2018 SportsCar Grand Prix

The 2018 SportsCar Grand Prix was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, on July 8, 2018. The race was the seventh round of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

Background

edit
 
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, where the race was held.

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017.[1] It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the thirty-sixth annual running of the race.[1] The 2018 SportsCar Grand Prix was the seventh of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, and was the fourth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[1] The race was held at the ten-turn 2.459 mi (3.957 km) Canadian Tire Motorsports Park circuit on July 8, 2018.[1]

After the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen 1 week earlier, Filipe Albuquerque led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 169 points, ahead of Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr with 168 points, and Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya with 156 points.[2] With 147 points, the GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by Joey Hand and Dirk Müller with a one-point advantage over Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook.[2] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 155 points ahead of Katherine Legge with 154 points.[2]

On July 4, 2018, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of performance for the event.[3] In P, the Cadillac DPi-V.R received a 0.3 mm larger air restrictor while the Mazda RT24-P and Nissan Onroak DPi received an increase of turbo boost. Additionally, the Cadillac, Mazda, and Nissan received an increase in fuel capacity. In GTLM, the Chevrolet Corvette C7.R received a 0.9 mm larger air restrictor while the BMW M8 GTE received a reduction in turbo boost. In GTD, the Audi R8 LMS and Porsche 911 GT3 R received air restrictor increases of 1 and 3 millimeters, respectively.

Entries

edit

A total of 32 cars took part in the event split across 3 classes. 13 cars were entered in P, 8 in GTLM, and 11 in GTLM.[4] In P, United Autosports were absent. Spirit of Daytona Racing skipped due to a lack of funding.[5] Tequila Patrón ESM scaled down to a single entry due to a lack of spare engines following the previous round at Watkins Glen.[6] Ryan Dalziel joined Pipo Derani in the #22 Tequila Patrón ESM entry. In GTD, CJ Wilson Racing, Squadra Corse Garage Italia, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, HART, Park Place Motorsports, and P1 Motorsports were absent. Scuderia Corsa scaled down to a single entry while the #16 Wright Motorsports made its since appearance since Belle Isle. SunEnergy1 Racing skipped the event after ending their partnership with Riley Motorsports.[7] Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley returned to the Turner Motorsport entry.

Practice

edit

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two 75 minute sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third session on Saturday morning lasted an hour.[8]

Practice 1

edit

The first practice session took place at 11:30 am ET on Friday and ended with Colin Braun topping the charts for CORE Autosport, with a lap time of 1:07.155.[9] Kyle Masson crashed the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca in turn 1 against the tire barriers.[10] Performance Tech Motorsports later withdrew its entry from the event.[11]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 P 54 CORE Autosport Colin Braun 1:07.155 _
2 P 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:08.071 +0.916
3 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Filipe Albuquerque 1:08.088 +0.933
Source:[12]

Practice 2

edit

The second practice session took place at 3:50 pm ET on Friday and ended with Colin Braun topping the charts for CORE Autosport, with a lap time of 1:06.902.[13]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 P 54 CORE Autosport Colin Braun 1:06.902 _
2 P 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:06.939 +0.037
3 P 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves 1:07.881 +0.979
Source:[14]

Practice 3

edit

The third and final practice session took place at 8:30 am ET on Saturday and ended with Colin Braun topping the charts for CORE Autosport, with a lap time of 1:06.712.[15]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 P 54 CORE Autosport Colin Braun 1:06.712 _
2 P 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron 1:07.026 +0.314
3 P 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr 1:07.336 +0.624
Source:[16]

Qualifying

edit

Saturday afternoon's 65-minute qualifying session was divided into three groups.[8] All three categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the Prototype and GTLM cars ahead of all GTD entries.[17]

