CTMP Saturday Notebook

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

***A seven-year track record for LMP2 was broken in qualifying on Saturday for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park by FIA Bronze-rated driver Jeremy Clarke, who claimed pole for the LMP2 headline race. Clarke’s 1:07.904 lap in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson bested Matt McMurry’s 1:08.197 lap that had stood as the quickest in the class since the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race.

***Speaking after his record-setting run, Clarke admitted he wasn’t sure if he had a “whole lot left” in the car after setting the time, which came in a differently configured LMP2 car that now features less power and slight aero adjustments compared to the time when McMurry notched the track record. Because of this, and the fact the Bronze-rated drivers are now required to qualify, it is the first new LMP2 track record to be broken in recent memory.

***Clarke said: “The first set of tires when I went out, I thought I put down a pretty good lap. Then when I came in to get that second set they told me I was in P2 so I was a bit surprised. Then I knew when I went out the next time it was full push from the start. I laid the lap down and luckily I was able to.”

***The No. 99 AO Racing entry of PJ Hyett, who initially qualified third, has been moved to the rear of the LMP2 starting grid for Sunday’s two-hour and 40-minute race as post-qualifying technical inspection revealed that the car did not meet the minimum height requirement for components located ahead of the front axle. All other inspected cars were in compliance according to an IMSA spokesperson.

***Heart of Racing Team scored three pole positions on Saturday across two continents, with Eduardo Barrichello taking top qualifying honors in GTD and Hannah Greenemeier in the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, followed by Kobe Pauwels, filling in for Barrichello in the FIA World Endurance Championship round in Sao Paulo. Only the team’s Aston Martin Vallyrie Hypercar effort in Brazil failed to claim a pole in what still a landmark day for the Ian James-led operation.

***Barrichello, who is missing his home WEC race this weekend amid his IMSA GTD class championship-leading effort, said: “It was a good day for us. Three poles in one day, it’s pretty rare for that to happen. Everybody’s been doing a really good job at The Heart of Racing and I’m happy to be part of it. I’m pretty happy to be here but it would be quite nice to be in [Brazil] as well.”

***Both the No. 11 TDS Racing and No. 43 Inter Europol LMP2 entries were given five-minute stop-and-h0ld penalties at the start of Saturday morning’s final practice due to both teams having had crew members driving and/or riding on its cars in the paddock that was deemed dangerous following Friday’s opening session.

***Ricky Taylor’s last LMP2 outing came at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, ironically driving for fellow WeatherTech Championship competitor TDS Racing-run in a Tower Motorsports-badged Pro-Am class entry with co-drivers Rene Rast and Steven Thomas. Taylor led both practice sessions in the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen entry, which will start second in the hands of Misha Goikhberg.

***Taylor noted that he shared the front row of the grid at CTMP grid in 2017 with Goikhberg, who qualified JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Oreca an impressive second overall in the then-combined Prototype class that included DPi machinery. “It’s kind of cool to see that come full circle,” he told Sportscar365.

***YRB Racing team principal Christopher Deely said the biggest change in the team’s move from GTD to GTD Pro this weekend is that its drivers will be staying busy during any potential full-course cautions. “We’re happy to have something to do during the class split now,” he said. “Before it was always, ‘Stay left and wait for everyone to pass.’ But at the end of the day it is just a change in color. We’re still going to compete in the highest level we can.”

***When asked if there’s any significance to the No. 68, Valentin Hasse-Clot said: “There is significance for someone but not us,” said the Aston Martin factory driver, in reference to the team’s new owner that has decided to remain anonymous.

***Conquest Racing has promoted its performance engineer Juli Mundet Caballero to full race engineering duties this weekend for its No. 34 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, shared by Albert Costa and now-full season driver Lorenzo Patrese.

***Team principal Eric Bachelart confirmed to Sportscar365 that Manny Franco will not be back in the GTD class entry for any remaining race this year, with a decision on the team’s Silver-rated driver for the final two Endurance Cup rounds at Road America and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta set to be made by the end of this weekend.

