CTMP Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***Pirelli World Challenge GT/GTA/GT Cup, SprintX and GTS teams took to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for a pair of test sessions. Times were not recorded in either session. Official track activity for those classes kicks off on Friday.

***SprintX cars have been grouped in their respective GT and GTS class-specific sessions but will have separate qualifying sessions tomorrow.

***Additional SprintX entries beyond the already confirmed eight cars are expected this weekend, according to PWC President/CEO Greg Gill. Gill told Sportscar365 that they’ve offered a discounted entry fee for teams that are taking part in the GT/GTA/GTS races. The entry list is expected to be finalized by Friday afternoon.

***So far, there are three cars that will be pulling double duty between the GT/GTS races and SprintX races. It includes the No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R (Brent Holden/Colin Braun), No. 45 Racer’s Edge Motorsport SIN R1 GT4 (Chris Beaufait/James Vance) and No. 07 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (Max Riddle/Kris Wilson)

***De La Torre Racing, on the other hand, has utilized two separate Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3s for the weekend. Both M1 GT Racing and Mills Racing, meanwhile, have entered SprintX only.

***Frankie Montecalvo will miss Saturday’s round due to his sister’s wedding in New Jersey. The reigning GTA champion, however, will return to CTMP in time for Sunday’s race. “We tried to figure out a way for me to be able to race on Saturday, whether it was to charter a helicopter and pilot or fly privately, but with the timing of the race and the wedding, there was just no way it would work out,” Montecalvo said.

***DIME Racing team boss Rod Shegem told Sportscar365 that Montecalvo’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 will stay parked on Saturday, despite the team having had the option to place an AMG factory driver in the car for that race only.

***While having initially planned to debut the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 at St. Petersburg, Shegem said they are now on track to take delivery of the first car in July, ahead of a debut at Mid-Ohio with Montecalvo at the wheel. A second car should be ready for later in the year, likely with a factory driver, Shegem said.

***BMW factory driver Jens Klingmann got seat time in Turner Motorsport’s BMW M6 GT3 in today’s test sessions. Bret Curtis will race the GTA class entry this weekend, in the car’s PWC debut.

***PWC has rolled out elements of the Sean Edwards Test during its driver meetings. Chief Steward Peter Roberts covered a number of safety related questions in Thursday’s meeting. The test is administered to all drivers competing in the Blancpain GT Series.

***Roberts said last year’s incident at CTMP which resulted in a wrecker drive onto the track during one of the GT races, has been “addressed”, following an inquiry by Johnny O’Connell during the meeting.

***K-PAX Racing is carrying support from McLaren Toronto and Pfaff Automotive this weekend on its three McLaren 650S GT3 cars. The team took part in a dealer event earlier this week and will also host guests this weekend.

***Both Colin Thompson and Austin Cindric tested at Lime Rock Park prior to arriving at CTMP, with McLaren factory driver Alvaro Parente set to get his first laps of the famed Connecticut bullring on Tuesday, in a test that’s expected to be attended by a handful of other PWC competitors.

***Flying Lizard Motorsports program manager Darren Law told Sportscar365 that two of its Audi R8 LMS cars are up for sale. The team has a third Audi that it will keep for testing and development purposes with tire partner Toyo.

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