among the 27 entries in attendance.
“I just wanted to take it easy to get an understanding of the car and the track,” Blomqvist said. “It took a while to get your head around it, but yeah, I just wanted to build up to get through today.”
Barring a flick-spin or two by drivers to get themselves out of a runoff area and a few light brushes with the walls, the session was largely free of drama as no yellow or red flags slowed the action.
The decision to use Tom Blomqvist this weekend in Toronto, while drawing from a single day of IndyCar experience gained eight months ago in Florida, speaks volumes about the belief Mike Shank and Jim Meyer have in their 29-year-old IMSA star. They …
The decision to use Tom Blomqvist this weekend in Toronto, while drawing from a single day of IndyCar experience gained eight months ago in Florida, speaks volumes about the belief Mike Shank and Jim Meyer have in their 29-year-old IMSA star.
They could have signed an IndyCar veteran to deputize for Simon Pagenaud after IndyCar’s medical staff did not provide clearance for the injured Frenchman to race on the streets of Toronto, but the son of Swedish rallying legend Stig Blomqvist has been entrusted to represent Meyer Shank Racing this weekend in the NTT IndyCar Series after leading the team to glory in IMSA.
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“Firstly, obviously, I’m sending my best wishes to Simon,” Blomqvist said of his friend and occasional IMSA teammate. “I’m wishing him a speedy recovery. No one likes to see that. But I’m pretty excited. I’m also well aware of the challenges that face me. This is the hardest thing you can do. I’ve only driven the car once. It was a while ago. I don’t know the track, and it’s not exactly an easy track, right? It’s got walls all around it. It’s bumpy. And to be honest, as a racing driver, when you don’t know a track, don’t really know the car, that’s the worst combo ever.
“When you know one of the two, it’s a bit easier, but when you don’t know either, it’s gonna be so hard. Obviously, the team’s aware of that. They’re gonna do absolutely all they can to get me up to speed. I’m gonna be like a kid in school, studying everything I possibly can to make sure I’m as prepared as possible. But ultimately, nothing is going to prepare me properly for the real deal. I’ll be jumping in deep, for sure. But I’m up for the challenge. It’s an experience that can only help me as a racing driver going forward.”
A veteran of European junior open-wheel racing before his services were secured by BMW and other factories in sports car competition, Blomqvist is among the fastest and most versatile talents working today. From GT racing to Formula E, the British-born Blomqvist has been a standout in every discipline, and when MSR needed to upgrade its IMSA roster heading into 2022, he was the main acquisition, leading the team to two big wins at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Petit Le Mans and seven total podiums from 10 rounds with former teammate Oliver Jarvis.
Together, with assistance from Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves at the longest enduros, Blomqvist led the way to delivering the IMSA DPi championship for Acura and MSR.
Partnered with Colin Braun in 2023 and MSR’s IndyCar duo for the long events, Blomqvist has continued his rocket-like ways with the new Acura ARX-06 hybrid GTP, taking the pole and crossing the finish line first at the Rolex 24, and setting pole last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on the outskirts of Toronto where he and Braun went to victory lane once again.
Minus the power steering and other comforts offered by his GTP car, Blomqvist is ready for the heat and exhaustion the No. 60 Honda IndyCar has waiting for him once practice gets under way on Friday.
“I’m going to be dead,” he said. “I’m going to be destroyed. But I’m mentally and physically prepared. I’m also well aware of my capabilities. I’ve driven everything, which helps you in circumstances like this.”
If he’s anything other than last in the field during that session, and close to last for the rest of the event, it will be a surprise due to all of the challenges he’s facing. But that doesn’t mean Blomqvist will happily accept being at the wrong end of the timing sheets, and it’s that kind of fighting spirit that fits perfectly with MSR’s owners.
“If I’m at the bottom of the timesheets, I guess it’s expected, but I’ll still be mad if I’m last at the end of FP1,” he said. “I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never been so unsure in my life about how this is going to pan out; I feel like it’s going to be better than expected or it’s going to be really, really tough.
