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WeatherTech Championship

CTMP Pre-Race Notebook

John Dagys’ pre-race notebook from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park…

Photo: Vincent Wouters

Photo: Vincent Wouters

***Ryan Dalziel topped the time charts in warmup, having posted a 1:10.889 in the 20-minute session. Colin Braun (PC), Ryan Briscoe (GTLM) and Andy Lally (GTD) led their respective classes, with no red flags or any notable incidents reported.

***The Prototype Challenge class pole-sitting No. 54 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 will start from the rear of the prototype field after electing to switch starting drivers. Jon Bennett will start the car, after Colin Braun put it on pole.

***The No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS will also start from the rear, due to a tire change. Click Here for the official grid.

***CORE autosport has gone to its second Oreca FLM09 chassis this weekend, after mechanical troubles at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The team most recently raced the chassis at Long Beach and is generally used as a test car.

***Team owner Jon Bennett told Sportscar365 he expects to have a similar PC program next year in the car’s final season of WeatherTech Championship competition and is hopeful IMSA introduces a P2-based Pro-Am formula in 2018.

***IMSA has yet to confirm whether Panoz will be eligible to build a DPi car. IMSA VP of Competition Simon Hodgson told Sportscar365 that there’s a defined regulation for minimum production car volume for OEMs to become a DPi manufacturer, but would not reveal any details. “It would not be true to say there hasn’t been an exploratory conversation from that company to us. However, we’re not in a position to comment further.”

***Panoz has been exploring the possibility of building a bespoke prototype engine and bodywork package, rumored to be around a Ligier JS P17, for next year, in oder to keep the longtime sports car racing entrant in the series. The DeltaWing will no longer be eligible in the new-for-2017 LMP2/DPi rules.

***Hodgson said he expects the full DPi regulations to be published once the 2017 LMP2 regulations from the FIA and ACO become freely available. “We just want to do our own due diligence with those regulations and make sure there’s nothing in conflict with ours,” he said. 

***Toni Vilander and fellow Finn Mika Salo will be attending the Rally Finland later this month, having been invited by the FIA. Both drivers will be doing hot laps in Ferraris, on a closed course, but separate from the actual rally stages.

***Continental Tire has brought more than 2,300 tires (slicks and wets combined) to Canadian Tire Motorsport for both the WeatherTech Championship and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge races.

***WeatherTech Championship Prototype teams are allowed nine sets of tires, with Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona allowed eight sets over the course of the weekend.

***Be sure to download Andy Blackmore’s official Spotter Guide for the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix, featuring all 37 starters for today’s race.

***FOX Sports 1 will carry live coverage of today’s race, beginning at 11 a.m. IMSA Radio will provide full coverage, with international viewers able to watch the race feed on IMSA.tv and on-board cameras for everyone.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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