IMSA CTMP: AO Racing's Hyett takes pole, Corvette tops GTD

PJ Hyett took pole position for the IMSA SportsCar Championship at the LMP2-led round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Hyett’s AO Racing Oreca beat the similar cars of Daniel Goldburg (United Autosports) and Gar Robinson (Riley) in qualifying for Sunday’s race, which features a 34-car entry.

The premier class GTP hybrids have taken a break from the fearsome 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course near Toronto, formerly known as Mosport. Although those cars weren’t here, some of the top drivers still made the trip north of the border to drive the LMP2 machinery.

But, as per the series rules, the stars had to stand down for qualifying.

Goldburg set the benchmark at 1m10.119s, outpacing George Kurtz (Crowdstrike by APR) by 0.061s, but a red flag was quickly required when Dennis Andersen shunted the #20 MDK by High Class Racing at Turn 2. He was able to walk away from the wreckage after a high-speed spin ended in the tirewall at the unforgiving track.

With only five minutes on the clock for the resumption, finding a clear lap was at a premium. Robinson snatched provisional pole with a 1m10.031s and then a 1m09.690s.

The times then tumbled, with Hyett – who will share with Louis Deletraz tomorrow – taking P1 with 1m09.582s, from Goldburg’s 1m09.672s. But the red flag flew again when Luis Perez Companc ploughed his #88 AF Corse entry underneath the tirewall at Turn 3.

Robinson will start third, ahead of Nick Boulle’s #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports entry. Steven Thomas was fifth quickest for TDS Racing, ahead of Kurtz, Ben Keating (#2 United Autosports) and John Farano (Tower Motorsports).

The session was restarted, but not for enough time for anyone to set a laptime.

#3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Antonio Garcia, Alexander Sims (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

Corvette beats Lexus in GTD Pro

In GTD, qualifying got off to a false start when the red flag flew for Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296, when Manny Franco ground to a halt at the pit exit.

That led to a truncated 10-minute sprint to decide pole, with Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth becoming the first to dip under the 1m15s bracket with a 1m14.972s in his #14 Lexus RC F.

Fellow Brit Alexander Sims, driving the #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R grabbed provisional pole from him with 1m14.911s, only for Hawksworth to snatch it back with 1m14.710s. That gave him a 0.271s advantage, as Sims backed off for a lap to regroup.

Sims then unleashed a 1m14.405s, taking the top spot by 0.235s, to which Hawksworth could not respond. Sims rubbed it in by going even quicker on his last lap, with a 1m14.373s – extending his advantage to 0.267s. That meant he’d set two laps good enough for pole.

“The car was incredible around this amazing place, I got a couple of really nice, clear laps – that was a really good blast,” said Sims. “We hadn’t been sure which direction to go in practice, but we had such a good car for qualifying.”

Frankie Montecalvo led the pro-am class in his #12 Lexus, impressively leading a phalanx of Pro class cars. “It’s absolutely my favorite racetrack that really suits our RC F,” he said.

Tommy Milner will start fourth in the #4 Corvette, seven tenths off his stable-mate Sims, ahead of Harry Tincknell (#64 Multimatic Ford Mustang), Madison Snow (Paul Miller Racing BMW M4), Mario Farnbacher (#23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage) and Marvin Kirchhofer (Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S).

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information
Cla	Drivers	#	Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	P. Hyett L. Deletraz AO Racing	99	ORECA 07	9	1'09.582		175.908
2	D. Goldburg F. Albuquerque United Autosports USA	22	ORECA 07	8	+0.090 1'09.672	0.090	175.680
3	G. Robinson F. Fraga Riley	74	ORECA 07	8	+0.108 1'09.690	0.018	175.635
4	N. Boulle T. Dillmann Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	52	ORECA 07	8	+0.174 1'09.756	0.066	175.469
5	S. Thomas S. Huffaker TDS Racing	11	ORECA 07	7	+0.242 1'09.824	0.068	175.298
6	G. Kurtz C. Braun Crowdstrike Racing by APR	04	ORECA 07	7	+0.435 1'10.017	0.193	174.815
7	B. Keating B. Hanley United Autosports USA	2	ORECA 07	8	+1.810 1'11.392	1.375	171.448
8	J. Farano R. van der Zande Tower Motorsports	8	ORECA 07	8	+2.438 1'12.020	0.628	169.953
9	J. Barbosa L. Willsey Sean Creech Motorsport	33	Ligier JS P217	7	+4.309 1'13.891	1.871	165.649
10	S. Wiltshire R. Dalziel Era Motorsport	18	ORECA 07	8	+4.337 1'13.919	0.028	165.587
11	L. Perez Companc P. Derani Richard Mille AF Corse	88	ORECA 07	6	+4.613 1'14.195	0.276	164.971
12	A. Garcia A. Sims Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	3	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	8	+4.791 1'14.373	0.178	164.576
13	J. Hawksworth B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan	14	Lexus RC F GT3	7	+5.058 1'14.640	0.267	163.987
14	F. Montecalvo P. Thompson Vasser Sullivan	12	Lexus RC F GT3	7	+5.478 1'15.060	0.420	163.070
15	T. Milner N. Catsburg Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	4	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	9	+5.523 1'15.105	0.045	162.972
16	H. Tincknell M. Rockenfeller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	64	Ford Mustang GT3	8	+5.595 1'15.177	0.072	162.816
17	B. Sellers M. Snow Paul Miller Racing	1	BMW M4 GT3	8	+5.611 1'15.193	0.016	162.781
18	R. Gunn M. Farnbacher Heart Of Racing Team	23	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	8	+5.736 1'15.318	0.125	162.511
19	M. Kirchhofer O. Jarvis Pfaff Motorsports	9	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	7	+5.808 1'15.390	0.072	162.356
20	R. De Angelis S. Pumpelly Heart Of Racing Team	27	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	8	+5.810 1'15.392	0.002	162.351
21	L. Heinrich S. Priaulx AO Racing	77	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	9	+5.937 1'15.519	0.127	162.078
22	R. Foley P. Gallagher Turner Motorsport	96	BMW M4 GT3	8	+5.978 1'15.560	0.041	161.990
23	M. Skeen M. Grenier Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	32	Mercedes AMG GT3	8	+6.023 1'15.605	0.045	161.894
24	B. Iribe F. Schandorff Inception Racing	70	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	9	+6.111 1'15.693	0.088	161.706
25	R. Ward P. Ellis Winward Racing	57	Mercedes AMG GT3	10	+6.160 1'15.742	0.049	161.601
26	K. Marcelli D. Formal Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	45	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	8	+6.225 1'15.807	0.065	161.463
27	J. Hand D. Muller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	65	Ford Mustang GT3	9	+6.418 1'16.000	0.193	161.053
28	M. Goikhberg L. Spinelli Forte Racing	78	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	10	+6.732 1'16.314	0.314	160.390
29	S. Monk S. McAleer Gradient Racing	66	Acura NSX GT3	8	+6.790 1'16.372	0.058	160.268
30	G. Levorato C. Lewis Proton Competition	55	Ford Mustang GT3	9	+7.032 1'16.614	0.242	159.762
31	O. Fidani M. Bell AWA	13	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	10	+7.239 1'16.821	0.207	159.331
32	K. Li A. Fjordbach MDK Motorsports	86	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	9	+8.540 1'18.122	1.301	156.678
33	D. Andersen S. Lucas MDK by High Class Racing	20	ORECA 07	2
34	M. Franco A. Costa Conquest Racing	34	Ferrari 296 GT3	0
View full results