CTMP Thursday Notebook

Photo: CTMP

***The field for this weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is down to 32 cars after the No. 37 Intersport Oreca 07 Gibson has been a no-show. While there’s been no official statement on the team’s withdrawal, the Jon Field-owned squad sustained multiple incidents in last month’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and was an early retirement. Additionally, the pre-event entry list did not include Field’s full season co-driver Oliver Jarvis.

***It means there will be nine Pro-Am-enforced prototypes in the third running of the LMP2 headline race for the class, along with ten GTD Pro cars and 13 GTD entries. Click Here for the official entry list.

***The clashing FIA World Endurance Championship round in Sao Paulo has resulted in minimal changes to the entry list, largely due to the lack of GTP class machinery at Mosport. Aston Martin factory driver Harry Tincknell has been replaced by Ricky Taylor in the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson, while Ben Hanley is in for Peugeot Hypercar ace Paul Di Resta in the No. 22 United Autosports entry.

***In GTD, Roman De Angelis will make his second consecutive race appearance in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo alongside class points leader Eduardo Barrichello. The Canadian is filling in for Tom Gamble, who is on WEC Hypercar duty in one of the team’s Aston Martin Valkyrie’s in Brazil.

***Two drivers, meanwhile, have prioritized CTMP over Sao Paulo, with Barrichello set to miss his home WEC race this weekend and Corvette factory driver Nicky Catsburg poised to relinquish his LMGT3 points lead by focusing on his GTD Pro championship campaign with Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports.

***Other changes include Casper Stevenson making his first sprint race start in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R after car owner Henrik Hedman stood down from driving duties this weekend. FIA Silver-rated Stevenson teams up with full season pilot Giacomo Altoe, who along with the Elton Julian-led team, claimed the GTD Pro class win here last year in their Ferrari 296 GT3.

***Altoe said: “Mosport is a special track for me as we won there last year in GTD pro. Last year the Corvette was looking strong there so I’m confident we can be competitive. It’s a great opportunity to race with Casper in GTD and have the chance to show what we’ve got together. Thanks a lot to all the people involved in this decision. We will give the absolute maximum to bring home the result that the team deserves.”

***DragonSpeed will be looking to recover from three accidents in the first five GTD races, all of not their doing, with the team yet to score a top-ten class finish since moving to the Corvette.

***Andrea Caldarelli revealed he was only cleared to race earlier this week after the Lamborghini factory driver sustained an eye injury during the Watkins Glen roumd that forced the Italian to only complete his minimum drive time in the race.

***Caldarelli said: “Something came in from in the cockpit from a car that went off in front of me and went on my eyes and it seems like the left eye didn’t really like it. So, between the two stints, I tried to clean the eye, and everything seems okay, but then when I got back in the car, it was extremely painful. I asked the team to do my minimum driving time and just step out. I had a specialist visit, and I got cleared to race. So, all back to normal.”

***The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 has returned to its traditional red plaid livery for the first time since the car’s global debut at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. Another livery change is fellow Canadian outfit 13 Autosport, which will again sport its red maple leaf design that Orey Fidani first debuted at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***While the Temerario GT3 received a revised rear wing angle range for this weekend, where it can run between 8 and 12 degrees, the car has yet to receive permission by IMSA to run outside of its homologated wing parameters, something both ADAC and SRO Motorsports Group has granted for the car in DTM and GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS competition.

***Sportscar365 also understands that Lamborghini is working to homologate a new brake supplier for the Temerario GT3, although that process is taking longer than initially expected.

***United Autosports celebrated its 500th race in last weekend’s European Le Mans Series round at Imola, where a vast majority of LMP2 drivers and teams were also competing. The 2027 ELMS schedule, released last week, again has confirmed no clashes with the IMSA LMP2 calendar, which will allow the continuation of double-dippers next year.

***With GTP not in action this weekend, Colin Braun is making his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start of the season, having been again called up by Kraulig Racing for its Ram ‘Free Agent’ driver program for the race at Lime Rock Park. Braun finished ninth in his first outing with the season on the streets of St. Petersburg in March.

***While having had initial discussions with Ford for its Hypercar program, Braun is believed to still be one of the leading free agents in top-level sports car racing for next year, along with Meyer Shank Racing teammate Renger van der Zande. Both Tom Blomqvist and Nick Yelloly were swooped up by the Blue Oval last month.

***Wayne Taylor Racing driver Louis Deletraz, meanwhile, is taking part in this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in a Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R. The Swiss driver, who is understood to not have any additional WEC outings planned with JOTA this year, takes Ricky Taylor’s seat from 2025.

***It’s been busy times for Heart of Racing, as the Ian James-led organization took part in the Spa 25 Hours Fun Cup race last weekend, having welcomed more than 40 guests, rotating through a passenger seat, aboard their WRT-built Fun Cup EVO3 for the around-the-clock enduro alongside their pro drivers Barrichello, Marco Sorensen, Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier. The driving quartet finished fifth in the race.

***Oracle was announced on Thursday as the founding partner of IMSA Labs, the formalized platform for continued innovation and collaboration between the motorsports sanctioning body and its automotive and technology partners.

***A cornerstone of the partnership is the launch of Oracle Cloud Innovation Studio, a new startup innovation program built on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The program is designed to help startups move from concept to validated solution by combining Oracle’s cloud and AI technologies with IMSA’s live race operations, high-volume telemetry, and race-generated data.

***IMSA President John Doonan said: “Motorsport has always been a laboratory for innovation, and IMSA has long been where manufacturers prove technologies that ultimately reach consumers. With IMSA Labs, we’re extending that tradition beyond the race car to create an innovation ecosystem where startups, technology leaders, manufacturers, and research institutions can develop and validate next-generation solutions in one of the world’s most demanding operational environments.”

***WeatherTech Championship competitors have a single practice session at CTMP scheduled for Friday, from 1:55-3:25 p.m. EST. Michelin Pilot Challenge, VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup will also be on track throughout the day.

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