Yahoo Autos Corvette Racing Grabs Impressive IMSA GTD Pro Win at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
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At the track traditionally known as Mosport where Corvettes have always run strong, the Pratt Miller team dominated from start to finish.
The No. 3 Corvette Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia led the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller entry shared by Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg across the line for a 1-2 Corvette finish in GTD Pro.
It was a milestone 30th win in IMSA competition for Garcia, whose history with the Corvette Racing program dates to 2009.
There was nothing unlucky Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports claimed its 13th IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race win at the legendary road racing venue near Toronto.
Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia dominated the Grand Touring Daytona PRO (GTD PRO) class of the Chevrolet Grand Prix to earn the inaugural IMSA victory for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, the first-ever Corvette built to international GT3 homologation for sale to customer teams.
Making the triumph even sweeter, the No. 3 Corvette led home the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller entry shared by Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg for a 1-2 Corvette finish in GTD PRO ahead of season points leaders Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The Pratt Miller Corvettes had shown plenty of speed in the first half of the 2024 season, attaining three Motul Pole Awards—including Sims’ pole-winning effort at CTMP on Saturday. But a combination of misfortune and customary new car reliability issues meant their best finish to date this year was third place for each car.
At the track traditionally known as Mosport where Corvettes have always run strong, the Pratt Miller team dominated from start to finish. Garcia had established a comfortable 4.5-second gap to Catsburg and had nearly 20 seconds in hand over Heinrich when a full-course caution bunched the field with 16 minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute contest. When racing resumed with about eight minutes to go, neither Heinrich nor anyone else could match the speed of the yellow cars.
The final few laps provided a bit of drama, as Garcia and Catsburg took the restart in a crowd of GTD class traffic. But Catsburg protected the 1-2 finish for Corvette. Garcia’s margin of victory over Catsburg was 0.408 seconds, with Heinrich 1.064 seconds in arrears at the checkered flag.
It was a milestone 30th win in IMSA competition for Garcia, whose history with the Corvette Racing program dates to 2009.
“It’s always special to have a first win for the car,” said Garcia. “I’m really proud of that, and proud of the Pratt Miller guys. It was really important to get the Corvette GT3.R its first win in IMSA; that’s what we really wanted. And we had a perfect weekend. We led both practices, amazing pole position by Alex, and then we just ran P1 all the way through.”
Garcia said he had taken care of his Michelin tires and believed he had enough in hand to hold off a late challenge from Catsburg or Heinrich had it materialized.
“It looked easy, but it was kind of difficult – especially the last restart with all the GTD cars ahead of us,” Garcia said. “It was interesting – that’s the classic situation we don’t really like. But still I managed to stay ahead and fantastic to finally have a Corvette 1-2 – not only in qualifying, but in the race.”
Sims was visibly fired up after his pole-winning qualifying lap on Saturday, and the breakthrough victory for the Corvette GT3 program built on that enthusiasm. Corvette was the fifth manufacturer to win in GTD PRO competition this year.
“It’s a big thing, honestly, and it was great to get the Corvette 1-2 here at Mosport, which is such a big event for Chevrolet,” he said. “We’ve had good pace in qualifying this season so far, but haven’t quite been able to convert it. Today we executed well, and were fast when we needed to be, had pace in the car. Just a really, really nice race.”
Henrich and Priaulx extended their GTD PRO championship advantage to 98 points over Ross Gunn (No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo) and 120 points over Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat (No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3). Gunn and Mario Farnbacher finished fifth at CTMP, while the No. 14 Lexus started on the front row but dropped out with an engine issue.
GTD: Pumpelly Propels De Angelis to Home Win
Spencer Pumpelly calls himself a “guest” driver for the Heart of Racing Team. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, he displayed exemplary manners.
Pumpelly guided the Heart of Racing’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo to a front row starting spot for the Chevrolet Grand Prix, then co-drove with Windsor, Canada native Roman De Angelis to the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class victory in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship event.
Pumpelly’s last win in IMSA competition came at the 2015 Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Meanwhile, the Heart of Racing tasted the champagne just three weeks ago at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with its No. 23 GTD PRO class entry, but the No. 27 GTD contender had gone nearly a year without visiting victory lane.
At CTMP, which De Angelis considers his home track, Pumpelly took the lead from Motul Pole Award winner Frankie Montecalvo on the second lap and the No. 27 was essentially never headed again. De Angelis held an 11-second lead over Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT3 when a caution flew with about a quarter-hour remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute race.
In the short eight-minute green flag sprint to the finish, he pulled out an impressive 5.060-second advantage over Ellis, with Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff taking third place in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO.
Pumpelly said he didn’t realize how long it had been since he stepped on the top step of the rostrum until somebody reminded him. Three of his 20 victories in IMSA sports car competition have come at CTMP.
“Feels really good to be back here, especially to do it with these guys with the Heart of Racing,” said Pumpelly. “I’m kind of a guest here for a race or two, and these guys have welcomed me and made me feel comfortable and right at home. I’m glad I could help them get their first win of the year. The car was awesome, the team was awesome. I knew as soon as I gave Roman the car it was a done deal and just kind of relaxed the rest of the way. Roman nailed it and the guys were awesome in the pit box.”
De Angelis, 23, is one of the hottest young prospects in sports car racing. He’s already racked up eight race wins in IMSA competition in just 51 starts. This was the 13th triumph for the Heart of Racing.
“It’s been a long road for us in the No. 27 car,” De Angelis said. “Always had a strong car, always had a strong lineup, the team has always been phenomenal, just stuff hasn’t fallen into our hands, through luck and other circumstances. I think it comes in waves.
“There’s no better place to win than at home, so to finally get that win and do it here with a bunch of my friends and family here, I’m just so happy,” he added. “Just can’t thank everyone at the Heart of Racing enough, and Spencer for the amazing job he did at the beginning. Super happy to kind of get the Heart of Racing out of this trough we’ve been in with the No. 27 and look forward to seeing what we can do the rest of the season.”
