Michelin Shows Record Pace in Return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

• Chip Ganassi Cadillac Wins Overall
• Pfaff Porsche and Heart of Racing Aston Martin Take GTD PRO and GTD
• Murillo Mercedes-AMG 1-2 in GS Class
• Wickens and Wilkins Take Second Consecutive Michelin Pilot Challenge Victory
• Michelin Posts Highest Qualifying Lap Speed in IMSA History

Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada—July 3, 2022 – Michelin technology delivered stunning performance in IMSA’s return to the heroic Canadian Tire Motorsport Park after a three-year interim.

“We are so pleased to return to Canada and demonstrate our performance at this high-speed, flowing track that produced thrilling race action in front of a large, passionate crowd,” said Tony Ménard, director of motorsport, Michelin North America.

Having racked up more than 200 new qualifying and race lap records since becoming the Official Tire of IMSA in 2019, Michelin set a stunning new bar at CTMP. Meyer Shank Racing Acura’s Tom Blomqvist established a new DPi track record that became the highest qualifying lap speed, 137.472 miles per hour, in IMSA history.

“There are many longer circuits, so to set the highest lap average speed in IMSA history here at CTMP is a clear demonstration of the confidence in our technology,” said Ménard.

No. 01 Chip Ganassi Cadillac Makes Late Pass to Take Overall Win

Renger van der Zande took advantage of traffic to pass Oliver Jarvis of Meyer Shank Racing. The move by the Dutchman with 10 minutes remaining sealed the victory for the No. 01 DPi Cadillac with teammate Sebastien Bourdais. The No. 60 MSR Acura DPi finished second and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac took third.

Pfaff Motorsports Wins GTD PRO in Backyard, Heart of Racing Takes GTD Again

Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet gave their Canadian team a home victory in the No. 9 Porsche 911. This is the third win for Pfaff Motorsports in GTD PRO this season. No. 3 Corvette Racing finished runner-up while No. 23 Heart of Racing rounded out the podium in the Aston Martin Vantage.

The Heart of Racing GTD team won for the second straight weekend thanks to the driving by Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin in the Aston Martin Vantage. Winward Racing in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG took second and No. 51 Rick Ware Racing earned third in an Acura NSX.

Core Autosport Triumphs in LMP3

Colin Braun and Jon Bennett went to victory lane again in the No. 54 Core Autosport Ligier JS P320 VK. Colin Braun held-off second place finishers Andretti Autosport. Taking the final spot on the podium was Jr III Racing.

Back-to-Back Wins for Robert Wickens in TCR class of Michelin Pilot Challenge

The incredible return to racing continues for Robert Wickens of Bryan Herta Autosport after he was paralyzed in a crash four years ago. The racer with co-driver Mark Wilkins won his second consecutive race. This was a special moment for the Canadian pair competing at CTMP and for Wickens whose first child was born this week. Murillo Racing took the overall victory in GS with Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss driving a Mercedes-AMG. Murillo Racing and TWOth Autosport won the IMSA Radio Michelin Moment of the Race in the GS and TCR classes.

Michelin Awards Tire Efficiency

Michelin is encouraging sustainability by rewarding WeatherTech and Prototype Challenge teams for efficient tire use. The Michelin Efficient Performance Award is being given in each class based on the number of laps completed and number of MICHELIN® slick race tires used in a race. Midyear awards are being given out along with a $5,000 tire credit. More winners were announced at CTMP including in GTD PRO with Vasser Sullivan Lexus and in LMP3 with Performance Tech Motorsports.

Michelin Post-Race Notes

• CTMP is a fast, flowing circuit that demands a big commitment from drivers to achieve the optimum lap times. Watch how the known performance of the MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport GT race tires play an important role.
• Tonis Kasemets of Wulver Racing won the Prototype Challenge race.
• Michelin slashed six records during IMSA’s return to Canada
  • Qualifying
    • DPi: Tom Blomqvist/1:04.394, GS: Kenny Murillo/1:22.735
  • Race
    • DPi: Tom Blomqvist/1:05.987, LMP3: Garrett Grist/1:12.523
    • GS: Robin Liddell/1:23.144, TCR: Mikey Taylor/1:24.992

Next up:

The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship heads to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT for the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, July 16th. The race can be seen live on Peacock from 3:00-6:00pm ET and later on USA from 5:00-8:00pm ET.