2023 Chevrolet Grand Prix

The 2023 Chevrolet Grand Prix was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on July 9, 2023. The race was the sixth round of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the third round of the 2023 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

The Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

Background edit

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022.[1] It was the eighth year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the fortieth annual running of the race.[1] The 2023 Chevrolet Grand Prix was the sixth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and the third of seven races of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the ten-turn 2.459 mi (3.957 km) Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on July 9, 2023.[2]

After the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen two weeks earlier, Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 1602 points, ahead of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly with 1583 points followed by Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet with 1527 points.[3] With 730 points, Josh Burdon, Felipe Fraga, and Gar Robinson led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship ahead of Wayne Boyd, Anthony Mantella, and Nicolás Varrone with 606 points.[3] Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 1795 points ahead of Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella with 1682 points.[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 1592 points, ahead of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz with 1488 points.[3] Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Whelen Engineering Racing, Riley Motorsports, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[3]

On July 4, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In GTP, all of the cars received weight breaks. The Acura ran at 1046 kg, the BMW ran at 1031 kg, the Cadillac ran at 1030 kg, and the Porsche ran at 1037 kg. Maximum stint energy figures were also adjusted.[4] In GTD Pro and GTD, the Acura, Corvette, McLaren, Mercedes, and Porsche received power increases as well as fuel capacity increases.[5]

Entries edit

A total of 34 cars took part in the event split across four classes. 9 cars were entered in GTP, 6 in LMP3, 5 in GTD Pro, and 14 in GTD.[6]

In LMP3, Andretti Autosport, Performance Tech Motorsports, MLT Motorsports, and JDC-Miller MotorSports were absent. Antoine Comeau and George Staikos shared the Ave Motorsports entry.[7]

In GTD Pro, AF Corse, Risi Competizione and Iron Lynx were absent. In GTD, Triarsi Competizione, NTE Sport, Magnus Racing, Cetilar Racing, Iron Dames, and Racer's Edge Motorsports with WTR Andretti skipped.

Practice edit

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 105 minutes.[8]

Practice 1 edit

The first practice session took place at 2:50 pm ET on Friday and ended with Colin Braun topping the charts for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, with a lap time of 1:07.341.[9] The LMP3 class was topped by the #30 Jr III Motorsports Ligier JS P320 of Garett Grist with a time of 1:12.270.[10] Antonio García was fastest in GTD Pro while Frankie Montecalvo set the fastest time amongst all GTD cars.[11]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTP 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Colin Braun 1:07.341 _
2 GTP 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani 1:08.121 +0.780
3 GTP 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Filipe Albuquerque 1:08.138 +0.797
Sources:[12][13]

Final Practice edit

The second and final practice session took place at 8:00 am ET on Saturday and ended with Ricky Taylor topping the charts for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, with a lap time of 1:05.870.[14] Garett Grist set the fastest time in LMP3.[15] The GTD Pro class was topped by the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth while Loris Spinelli was fastest in GTD.[16]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 GTP 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Ricky Taylor 1:05.870 _
2 GTP 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Tom Blomqvist 1:06.138 +0.268
3 GTP 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Felipe Nasr 1:06.738 +0.868
Sources:[17][18]

Qualifying edit

 
Tom Blomqvist (pictured in 2022) helped take the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura's second pole position of 2023.

Saturday’s afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP3, and GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 20 minutes for the GTP session, and 15 minutes for the LMP3, and GTD Pro/GTD sessions.[8] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP3 class requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP3, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[19]

The first was cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Jack Hawksworth qualified on pole in GTD Pro driving the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry. Roman De Angelis qualified on pole in GTD driving the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team, besting Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry.[20]

The second session of qualifying was for cars in the LMP3 class. Gar Robinson qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 74 car for Riley Motorsports, besting Orey Fidani in the No. 13 AWA entry.[21]

The final session of qualifying was for the GTP class. Tom Blomqvist qualified on pole driving the No. 60 car for Meyer Shank Racing, beating Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport entry by less than one tenth of a second.[22]

