Dillmann, Inter Europol savoring post-injury redemption after IMSA CTMP win

This time last year, Tom Dillmann laid in a hospital bed after crashing out of the lead of the IMSA Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. A mechanical failure sent his car crashing head-on from the lead of the race. The Frenchman then had to sit out the following race at Road America while recovering from a back injury, which prevented him and Inter Europol Competition from defending their LMP2 championships from 2025.

A year later, that misstep is now the only blemish on Inter Europol’s otherwise exemplary record in Canada. Dillmann and Jeremy Clarke gave the team its second CTMP win in the last three years, leading 93 out of 127 laps from pole position in their No. 43 ORECA 07-Gibson en route to the victory.

“Going into the weekend, it didn’t change anything for me. I go to any race wanting to win. But now, after the fact, I think it’s indeed a cool story,” said Dillmann, who got his measure of redemption a year after his accident.

“As a team, we are really strong here. In the race, Jeremy did a perfect job [at the start]. A few cars took a chance with the strategy, and they got a yellow at the right time, which cost us the lead.

“I knew passing CrowdStrike [Racing by APR] and Alex [Quinn] would be a tough task, but we managed to do it,” he said, after using lapped traffic to his benefit to drive around Quinn and back into the lead with just a little less than half of the race to go. “And then we had the pace to bring it home."

Just a month after Dillmann, Nick Yelloly and Jakub Śmiechowski repeated as LMP2 class winners at Le Mans, Dillmann and Inter Europol have added their first IMSA win of the season to the team’s impressive 2026 ledger.

“I think we are doing really well all season,” Dillmann added, lamenting only a poor result at Sebring – without it, “we would be right up there in the championship as well,” he said.

“In Europe, it’s been a bit tough. Obviously with Le Mans, it covered everything. When you win Le Mans, the season is already a success. But I really wanted a great result for Jeremy and for the team here in the U.S. We had a good Daytona, but since then, it didn’t go our way – and there was quite a bit of pressure to do a good result today, I felt.

“And I’m really happy that we managed to get a win and be back in the front, for a change.”

That win has put Dillmann and Clarke within 70 points of CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s George Kurtz and Alex Quinn, who finished second overall.

“George done a really good job, and the team as well, to get us in the race and up at the front,” Quinn said. “In the end it was all about track position and hitting traffic at the right time.”

That proved to be the case when Quinn found himself stuck behind the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 just long enough to leave him vulnerable to an attack from Dillmann. “Maybe a slight mistake or a bit unlucky in traffic, and that’s when Tom got past.

“But it was a fun race, of course. Tom’s a great driver, and it’s intense and high-commitment. You couldn’t make one mistake,” Quinn stated.

“And you know, we’re really happy to still get on the podium in second place. It’s exactly what we need this year, and we need to keep this going for the last few rounds and keep getting good points.”

AO Racing’s PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron are only 81 points out of the lead, and United Autosports USA’s Daniel Goldburg, on his own, trails by 113 points with three races left in the IMSA LMP2 season, where a series championship and a golden ticket to next year’s Le Mans 24 Hours await the victor.