Dillmann, Clarke Win LMP2 Headline Race at CTMP
Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA
Inter Europol Competition claimed victory in Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 headline Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Tom Dillmann drove the No. 43 Oreca 07 Gibson to a 9.796-second win over the second-placed No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR entry of Alex Quinn in the two-hour and 40-minute contest that saw multiple strategies at play in all three classes.
While Jeremy Clarke led from pole in the Polish squad’s LMP2 entry, a pair of early race full-course cautions saw the No. 04 CrowdStrike entry of George Kurtz briefly take the lead after staying out during the second yellow, which saw the majority of the runners pit for service.
An alternate strategy for the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca put FIA Bronze-rated Misha Goikhberg out front before pitting exactly at the halfway mark to change over to Ricky Taylor.
The call, however, didn’t play out as Taylor was forced to make a full-service final stop with 42 minutes to go that dropped the Cadillac factory driver on loan to fourth, nearly 50 seconds behind.
Quinn took over the lead when Goikhberg pitted, but was then passed by Dillmann for the lead with 1 hour and 14 minutes to go, where the Inter Europol entry remained out front for the duration.
It marked Dillmann and the team’s second win at CTMP in three years, and also came in a redeeming run after a late-race mechanical failure sent Dillmann out of the race lead and to the hospital last year with fractured vertebrae.
Inter Europol became the fourth different LMP2 winner in as many races so far this season.
The No. 99 AO Racing Oreca of Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett, last year’s winners at CTMP, was third, which saw late-race stops for fuel top-ups for all three podium finishers after the final 1 hour and 47 minutes ran caution-free.
Hyett was forced to start from the rear of the nine-car LMP2 field due to a splitter height infraction from qualifying and moved up to sixth within the opening ten minutes.
Taylor and Goikhberg, which were on an alternative strategy with the hope of a final-hour caution, were classified fourth, ahead of the No. 22 United Autosports entry of Ben Hanely and Daniel Goldburg, which completed the top-five.
The No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports Oreca was sixth, as the only other LMP2 car not to encounter significant setbacks., finishing sixth.
An accident for Mikkel Jensen in Turn 8 with 1 hour and 16 minutes to go sent the car behind the wall with nose damage and multiple drive-through penalties for “working on the car from behind the wall” per repeated messages from race control.
The No. 8 Tower Motorsports Oreca of John Farano brought out the race’s first yellow on Lap 11 after an accident in Turn 3, which resulted in splitter damage and was also taken to the garage with fluid leaking.
Fellow Bronze-rated driver Tobi Lutke had an off in Turn 8 in his No. 11 TDS Racing machine at the 40-minute mark, which brought out the second yellow and set up the pit stop sequence for the majority of the field.
Vasser Sullivan Goes Back-to-Back in GTD Pro; Winward Takes GTD
A short-fill energy stop for the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 for Ben Barnicoat put helped deliver back-to-back GTD Pro class wins for Barnicoat and co-driver Jack Hawksworth.
Barnicoat took a 1.993-second win over the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo of Nick Tandy and Harry King in the two-hour and 40-minute contest.
The class pole-sitting No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi completed the class podium, ahead of the best of the Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner in fourth.
The sister No. 3 Corvette was also in contention but dropped back during a wheel gun issue in the car’s first stop.
Max Esterson was among the stars of the opening stint in keeping his No. 59 Team RLL McLaren 720S GT3 Evo second, directly behind the then-leader Verhagen.
However, the GTD Pro entry faded once Esterson got back in the car following a middle stint by Nikita Johnson, with several off-course excursions by the sim racer-turned pro driver.
Esterson finished sixth in class, behind the No. 65 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Chris Mies and Fred Vervisch, who completed the top-five.
GTD class honors went to the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward, which returned to victory lane for the first time since the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The class pole-sitting No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Eduardo Barrichello was one of the first cars to pit with two hours and seven minutes to go, but a slow stop due to an airgun issue, compounded by a drive-through penalty for too many crew over the wall, took them out of contention.
It gave clear sailing for Ellis to take a 1.886-second win over the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pedersen, with Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher completing the class podium in third in their No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW.
Roman De Angelis recovered to finish fifth in the No. 27 Aston Martin, enough to keep co-driver Barrichello atop the GTD points standings.
RESULTS: Chevrolet Grand Prix
Source: Sports Car 365