CTMP Post-Race Notebook

***PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports celebrated a second consecutive LMP2 win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, adding to a victory for Dalton Kellett and Matt McMurry dating back to the class’ last visit to the circuit in 2019.

***McMurry’s lap record from that race, a 1:08.197, remained intact. Race winner Tom Dillmann fell short of the record by 0.463 seconds, recording a 1:08.660 as the fastest lap of the race en route to victory.

***The two other classes did see new lap records posted, courtesy of Alexander Sims’ No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (1:15.771) and the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 driven by Loris Spinelli (1:16.054).

***Scott Bell, Vice President for Global Chevrolet, praised and congratulated the four Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports drivers for their 1-2 finish in the GTD Pro class, which brought the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R’s first win in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

***Bell said: “This is one of the world’s toughest categories of racing with a strong and deep field of GT manufacturers and teams. The high levels of performance, reliability and execution from the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports drivers, crew and engineers were evident throughout the race. We congratulate them and the entire team for the hard-earned, 1-2 GTD Pro finish.”

***Riley, Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson slightly extended their points lead in the LMP2 class as a result of their second-place finish. The No. 74 Oreca 07 Gibson now sits on 1308 points, 12 markers clear of Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. Tom Dillmann and Nick Boulle moved from third to second following their victory.

***The championship leaders in both GT categories also saw their points margins widened as a result of class podiums. Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx lead GTD Pro at 1,955 points, 98 more than Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn. Philip Ellis and Russell Ward, meanwhile, moved 340 points clear of Turner Motorsport pairing Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley.

***Spencer Pumpelly, who took the GTD class victory sharing the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, ended a win drought of 3,208 days in the WeatherTech Championship on Sunday. Pumpelly’s last win came during the 2015 edition of Motul Petit Le Mans, when he triumphed in the GTD class alongside Madison Snow and Patrick Lindsey.

***Pumpelly said: “I didn’t realize how long it had been until someone reminded me. It feels really good to be back here, especially to do it with these guys, Heart of Racing. I’m kind of a guest over here for a race or two and these guys have welcomed me, made me feel comfortable and right at home and I’m glad I could help them get their first win of the year.”

***The win for the No. 27 Aston Martin came after a challenging start to the weekend for Heart of Racing Team, which worked to fix electrical gremlins through both practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.

***Vasser Sullivan’s bid to retain its GTD Pro title took a hit when the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 retired from the race with half an hour remaining, suffering an engine issue. “Obviously, you never want to end a race with a non-finish especially when it’s so tight in the championship right now,” Ben Barnicoat said. “That’s a tough day for all of us to take. No one really deserved the outcome.”

***Ryan Dalziel wrote on social media that he will seek further dialogue with AO Racing driver Heinrich in the wake of his late-race crash at Turn 9, which came after the German’s No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R ran wide as Dalziel came to lap him in the No. 18 Oreca. The Scottish-born driver added that he deleted a previous post critical of Heinrich, preferring ‘not to air our dirty laundry online.’

***Heinrich’s co-driver Priaulx described AO’s third place in GTD Pro as a “championship-winning type of day,” with Heinrich explaining that the podium came as a surprise to the Porsche squad. “This is not a track that really suits us,” said Heinrich. “But we just executed the race really well. We didn’t make any mistakes. Seb had a great start and I think that was key.”

***Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller fell short of securing the Ford Mustang GT3’s first podium in WeatherTech Championship competition, with Tincknell running as high as second before the car dropped back to fourth. “We were very close to a podium finish today but it didn’t quite happen for us,” Rockenfeller said. “We had good pace and we gave it our all from the start. For some reason it took forever for the fuel to go in during the pit stop, compared to the others so we need to investigate whether we have an issue with the rig or if the others are fuel saving all the time.”

***The other Ford in the race, Proton Competition’s No. 55 GTD-entered machine for Corey Lewis and Giammarco Levorato, finished two laps down and 12th in class after a challenging race that included a drive-through penalty for Levorato after contact with Gradient Racing’s Sheena Monk on the opening lap.

***Another car to receive a drive-through penalty was the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, which was given incident responsibility after contact with the No. 13 AWA Chevrolet that resulted in Orey Fidani suffering a big impact with the tire barrier at Turn 3. Fidani was taken to the on-site medical center as a precaution and was subsequently released.

***Sellers, who was at the wheel of the No. 1 car during the contact, said he felt “gutted” about the outcome of the race, in which Paul Miller Racing went on to finish eighth. “I feel like we had a really good race car, but we missed execution on a lot of levels,” he said. “Our crew delivered one of the best results they have delivered in terms of preparation and the pit stops. And, unfortunately, we just weren’t able to hold up our end of the bargain.”

***With regards to the contact with Fidani, Sellers commented: “I feel disappointed in the incident with the No. 13 and the contact I made that basically ruined my race and theirs. Unfortunately, these things happen in racing sometimes. We strive to be better every weekend. We have to be better.”

***Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti driver Kyle Marcelli praised the efforts of teammate Danny Formal, who spent the majority of the race behind the wheel of the No. 45 Lamborghini upon his CTMP debut en route to sixth in class. “Danny did a heck of a job, doing an hour and 40 minutes in the car,” he said. “This place is busy. It’s also mentally and physically exhausting, so really proud of him for the effort he put in.”

***The WeatherTech Championship season continues with the IMSA Sportscar Weekend at Road America on Aug. 4, where all four classes (GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD) will be in action.