IMSA: Action Express, Ford rule in Canada

The only thing wrong with the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was two hours and 40 minutes of racing simply wasn't enough. Dane Cameron and Eric Curran scored the second win for Action Express Racing in a span of seven days, taking the No. 31 Corvette DP to a decisive victory over the sister No. 5 AXR Corvette that won last weekend in Watkins Glen, and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP. The No. 90 Visit Florida Racing entry completed a stifling 1-2-3-4 for Corvette DPs, and the outcome typified the contest.

"That's awesome – it's good for us, good for the team, and another 1-2 for Action Express," Curran said. "That puts us in a good position for the points."

Thrilling battles in all four classes from start to finish saw polesitters and race leaders fall victim to mechanical problems, slow pit stops, and determined rivals turn outcomes upside down. Cameron's amazing drive to victory, which included setting the race's fastest lap, came after the P2 contingent repeated a fairly common scenario where mechanical fragility and bad decisions behind the steering wheel left the DPs to lock out the podium.

After losing the lead to the WTR Corvette at the start, Mazda polesitter Tristan Nunez stretched his lead out to 25.530 seconds at the end of his opening stint in the No. 55 Mazda, pitted to hand over to teammate Jonathan Bomarito, but an air jack failure meant the stop took an eternity. It lost the lead, Bomarito came out in fifth, and then retired with a driveline failure.

Behind the Mazda, the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2-Honda hit a PC car, spun, lost time, and later – after making a procedural mistake during a yellow – received a stop-and-hold penalty that cost the team almost three minutes. It finished three laps down.

The DeltaWing DWC13 managed to crash with four minutes remaining and triggered a caution that ended the race under yellow, and the No. 70 Mazda, which started third, never found the pace to challenge the leaders and settled for fifth as total Corvette DP dominance unfolded.

Next page: GT, PC categories

GT Le Mans had the look and feel of a surefire win for Corvette Racing as the pole-winning No. 3 C7.R led from the start and controlled the pace out front. The Ford GTs, which were slowed heading into the weekend with significant Balance of Performance changes, were a match for the Corvettes, which received a BoP break, but it took another crafty race strategy call by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing to spoil Corvette's coronation.

Heading into the final round of pit stops, the No. 67 Ford GT shared by Monterey and Watkins Glen winners Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook was left out as Briscoe posted a series of blinding laps on low fuel to draw down the gap to Corvette. The brave decision to pit Briscoe for fuel, skip a driver change, and leave the same Michelin tires on the car was the key to victory. The No. 3 took itself out of contention by stopping for full service and the No. 4 – with fresher tires – came up 1.452 seconds shy of catching the No. 67 Ford.

The third consecutive GTLM win for Briscoe, Westy, and Ford was anything but expected, which also spoke to the amazing show IMSA put on in Canada, and the Corvette 2-3 headed by the No. 4 helped maintain its championship lead. That lead, however, is shrinking fast with the No. 67 knocking on the door.

"I can't believe it; three in a row, how incredible," said Westy, who celebrated his birthday today. "Ryan did an amazing job on old tires at the end. We're on a roll. I could lie and say I'm not thinking about the championship, but I am."

CORE autosport was the only team to win from pole on Sunday, but in the third note on the theme, its road to Victory Lane with the No. 54 PC car was far from boring. Colin Braun's pole turned into starting last in class when the team elected to put team owner/driver Jon Bennett in to take the start, and with JDC/Church Motorsports' Stephen Simpson running off and hiding in the No. 85, it appeared the rest of the PC field was jockeying to fill out the rest of the podium.

But with Braun inserted as the closer, he chased down Simpson, leapfrogged the No. 85 once the final round of pit stops were completed, and took CORE's second straight win at CTMP. First to last to first made for a long and remarkable journey

"It's a great team effort all around," Bennett said. "Colin did a flawless job in the car. A little bit of an unusual strategy for us.

The No. 8 Starworks Motorsport and No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports PCs completed the top three.

BMW became the fifth manufacturer to win in GT Daytona this season as Turner Motorsport's Jens Klingmann and Bret Curtis (above) earned the first victory for the brand's M6 GT3.

"I'm f*cking proud of us," the unfiltered Klingmann said after climbing from the No. 96 car. "Thanks to the team and BMW."

To complete the theme, the American team that specializes in German machinery may have started fourth with the No. 96, but GTD had all the makings of a Porsche vs Audi vs Lamborghini party at the front of the class. The championship-leading No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Alex Riberas turned his pole into a comfy lead, but when the left-front wheel came off near the hallway point, a lengthy stop for repairs took them out of contention.

Various fluctuations in the lead took place as Audis and Lamborghinis fought for control of GTD, but with Klingmann in the No. 96 for the duration of the event after Curtis took the start, his sheer speed and consistency moved the M6 forward until he had 7.7 seconds over the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsport R8 LMS GT3 and nine seconds on the No. 48 Paul Miller Huracán GT3 at the checkered flag.

Pit strategy was the big factor for Ford's GTLM win, but in every other class, victories were made possible by staggering performances from Cameron, Braun, and Klingmann.

If today's race is anything to go by, IMSA and CTMP need to consider extending future events to four hours or more because Canada just provided an instant classic for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.