“One thing is for sure: I’m going to have a lot of fun, because these cars are proper racing cars. You have to hustle them, you can push hard in quali, and that’s kind of the racing I enjoy. I just don’t have that much time to understand all the intricacies of the car. There’s not much practice in IndyCar, but the practice on Friday, I’m gonna be out pumping around every lap I can get.”
Without the luxury of spending a day on a driver-in-the-loop simulator before FP1, Blomqvist will be keeping his phone and tablet busy while consuming in-car videos on YouTube. And once he gets a chance to experience the tricky 1.8-mile, 11-turn street circuit on Friday, his aggression is likely to rise on Saturday and Sunday.
“Hopefully, I have a good night’s sleep on Friday and my brain wakes up next day and goes, ‘Oh, I feel a lot more comfortable now. And let’s see what I can do,’” he said. “Typically, that’s what happens when you drive. You know, it’s good to have that nice break between first practice and second practice. But I’m still not expecting any miracles from me, and I don’t think anyone should. But I’d just like to come away from the weekend and be happy with my performance and what I did with such limited mileage.”
Reigning IMSA DPi champion and winner of last weekend’s GTP race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park Tom Blomqvist will make his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing this weekend in Toronto as the substitute for Simon Pagenaud. The temporary move with …
Reigning IMSA DPi champion and winner of last weekend’s GTP race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park Tom Blomqvist will make his IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing this weekend in Toronto as the substitute for Simon Pagenaud.
The temporary move with Blomqvist comes after IndyCar’s medical team did not clear Pagenaud to drive after demonstrating concussion-like symptoms following a heavy brake failure-related crash at the most recent round in Mid-Ohio.
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“Simon says he’s feeling fine and absolutely ready to get back in the car once he is cleared, but he knows there is an IndyCar protocol in place to protect the drivers, so we just have to follow those guidelines,” Shank said. “I know he was disappointed to end his long streak of starts, but everyone wants him to be as healthy as possible so we just have to follow the IndyCar medical guidance on this.
“We are fortunate to have Tom available to jump in on such short notice. He’s a champion, has a little bit of experience in the car, and is coming off another big IMSA win last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, so this was not a tough call for us to make.”
Blomqvist, who is tipped to be taking a full-time role with MSR in IndyCar next year, was asked to stay in Canada after Sunday’s win with teammate Colin Braun in the No. 60 Acura ARX-06, in case Pagenaud was unable to race, but flew back to the UK and is turning around to fly back to Toronto.
“First and foremost, I’m thinking of Simon and hoping that he recovers as quickly as possible so that he can get back behind the wheel,” Blomqvist said. “I have to thank Mike and Jim [Meyer] for considering me to fill in this weekend. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what IndyCar has to offer. Diving straight into the deep end is an understatement after only having one test in the MSR IndyCar last year. I’m excited but aware of the challenges getting up to speed during a race weekend, so I’m not putting any pressure on myself. Just going to go out there soak it all in and give it all I’ve got.”
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 …
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.
Jake Galstad/Lumen
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.
Qualifying for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park turned into a repeat of the second practice, with Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing fighting for the top spot and making Acura the star of the show. This time, …
Qualifying for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park turned into a repeat of the second practice, with Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing fighting for the top spot and making Acura the star of the show. This time, however, it was Tom Blomqvist putting the No. 60 MSR ARX-06 on pole with a 1m5.653s lap, 0.081s ahead of Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 WTR ARX-06 as Acura locked out the front row. For Blomqvist, it was a repeat pole after setting a blistering record lap in qualifying for last year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race.