Qualifying results edit

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 GTP 60   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Tom Blomqvist 1:05.653 _ 1
2 GTP 10   Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport   Ricky Taylor 1:05.734 +0.071 2
3 GTP 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani 1:05.829 +0.176 3
4 GTP 01   Cadillac Racing   Sébastien Bourdais 1:06.266 +0.613 4
5 GTP 7   Porsche Penske Motorsport   Felipe Nasr 1:06.521 +0.868 5
6 GTP 24   BMW M Team RLL   Augusto Farfus 1:06.801 +1.148 6
7 GTP 25   BMW M Team RLL   Nick Yelloly 1:06.848 +1.195 7
8 GTP 5   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Mike Rockenfeller 1:06.946 +1.293 8
9 GTP 6   Porsche Penske Motorsport   Mathieu Jaminet 1:07.329 +1.676 9
10 LMP3 74   Riley Motorsports   Gar Robinson 1:12.946 +7.293 10
11 LMP3 13   AWA   Orey Fidani 1:13.355 +7.702 11
12 LMP3 30   Jr III Motorsports   Ari Balogh 1:13.593 +7.940 12
13 LMP3 17   AWA   Anthony Mantella 1:13.682 +8.029 13
14 LMP3 4   Ave Motorsports   Antoine Comeau 1:13.884 +8.231 14
15 LMP3 33   Sean Creech Motorsport   Lance Willsey 1:14.751 +9.098 15
16 GTD Pro 14   Vasser Sullivan Racing   Jack Hawksworth 1:15.029 +9.376 16‡
17 GTD Pro 79   WeatherTech Racing   Jules Gounon 1:15.103 +9.450 17
18 GTD Pro 23   Heart of Racing Team   Alex Riberas 1:15.341 +9.688 18
19 GTD 27   Heart of Racing Team   Roman De Angelis 1:15.478 +9.825 19‡
20 GTD Pro 3   Corvette Racing   Jordan Taylor 1:15.494 +9.841 20
21 GTD 12   Vasser Sullivan Racing   Frankie Montecalvo 1:15.508 +9.855 341
22 GTD Pro 9   Pfaff Motorsports   Klaus Bachler 1:15.584 +9.931 21
23 GTD 1   Paul Miller Racing   Madison Snow 1:15.595 +9.941 22
24 GTD 32   Team Korthoff Motorsports   Mikaël Grenier 1:15.670 +10.017 23
25 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Patrick Gallagher 1:15.992 +10.339 24
26 GTD 78   Forte Racing powered by US RaceTronics   Misha Goikhberg 1:16.100 +10.447 25
27 GTD 57   Winward Racing   Russell Ward 1:16.165 +10.512 26
28 GTD 97   Turner Motorsport   Chandler Hull 1:16.196 +10.543 27
29 GTD 70   Inception Racing   Brendan Iribe 1:16.360 +10.707 28
30 GTD 80   AO Racing Team   P.J. Hyett 1:16.983 +11.330 29
31 GTD 77   Wright Motorsports   Alan Brynjolfsson 1:17.028 +11.375 30
32 GTD 91   Kelly-Moss with Riley   Alan Metni 1:17.126 +11.473 31
33 GTD 66   Gradient Racing   Sheena Monk 1:17.213 +11.560 32
34 GTD 92   Kelly-Moss with Riley   David Brule 1:20.469 +14.816 33
Sources:[23][24]
  • 1 The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry initially qualified second for the GTD class. However, the team changed engines after qualifying. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the GTD field on the starting grid.

Race edit

Post-race edit

The result kept Derani and Sims atop the GTP Drivers' Championship, 20 points ahead of third-place finishers De Phillippi and Yelloly. Albuquerque and Taylor advanced from fifth to third.[25] Fraga, and Robinson extended their advantage in the LMP3 Drivers' Championship over Boyd, and Mantella to 181 points.[25] The result kept Barnicoat and Hawksworth atop the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship.[25] In the GTD Drivers' Championship, Sellers and Snow extended their points lead to 212 points while Grenier and Skeen advanced from eleventh to fifth.[25] Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Whelen Engineering Racing, Riley Motorsports, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships with five races left in the season.[25]

Class winners are in bold and ‡.

