Woolridge, Cooper Score Saturday Wins at CTMP

Jonathan Woolridge and Michael Cooper claimed victories in their respective classes on Sturday in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Each driver started second in class – Woolridge in LMP3 and Cooper in GSX – but both managed to scoot into their class lead at the drop of the green flag and remained there throughout the 45-minute race that ended under a full-course caution.

Woolridge claimed the overall victory in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan, his first in the sprint series that debuted this year.

It came at the Whitby, Ont, native’s home track and in his first race with Performance Tech after competing with Remstar Racing in the March doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway.

Woolridge forged ahead of overall pole-sitter Bijoy Garg (No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier) as they charged down the front straight as the race began on the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course.

Garg pressured Woolridge through the first 30 minutes until they encountered lapped traffic that allowed Woolridge to build a gap of more than three seconds.

The second caution of the race came with just under eight minutes to go, when Mark Siegel crashed exiting Turn 8 in the No. 93 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport, locking in the order to the checkered flag.

By finishing second, Garg unofficially closed within 20 points of fourth-place finisher Dan Goldburg (No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08) for the LMP3 championship lead heading into Sunday’s race.

Cooper’s drive to the GSX triumph in the No. 48 Accelerating Performance Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport came despite intense pressure throughout. Cooper bolted ahead of GSX pole-sitter Francis Selldorff (No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4) at the start. Selldorff remained glued to Cooper’s rear bumper the rest of the way, with Cooper fending off numerous overtake attempts.

Considering the team took possession of the car two weeks ago and he tested for the first time in it last week, Cooper was pleased with the result and knows there’s more to come.

Sunday’s race streams live at 9:30 a.m. ET on Peacock in the U.S. and IMSA.tv internationally.

RESULTS: Race 1