2018 SportsCar Grand Prix

The Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

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.

Background

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 P 54 United States CORE Autosport United States Colin Braun 1:06.315 _ 121
2 P 6 United States Acura Team Penske United States Dane Cameron 1:06.540 +0.225 1‡
3 P 85 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports United States Robert Alon 1:06.841 +0.526 2
4 P 10 United States Wayne Taylor Racing Netherlands Renger van der Zande 1:07.093 +0.778 3
5 P 55 Germany Mazda Team Joest United States Jonathan Bomarito 1:07.109 +0.794 4
6 P 7 United States Acura Team Penske Brazil Hélio Castroneves 1:07.272 +0.957 5
7 P 52 United States AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Colombia Sebastián Saavedra 1:07.276 +0.961 6
8 P 22 United States Tequila Patrón ESM United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel 1:07.524 +1.209 7
9 P 77 Germany Mazda Team Joest United States Tristan Nunez 1:07.684 +1.369 8
10 P 99 United States JDC-Miller MotorSports Canada Misha Goikhberg 1:07.827 +1.512 9
11 P 5 United States Mustang Sampling Racing Brazil Christian Fittipaldi 1:08.009 +1.694 10
12 P 31 United States Whelen Engineering Racing United States Eric Curran 1:08.168 +1.853 11
13 GTLM 911 United States Porsche GT Team United Kingdom Nick Tandy 1:13.517 +7.202 13‡
14 GTLM 67 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Australia Ryan Briscoe 1:13.831 +7.516 14
15 GTLM 3 United States Corvette Racing Denmark Jan Magnussen 1:13.934 +7.619 15
16 GTLM 912 United States Porsche GT Team Belgium Laurens Vanthoor 1:13.955 +7.640 16
17 GTLM 4 United States Corvette Racing United Kingdom Oliver Gavin 1:14.080 +7.765 17
18 GTLM 24 United States BMW Team RLL Finland Jesse Krohn 1:14.100 +7.785 18
19 GTLM 25 United States BMW Team RLL United Kingdom Alexander Sims 1:14.213 +7.898 19
20 GTLM 66 United States Ford Chip Ganassi Racing United States Joey Hand 1:14.228 +7.913 20
21 GTD 15 United States 3GT Racing United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth 1:15.581 +9.266 21‡
22 GTD 14 United States 3GT Racing Austria Dominik Baumann 1:16.020 +9.705 22
23 GTD 48 United States Paul Miller Racing United States Bryan Sellers 1:16.386 +10.071 23
24 GTD 33 United States Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsport United States Ben Keating 1:16.417 +10.102 24
25 GTD 16 United States Wright Motorsports United States Michael Schein 1:16.545 +10.230 25
26 GTD 86 United States Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin Portugal Álvaro Parente 1:16.554 +10.239 26
27 GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Robby Foley 1:16.707 +10.392 27
28 GTD 58 United States Wright Motorsports Denmark Christina Nielsen 1:16.887 +10.572 28
29 GTD 63 United States Scuderia Corsa United States Cooper MacNeil 1:17.027 +10.712 29
30 GTD 93 United States Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanin United States Justin Marks 1:17.603 +11.288 30
31 GTD 44 United States Magnus Racing United States John Potter 1:17.610 +11.295 312
32 P 38 United States 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

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Post-race

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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

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Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

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

United States Colin Braun

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

Netherlands Renger van der Zande

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

United States Eric Curran

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

Brazil Christian Fittipaldi

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

United States Ricky Taylor

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

United States Tristan Nunez

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

South Africa Stephen Simpson

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

Switzerland Simon Trummer

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

Colombia Gustavo Yacamán

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

United Kingdom Richard Westbrook

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

Denmark Jan Magnussen

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

United States Tommy Milner

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

United Kingdom Nick Tandy

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

Germany Dirk Müller

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

Belgium Laurens Vanthoor

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

United Kingdom Alexander Sims

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

Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya

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

United States Ben Keating

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

Canada Kyle Marcelli

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

United States Andy Lally

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

United States Madison Snow

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

Portugal Álvaro Parente

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

United States Lawson Aschenbach

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

Denmark David Heinemeier Hansson

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

United Kingdom Harry Tincknell

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

United States Cooper MacNeil

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

Denmark Christina Nielsen

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

DNF

GTD 16 United States Wright Motorsports United States Michael Schein

Germany Wolf Henzler

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

DNF

GTD 96 United States Turner Motorsport United States Robby Foley

United States Bill Auberlen

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

DNF

GTLM 24 United States BMW Team RLL United States John Edwards

Finland Jesse Krohn

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

DNF

P 22 United States Tequila Patrón ESM Brazil Pipo Derani

United Kingdom Ryan Dalziel

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

United States 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

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  • 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

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  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