Qualifying results

edit

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 P 54   CORE Autosport   Colin Braun 1:06.315 _ 121
2 P 6   Acura Team Penske   Dane Cameron 1:06.540 +0.225 1‡
3 P 85   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Robert Alon 1:06.841 +0.526 2
4 P 10   Wayne Taylor Racing   Renger van der Zande 1:07.093 +0.778 3
5 P 55   Mazda Team Joest   Jonathan Bomarito 1:07.109 +0.794 4
6 P 7   Acura Team Penske   Hélio Castroneves 1:07.272 +0.957 5
7 P 52   AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports   Sebastián Saavedra 1:07.276 +0.961 6
8 P 22   Tequila Patrón ESM   Ryan Dalziel 1:07.524 +1.209 7
9 P 77   Mazda Team Joest   Tristan Nunez 1:07.684 +1.369 8
10 P 99   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Misha Goikhberg 1:07.827 +1.512 9
11 P 5   Mustang Sampling Racing   Christian Fittipaldi 1:08.009 +1.694 10
12 P 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Eric Curran 1:08.168 +1.853 11
13 GTLM 911   Porsche GT Team   Nick Tandy 1:13.517 +7.202 13‡
14 GTLM 67   Ford Chip Ganassi Racing   Ryan Briscoe 1:13.831 +7.516 14
15 GTLM 3   Corvette Racing   Jan Magnussen 1:13.934 +7.619 15
16 GTLM 912   Porsche GT Team   Laurens Vanthoor 1:13.955 +7.640 16
17 GTLM 4   Corvette Racing   Oliver Gavin 1:14.080 +7.765 17
18 GTLM 24   BMW Team RLL   Jesse Krohn 1:14.100 +7.785 18
19 GTLM 25   BMW Team RLL   Alexander Sims 1:14.213 +7.898 19
20 GTLM 66   Ford Chip Ganassi Racing   Joey Hand 1:14.228 +7.913 20
21 GTD 15   3GT Racing   Jack Hawksworth 1:15.581 +9.266 21‡
22 GTD 14   3GT Racing   Dominik Baumann 1:16.020 +9.705 22
23 GTD 48   Paul Miller Racing   Bryan Sellers 1:16.386 +10.071 23
24 GTD 33   Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport   Ben Keating 1:16.417 +10.102 24
25 GTD 16   Wright Motorsports   Michael Schein 1:16.545 +10.230 25
26 GTD 86   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin   Álvaro Parente 1:16.554 +10.239 26
27 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Robby Foley 1:16.707 +10.392 27
28 GTD 58   Wright Motorsports   Christina Nielsen 1:16.887 +10.572 28
29 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Cooper MacNeil 1:17.027 +10.712 29
30 GTD 93   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin   Justin Marks 1:17.603 +11.288 30
31 GTD 44   Magnus Racing   John Potter 1:17.610 +11.295 312
32 P 38   Performance Tech Motorsports did not participate 32
Sources:[18][19]
  • 1 The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the P field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
  • 2 The No. 44 Magnus Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field after the team elected to change tires after qualifying.

Race

edit

Post-race

edit

As a result of winning the race, Bennett and Braun moved from seventh to fourth in the Prototype Divers' Championship. Curran and Nasr jumped from second to first while Cameron and Montoya dropped from third to fifth.[20] As a result of winning the race, Briscoe and Westbrook took the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship. Hand and Müller dropped from first to third while Gavin and Milner jumped from sixth to fourth.[20] The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 183 points, 3 points ahead of Legge.[20] Cadillac, Ford, and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Paul Miller Racing kept their advantage in the GTD Teams' Championship. Whelen Engineering Racing took the lead of the Prototype Teams' Championship while the #67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry took the lead of the GTLM Teams' Championship with five rounds remaining.[20]

Results

edit

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Final race classification
Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 P 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett

  Colin Braun

Oreca 07 C 116 2:40:32.557‡
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
2 P 10   Wayne Taylor Racing   Jordan Taylor

  Renger van der Zande

Cadillac DPi-V.R C 116 +3.431
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
3 P 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Felipe Nasr

  Eric Curran

Cadillac DPi-V.R C 116 +4.666
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
4 P 5   Mustang Sampling Racing   Filipe Albuquerque

  Christian Fittipaldi

Cadillac DPi-V.R C 116 +6.657
Cadillac 5.5 L V8
5 P 7   Acura Team Penske   Hélio Castroneves

  Ricky Taylor

Acura ARX-05 C 116 +6.836
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
6 P 77   Mazda Team Joest   Oliver Jarvis

  Tristan Nunez

Mazda RT24-P C 116 +9.453
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
7 P 99   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Misha Goikhberg

  Stephen Simpson

Oreca 07 C 116 +11.194
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
8 P 85   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Robert Alon

  Simon Trummer

Oreca 07 C 116 +11.835
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
9 P 52   AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports   Sebastián Saavedra

  Gustavo Yacamán

Ligier JS P217 C 114 +2 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
10 GTLM 67   Ford Chip Ganassi Racing   Ryan Briscoe

  Richard Westbrook

Ford GT M 112 +4 Laps‡
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
11 GTLM 3   Corvette Racing   Antonio García

  Jan Magnussen

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 112 +4 Laps
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
12 GTLM 4   Corvette Racing   Oliver Gavin

  Tommy Milner

Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 112 +4 Laps
Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8
13 GTLM 911   Porsche GT Team   Patrick Pilet