***Bachelart said Fran Rueda, who joined Costa and Patrese at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, are among the drivers in the mix for the seat, while Franco is due to still test with the team at Road America later this month.

***When asked if Franco, who has continued to support this year’s program despite electing not to race for the balance of the season, will continue with the team in 2027, Bachelart said: “We need to have the conversation. Nothing’s confirmed yet but hopefully he’ll be back next year.”

***Wright Motorsports team owner/driver Adam Adelson declined to confirm what Sportscar365 understands has been an ongoing evaluation of GT3 manufacturers for its flagship WeatherTech Championship program next year. “We’re always just looking for what’s best for the team and what’s best to be competitive moving forward,” Adelson told Sportscar365.

***Should Wright make the switch away from the Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo for Adelson’s own racing program, Sportscar365 understands the team would still remain fielding Porsches in its ever-expanding customer program that’s largely been in SRO America competition.

***Adelson, who was forced to miss last month’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa due to the clashing Six Hours of The Glen, said he’s hopeful the Belgian endurance classic will be moved, suggested as a possibility by Stephane Ratel in an effort to attract top-names from Formula 1, that would allow Wright to return to the race that Adelson feels they have “unfinished business” at after scoring a fourth place Gold Cup result in its debut in 2025.

***He told Sportscar365: “We’ll investigate what it means to do it if there is a date change, which obviously I hope there would be. The Spa 24 is one of the great endurance races in the world and Watkins Glen is also an amazing endurance race and you obviously don’t want to see them conflicting on the same weekend. I could imagine there were, at minimum, 20 [IMSA] drivers that could have been driving at Spa. I’d obviously like to see them be able to work it out.”

***WeatherTech Championship LMP2 points leader Alex Quinn, who was originally confirmed to take part in the 2026-27 Asian Le Mans Series in one of BBM Sport’s ‘wingless’ Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar entries with car owner/driver Kriton Lendoudis, revealed that “nothing’s set in stone” for the program now due to continued questions over the calendar.

***Sportscar365 understands that series promoters are expected to confirm the schedule next week, which is now believed to kick off in the Middle East in November as originally planned. Its backup plan, consisting of an entirely European-based campaign with events in Portimao, Barcelona and Jerez, has apparently been put on the back-burner despite recent strikes on U.S. air bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar by Iranian forces.

***Quinn told Sportscar365: “I wish I knew what was going to happen. I think everyone thinks the same. It’s a great championship. If it’s possible to do it in a Hypercar, that would be really cool.”

***Ricky Taylor has expressed interest in contesting a dual series WeatherTech Championship/WEC program with Cadillac next year, especially with no GTP/Hypercar race clashes for the first time since the launch of the LMDh platform. “I think any driver would [want to do both programs],” he told Sportscar365. “What Jack [Aitken] and Earl [Bamber] have is great, especially keeping it all in the GM family. Obviously both of them have a compromise with one prioritizing WEC and one IMSA, but next year being open, anybody would love that.”

***Sportscar365 understands that Taylor is a candidate to join the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R lineup for several end-of-season WEC races this year, in place of Alex Lynn. “I don’t know,” admitted Taylor. “They haven’t outright said anything. I’d like to, of course, and there’s no clashes the rest of the year.”

***Announced on Saturday as part of its new-look endurance-only format, the winner of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge LMP3 Airnbnb Bronze Cup driver championship will earn an auto invite to the 2028 Rolex 24 at Daytona. An IMSA spokesperson confirmed to Sportscar365 the invite is not of any monetary value and similar to the invites given to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in securing a position on the entry list only.

***The Chevrolet Grand Prix gets underway Sunday at 2 p.m. EST with live coverage on Peacock and internationally on IMSA’s YouTube channel.

***Brian Till and Calvin Fish will be joined by Dave Burns and the return of Amanda Busick to the NBC Sports commentary team, while IMSA Radio will feature the usual lineup of John Hindhaugh, Ryan Myrehn and Arjuna Kankipati.

John Dagys

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