33-car field set for CTMP IMSA round

A field of 33 cars are set to contest next weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the seventh round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

LMP2 will feature 10 cars for its first sprint event of the year, as the two-hour and 40-minute race has category taking center stage for the third consecutive year. GTD Pro and GTD also competing at the 2.459-mile venue.

While Era Motorsport is notably absent, a date clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship’s six-hour race at Interlagos has forced a change of driver at Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen, with Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing GTP driver replacing Harry Tincknell aboard the No. 52 ORECA 07-Gibson, for the American’s first LMP2 start since the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. Taylor’s co-driver, Misha Goikhberg, is one of five Canadian drivers in the LMP2 field, as part of a strong home contingent.

Phil Fayer (No. 2 United Autosports), John Farano (No. 8 Tower Motorsports), Tobi Lutke (No. 11 TDS Racing) and Chris Cumming (No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports) are also entered.

Elsewhere, Ben Hanley will race the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA, with Paul Di Resta due to the FIA WEC clash, while Intersport Racing is yet to confirm the Pro driver for its No. 37 ORECA, a seat previously filled by Oliver Jarvis

In the LMP2 teams’ championship, the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA, which will be driven by Alex Quinn and George Kurtz, currently holds a 55-point advantage over both the No. 99 AO Racing and No. 22 United Autosports USA entries.

10 cars are entered in GTD Pro, with Car Blanche stepping up to the class, having debuted in GTD last time out at Watkins Glen.

Valentin Hasse Clot and Scott Andrews will pilot the YRB Racing-run No. 68 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, for the first Aston Martin entry into GTD Pro since The Heart of Racing at the 2025 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

Home outfit Pfaff Motorsports, meanwhile, currently only has Sandy Mitchell named against its No. 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3, with a TBA appearing next to the slot occupied by Andrea Caldarelli so far this season.

After a runner-up finish at Watkins Glen, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen has moved into the championship lead, 60 points ahead of the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entry, with the No. 4 Corvette a further 21 points behind in third.

The best of the Ford Racing Mustang GT3 Evos is in fourth, with the two-car factory effort effectively able to claim CTMP as a home race, given Multimatic’s role in running the cars.

GTD is once again the largest class, with 13 cars. In the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, Valkyrie GTP racer Roman De Angelis will line up alongside drivers’ championship leader Dudu Barrichello for his home race, with Tom Gamble on FIA WEC duties.

Frederik Schandorff will return to the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari, having missed Watkins Glen due to the clash with the 24 Hours of Spa, while Robert Wickens is making his first IMSA start since Long Beach after a transport fire ruled the sprint race-only driver’s DXDT Racing team out of the previous sprint round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

As well as De Angelis and Wickens, Canada is also represented in GTD through the No. 13 Corvette of 13 Autosport, and driver Orey Fidani.

In the drivers' standings, Barrichello has a 157-point lead over the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus of Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pedersen, with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW only three points further back in third.

In the Bob Akin Award for the best Bronze-rated driver in GTD, Fidani has a 30-point advantage over Inception Racing’s Brendan Iribe, with Myers Riley Motorsports’ Sheena Monk in third.

The Chevrolet Grand Prix will be held July 11-13, with the race beginning at 2pm ET on Sunday.