First GTD Podium a “Welcome Result” for RWR Acura

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Ryan Eversley and Aidan Read credited ‘perfectly executed’ strategy by Rick Ware Racing to give the team its first podium finish in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition in only its fifth start in GTD.

Eversley and Read drove the team’s Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 to a third place class finish in Sunday’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, following strong race pace and a two-stop strategy that played out.

It marked the first WeatherTech Championship GTD podium result for Acura since Long Beach when Gradient Racing scored a runner-up class finish.

“It means a lot,” Eversley told Sportscar365. “I just called Rick [Ware]. He’s sitting on the pit box at Road America for the [NASCAR] Cup race running Joey Hand and he was freaking out.

“He was screaming on the phone; I couldn’t tell what he was saying! He said to go get him some champagne, so I’ve got to bring some back from Canada.

“We’re happy. Aidan’s opening stint was awesome. He was running with the GTD Pro guys and saving fuel so we could make that strategy work that we were working on.

“I’d imagine if we weren’t saving fuel we would have gotten up even quicker.

“It worked out really well for us… We needed this. We had a really bad race at Detroit and this race we executed perfectly and we got a trophy so I’m happy.”

Silver-rated Read started from fourth in class and moved the Acura up to second, running within shouting distance of the GTD Pro class leaders during the Australian’s 1 hour and 30-minute double stint.

Only the Rick Ware Acura and class-winning No. 27 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin ended up on the two-stop strategy.

“In the end it was a good strategy call that led to this result today,” said Read. “It took some managing with fuel mileage.

“It was kind of the less common strategy in the beginning but it worked out and turned out to be a good move. It was executed well by the team.

“Ryan and I had good pit stops. The car had good race speed, so it was fast in the right places to be able to make a couple of spots on the track as well, which was important to make it work.

“Overall, it’s just a welcome result and rewarding for the whole Rick Ware team.

“There’s been moments of promise throughout the season but this is now finally put together and we can say we’ve got it together, we’ve done it, we’re on the podium in IMSA.

“It’s out fifth race together. It’s a good result. It’s timely, it’s motivating for all of us. It’s first but not the last.”

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