“It’s always a hell of a commitment around here, regardless of what car you’re in,” Blomqvist stated. “When you put new tires and then take the fuel out, around here, your minimum speeds pick up drastically. This year the GTP car carries about 100 kilos of fuel, so it’s just night and day difference. When you take it for a qualy run, it’s such a good feeling. Last year was a lot more of a wild ride. We’ve got a good car this year, it’s a bit more forgiving; nonetheless, I wasn’t actually happy with my personal performance in that session, just a little bit messy from from my side. I wasn’t super happy with where I was on track. But I can’t complain, I’m still sitting here. It’s just testament to the job the team’s done in preparing the car.”
The second row will be the two Cadillac Racing V-Series.Rs, Pipo Derani qualifying third in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac at 1m5.829s. Sebastien Bourdais, after spending the first part of the session scrubbing the three set of tires allotted for qualifying and race, will start on the outside of the second row in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac.
“I think we did a good job from free practice two to qualifying,” said Derani, who with Alexander Sims is leading the GTP points and looking for their second win of the season. “The car was really good yesterday and we tried a couple of things that didn’t go as planned for practice two. We were able to turn the tables around again and come back to qualifying with a strong car. To be that close to the Acuras after what they displayed in practice two, I think it shows that we are on the right path. So, thanks to the team for providing me a good car. Starting on the second row is good, especially on a track that is difficult to pass.”
Gar Robinson posted a dominant qualifying time in LMP3, his 1m12.946s lap in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier more than 0.4s ahead of Orey Fidani in the No. 13 AWA Duqueine. Ari Balogh marked his return to the cockpit, having sat out the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen after a qualifying crash, by putting the the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier third.
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Jack Hawksworth claimed the GTD Pro and overall GT pole in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, his second of the season after taking the top spot at Long Beach, where he and Ben Barnicoat went on to take victory. Hawksworth posted a new track record – beating his own GTD record from 2018 by half a second and Mathieu Jaminet’s GTD PRO mark from last year – with a 1m15.029s lap to beat Jules Gounon in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG by 0.074s.
“It’s been, obviously, a perfect start to the weekend so far,” said Hawksworth, who hasn’t raced at CTMP since 2018, having missed last year’s race due to a back injury. “The car’s always been strong here. If we have a track on the calendar that we have circled that we feel like we’ll be good at, this is that track. The minute we rolled off the car felt good, and we executed a good clean weekend so far.”
GTD PRO teams occupied the first three spots, as Alex Riberas put the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin vantage GT3 on the inside of the second row with a 1m15.341s lap. The rest of the GTD PRO cars will line up right behind Riberas — Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R qualifying fifth overall and Mosport rookie Klaus Bachler in the hometown favorite Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R qualifying seventh.
It will be an all Heart of Racing second row for the GT start, as Canadian driver Roman De Angelis took the GTD pole, the second in his career, on home soil with a 1m15.478s lap. That lap will stand as a new GTD track record as De Angelis looks to repeat the victory Heart of Racing scored at CTMP last year when the team won both GTD and GTD PRO.
“I’ve definitely had a had a lot of weekends here over my racing career. My first time ever in a car was at the driver development track and also tons of racing here in Formula Ford and Carrera Cup,” De Angelis recounted. “Tons of track time here, so hopefully I would perform decently. It’s been difficult for the last few years to put qualifying together for myself, that’s definitely been my weak point. I tend to overdrive, so really focusing on the last few rounds trying to talk with my co drivers and stuff and figure out what I what I needed to change and it’s been good so far this year. So happy to to get a pole in general and obviously to do it at home was great, with my family and friends at a circuit that I really enjoy being at.”
De Angelis will have a small buffer to the second-place GTD qualifier at the start, as Frankie Montecalvo (1m15.058) will be starting the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus directly behind him – Jordan Taylor qualified between them – and Madison Snow will line up behind on the outside of the fourth row, having qualified the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 third in GTD with a 1m15.595s lap. Mikael Grenier (No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG) and Patrick Gallagher (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3) completed the top five in GTD qualifying.
Up next: A 20 minute warmup session takes place at 8:15 a.m. ET Sunday, ahead of a 12:05 p.m. race start.
