Jarvis “Looking for the Wins” in Close DPi Title Fight

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Oliver Jarvis said he and Meyer Shank Racing co-driver Tom Blomqvist are “looking for the wins” as the DPi championship battle comes down to the final three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races of the season.

While having lost the points lead following to Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor in last weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Jarvis and Blomqvist have been the measure of consistency this season, with four consecutive runner-up finishes.

With a 17-point deficit to the fellow Acura squad, Jarvis heads into this weekend’s return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as the defending race winner back with Mazda in 2019.

“Hopefully that’s a good sign,” he said. “Whilst four second-place finishes is good for points, we’re definitely looking for the wins. The race [last] weekend hurt a little bit. I felt we were in quite a dominant position before the red flag.

“We would have loved to have come away with a win.

“Going into this weekend, the aim is definitely to get back on the top step of the podium. 

“It’s been a while; we achieved it early on in the season. But we’d love to get back there again, maximize points and get back in the lead of the championship.

“Hopefully it will again be a good track for us. I believe it’s been resurfaced, so it’s a bit of an unknown for us heading there. 

“It’s certainly a track like I like; extremely fast. You need a lot of commitment around there. 

“It’s very similar to Watkins in many respects, so really looking forward to getting on track and seeing where we’re at.”

After leading every session at Watkins Glen, but missing out on the win following a late restart, Jarvis said the different car setup from Wayne Taylor Racing’s Acura ARX-05 will be something they will “definitely” pay “way more attention” to this weekend.

Although shorter than Watkins Glen, the 2.459-mile, 10-turn CTMP track shares many of the high-speed characteristics of the Upstate New York circuit.

“Having a look at the race and looking on the grid, they were probably trimmed out a little bit more than us,” Jarvis said. “I was surprised by the effect it had, If I’m honest… the advantage they did have in the straight. 

“I felt we had the quicker race car but you don’t always win races with the quickest race car. 

“It’s certainly something we need to take into account this weekend. It’s given us a lot to think about. Especially with that tight hairpin onto a long straight… Straight line speed is going to be important.”

Jarvis sees the No. 10 WTR entry as their primary championship rival, although has not discounted the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R pairing of Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais either, who currently sit fourth in the title race.

“I think we’ve got to be cautious,” said Jarvis. “We are sister cars [between MSR and WTR]. I know we’re different teams but the ultimate goal is for Acura to win the championship. 

“We’ve been close to the line. I think it’s important we stay just the right side of that. 

“That’s no criticism on them or us. We’re going to fight as hard as they fight us. But we have to make sure that doesn’t result in both of us or even one of us having an issue.

“We’re going to get our elbows out. There’s three races left. The championship is incredibly tight. You talk about 17 points between us and them. But that’s 1.7 in real-world points.

“The 01 is not far behind. We saw in Detroit what a good weekend can do. I think they gained 65 points or something over that weekend. 

“They’re not out of it by any stretch of the imagination. We’re going to keep focusing on us. We want to get them wins because that certainly helps. It’s going to be an interesting end to the year.”

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