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 GTP 60   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Tom Blomqvist
  Colin Braun
Acura ARX-06 120 2:41:01.603‡
Acura AR24e 2.4 L Turbo V6
2 GTP 10   Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport   Filipe Albuquerque
  Ricky Taylor
Acura ARX-06 120 +9.157
Acura AR24e 2.4 L Turbo V6
3 GTP 25   BMW M Team RLL   Connor De Phillippi
  Nick Yelloly
BMW M Hybrid V8 120 +18.565
BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8
4 GTP 5   JDC-Miller MotorSports   Mike Rockenfeller
  Tijmen van der Helm
Porsche 963 120 +19.531
Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
5 GTP 6   Porsche Penske Motorsport   Mathieu Jaminet
  Nick Tandy
Porsche 963 120 +20.640
Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
6 GTP 7   Porsche Penske Motorsport   Matt Campbell
  Felipe Nasr
Porsche 963 120 +22.402
Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
7 GTP 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani
  Alexander Sims
Cadillac V-Series.R 120 +23.883
Cadillac LMC55R 5.5 L V8
8 GTP 24   BMW M Team RLL   Philipp Eng
  Augusto Farfus
BMW M Hybrid V8 120 +54.373
BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8
9 GTP 01   Cadillac Racing   Sébastien Bourdais
  Renger van der Zande
Cadillac V-Series.R 117 Crash
Cadillac LMC55R 5.5 L V8
10 LMP3 74   Riley Motorsports   Felipe Fraga
  Gar Robinson
Ligier JS P320 113 +7 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine
11 LMP3 30   Jr III Motorsports   Ari Balogh
  Garett Grist
Ligier JS P320 113 +7 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine
12 LMP3 17   AWA   Wayne Boyd
  Anthony Mantella
Duqueine M30 - D08 113 +7 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine
13 LMP3 13   AWA   Matt Bell
  Orey Fidani
Duqueine M30 - D08 113 +7 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine
14 LMP3 33   Sean Creech Motorsport   João Barbosa
  Lance Willsey
Ligier JS P320 113 +7 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine
15 GTD Pro 3   Corvette Racing   Antonio García
  Jordan Taylor
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD 111 +9 Laps‡
Chevrolet 5.5 L V8
16 GTD Pro 9   Pfaff Motorsports   Klaus Bachler
  Patrick Pilet
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 111 +9 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
17 GTD 1   Paul Miller Racing   Bryan Sellers
  Madison Snow
BMW M4 GT3 111 +9 Laps‡
BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Turbo I6
18 GTD 70   Inception Racing   Brendan Iribe
  Frederik Schandorff
McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 111 +9 Laps
McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8
19 GTD Pro 79   WeatherTech Racing   Jules Gounon
  Daniel Juncadella
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 111 +9 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
20 GTD 32   Team Korthoff Motorsports   Mikaël Grenier
  Mike Skeen
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 111 +9 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
21 GTD 27   Heart of Racing Team   Roman De Angelis
  Marco Sørensen
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 111 +9 Laps
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
22 GTD 97   Turner Motorsport   Bill Auberlen
  Chandler Hull
BMW M4 GT3 110 +10 Laps
BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Turbo I6
23 GTD 12   Vasser Sullivan Racing   Frankie Montecalvo
  Aaron Telitz
Lexus RC F GT3 110 +10 Laps
Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V8
24 GTD 77   Wright Motorsports   Alan Brynjolfsson
  Trent Hindman
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 110 +10 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
25 GTD 80   AO Racing Team   P.J. Hyett
  Sebastian Priaulx
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 110 +10 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
26 GTD 91   Kelly-Moss with Riley   Kay van Berlo
  Alan Metni
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 110 +10 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
27 LMP3 4   Ave Motorsports   Antoine Comeau
  George Staikos
Ligier JS P320 110 +10 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine
28 GTD 57   Winward Racing   Philip Ellis
  Russell Ward
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 110 +10 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8
29 GTD 66   Gradient Racing   Katherine Legge
  Sheena Monk
Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 103 +17 Laps
Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6
30 GTD 92   Kelly-Moss with Riley   David Brule
  Alec Udell
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 103 +17 Laps
Porsche 4.2 L Flat-6
31 GTD Pro 14   Vasser Sullivan Racing   Ben Barnicoat
  Jack Hawksworth
Lexus RC F GT3 89 +31 Laps
Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V8
32 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Robby Foley
  Patrick Gallagher
BMW M4 GT3 86 Collision
BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Turbo I6
33 GTD 78   Forte Racing powered by US RaceTronics   Misha Goikhberg
  Loris Spinelli
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 82 +38 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2 L V10
34 GTD Pro 23   Heart of Racing Team   Ross Gunn
  Alex Riberas
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 58 Accident
Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8
Source:[26]

Standings after the race edit

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Malsher-Lopez, David (August 5, 2022). "IMSA reveals 2023 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Allaway, Phil (August 5, 2022). "IMSA Announces 2023 Schedules in State of the Sport Address". frontstretch.com. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  4. ^ "TB-IWSC-23-58-CTMP-Race-BoP-06292023.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  5. ^ Dagys, John (July 4, 2023). "Multiple GT Cars Get Power Increases for CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Dagys, John (June 28, 2023). "34 Entries for CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  7. ^ "34 Cars Entered For IMSA Grand Prix of Mosport". dailysportscar.com. June 28, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "2023 IMSA Official Schedule and SR CTMP 062823 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  9. ^ James, Richard (July 7, 2023). "Braun tops CTMP first practice for MSR Acura". racer.com. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  10. ^ Dagys, John (July 7, 2023). "Braun Fastest on Friday at CTMP". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  11. ^ Bradley, Charles (July 7, 2023). "IMSA CTMP: Braun's Acura beats AXR Cadillac in first practice". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  12. ^ "03_Results_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  13. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 1.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  14. ^ Bradley, Charles (July 8, 2023). "IMSA CTMP: Taylor Acura leads Blomqvist in second practice". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  15. ^ S. James, Richard (July 8, 2023). "Ricky Taylor quickest in FP2 as Acuras go one-two at CTMP". racer.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  16. ^ Dagys, John (July 8, 2023). "Taylor Quickest in CTMP Second Practice for WTR Andretti". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  17. ^ "03_Results_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice 2.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  19. ^ "2023 IMSA SPORTING REGULATIONS and SERIES SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-14. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  20. ^ Dagys, John (July 8, 2023). "Blomqvist Storms to CTMP Pole". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  21. ^ "Blomqvist Scores Back-To-Back Poles North Of The Border, Acura Locks Out Front Row". dailysportscar.com. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  22. ^ Bradley, Charles (July 8, 2023). "IMSA CTMP: Blomqvist takes pole in Acura 1-2, ahead of Cadillacs". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  23. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  24. ^ "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  26. ^ "03_Results_Race_Unofficial.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.


IMSA SportsCar Championship
Previous race:
2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen
2023 season Next race:
2023 Northeast Grand Prix