  Nick Tandy

Porsche 911 RSR M 112 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
14 GTLM 66   Ford Chip Ganassi Racing   Joey Hand

  Dirk Müller

Ford GT M 112 +4 Laps
Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6
15 GTLM 912   Porsche GT Team   Earl Bamber

  Laurens Vanthoor

Porsche 911 RSR M 112 +4 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
16 GTLM 25   BMW Team RLL   Connor De Phillippi

  Alexander Sims

BMW M8 GTE M 112 +4 Laps
BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8
17 P 6   Acura Team Penske   Dane Cameron

  Juan Pablo Montoya

Acura ARX-05 C 111 +5 Laps
Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6
18 GTD 33   Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport   Jeroen Bleekemolen

  Ben Keating

Mercedes AMG GT3 C 107 +9 Laps‡
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
19 GTD 14   3GT Racing   Dominik Baumann

  Kyle Marcelli

Lexus RC F GT3 C 107 + 9 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
20 GTD 44   Magnus Racing   John Potter

  Andy Lally

Audi R8 LMS GT3 C 107 +9 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
21 GTD 48   Paul Miller Racing   Bryan Sellers

  Madison Snow

Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 107 +9 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
22 GTD 86   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin   Katherine Legge

  Álvaro Parente

Acura NSX GT3 C 107 +9 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
23 GTD 93   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin   Justin Marks

  Lawson Aschenbach

Acura NSX GT3 C 107 +9 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
24 GTD 15   3GT Racing   Jack Hawksworth

  David Heinemeier Hansson

Lexus RC F GT3 C 107 +9 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
25 P 55   Mazda Team Joest   Jonathan Bomarito

  Harry Tincknell

Mazda RT24-P C 107 Wheel Bearing
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
26 GTD 63   Scuderia Corsa   Jeff Segal

  Cooper MacNeil

Ferrari 488 GT3 C 106 +10 Laps
Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
27 GTD 58   Wright Motorsports   Patrick Long

  Christina Nielsen

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 106 +10 Laps
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
28

DNF

GTD 16   Wright Motorsports   Michael Schein

  Wolf Henzler

Porsche 911 GT3 R C 73 Fuel Pressure
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
29

DNF

GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Robby Foley

  Bill Auberlen

BMW M6 GT3 C 63 Suspension
BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8
30

DNF

GTLM 24   BMW Team RLL   John Edwards

  Jesse Krohn

BMW M8 GTE M 61 Crash
BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8
31

DNF

P 22   Tequila Patrón ESM   Pipo Derani

  Ryan Dalziel

Nissan Onroak DPi C 45 Turbo
Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6
DW P 38   Performance Tech Motorsports   James French

  Kyle Masson

Oreca 07 C -- Withdrawn
Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
Sources:[21][22]
Tyre manufacturers
Key
Symbol Tyre manufacturer
C Continental
M Michelin

Standings after the race

edit
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Goodwin, Graham (August 6, 2017). "IMSA Announce 2018 Calendar". DailySportsCar. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 4, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (July 4, 2018). "DPis Given Power Increase for CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Entry List: IMSA At Canadian Tire Motorsports Park". autoweek.com. July 3, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Dagys, John (June 29, 2018). "Spirit of Daytona to Miss CTMP; Additional Races Unclear". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (July 2, 2018). "ESM Scales Back to Single Nissan DPi for CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  7. ^ Dagys, John (July 6, 2018). "SunEnergy1 Parts Ways With Riley, Absent from CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: CTMP". sportscar365.com. July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  9. ^ Bradley, Charles (July 6, 2018). "CTMP IMSA: Braun sets scorching early practice pace". motorsport.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Dagys, John (July 6, 2018). "Braun Tops Practice 1 at CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  11. ^ Dagys, John (July 6, 2018). "Performance Tech Oreca Withdrawn After Practice 1 Crash". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  12. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 6, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  13. ^ Dagys, John (July 6, 2018). "Braun, CORE Quickest on Friday; Castroneves Crashes at CTMP". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  14. ^ "05_Results by Class_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 6, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  15. ^ Dagys, John (July 7, 2018). "Braun Quickest Again in Practice 3". sportscar365.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  16. ^ "03_Results_Practice 3.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 7, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  17. ^ "2018 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. May 16, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  18. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 7, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  19. ^ "01_Starting Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 8, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 10, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  21. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 8, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  22. ^ "2018 MOBIL 1 SPORTS CAR GRAND PRIX". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 13, 2023.


IMSA SportsCar Championship
Previous race:
6 Hours of The Glen
2018 season Next race:
Northeast Grand Prix