CTMP IMSA: Van der Zande/Bourdais Cadillac beats Acuras in chaotic race

Van der Zande produced a stunning pass on Oliver Jarvis’s Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 with 10 minutes remaining of a pulsating race to claim victory.

The Acuras were faster on pure pace than the Cadillacs around the 2.45-mile track, formerly known as Mosport Park, but much edgier to drive which clearly took a physical toll on their drivers over long runs.

MSR’s Tom Blomqvist led from the pole ahead of the similar Acura of Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky Taylor, until the latter cut a right-rear tire straight after an early restart, putting him to the back of the class.

Tristan Vautier’s JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac didn’t pit under the second yellow, and briefly picked up the lead, while the #02 Chip Ganassi Racing version of Alex Lynn also jumped ahead of the MSR Acura in the pits. Blomqvist had a near miss with Jordan Taylor’s Corvette, but later used a BMW GTD car to box-in Lynn to grab back the lead after an hour.

Jarvis took over the MSR Acura and soon got embroiled in a huge scrap with van der Zande in the #01 CGR Caddy. “Our car is extremely difficult to drive,” reported Blomqvist from the pits after his stint, while Filipe Albuquerque echoed that he was “happy” to let Taylor do the majority of running in the WTR car as he fought back towards the front.

Earl Bamber’s #02 CGR Caddy grabbed the lead from Jarvis with just over an hour remaining, when Olly got boxed in behind a Mercedes GTD car. Bamber almost crashed with a huge lockup as he entered the pits for his final stop, while Jarvis got mired in LMP3 traffic and Taylor barged his way past, almost bouncing off Jarvis and the pit wall to take third. Jarvis received a warning from race control for his reactive move.

Jarvis was involved in the third full-course yellow of the race, as the LMP3 car of early leader Scott Andrews veered into his path on an out lap and fired himself off into the tire wall at high speed.

Van der Zande led from Bamber, Taylor and Jarvis at this point, but the Acuras required shorter top-off fuel stops than the Cadillacs inside the last 40 minutes, so Jarvis jumped back to the front, ahead of Taylor and Bamber.

Bamber then got into Taylor at Moss Corner, sending the WTR car spinning off and earning himself a penalty. Taylor caused the fourth full-course caution, when he spun into the tires trying to pass Pipo Derani’s Action Express Racing Cadillac.

That produced an 18-minute shootout to the finish, with Jarvis leading van der Zande, who barged his way past Richard Westbrook in the JDC-Miller Caddy for second. Derani also demoted Westbrook for third, while Bamber did likewise with two laps remaining to grab fourth.

Van der Zande, who was also battling power steering issues, chased down Jarvis and scythed past him with 10 minutes remaining, meaning the MSR Acura has finished second in the last five races.

Colin Braun and Jon Bennett won LMP3 for CORE Autosport ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Jarrett Andretti and Gabby Chaves.

#9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R: Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet

Photo by: Richard Dole / Motorsport Images

Mathieu Jaminet led GTD Pro from the green flag in his Pfaff Motorsports-run Porsche 911 GT3 R, as non-Pro GTD poleman Frankie Montecalvo’s Lexus was taken out at the first corner after being caught up in an LMP3 shunt.

Jaminet and teammate Matt Campbell dominated the race, as Jordan Taylor/Antonio Garcia (Corvette C8.R) got ahead of the Alex Riberas/Ross Gunn Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage for second. The sister Vantage of Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin won the non-Pro GTD category, despite huge late-race pressure from the Winward Mercedes of Phillip Ellis/Russell Ward.

The first full-course yellow of the race was caused by John Edwards, who lost a wheel from his Team RLL BMW M4.

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park - IMSA race results:

Cla	Class	Num	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Gap
1	DPi	01	Renger van der Zande Sébastien Bourdais	Cadillac DPi	123
2	DPi	60	Oliver Jarvis Tom Blomqvist	Acura DPi	123	3.509
3	DPi	31	Olivier Pla Pipo Derani	Cadillac DPi	123	4.272
4	DPi	02	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn	Cadillac DPi	123	4.704
5	DPi	5	Tristan Vautier Richard Westbrook	Cadillac DPi	123	5.785
6	DPi	10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	Acura DPi	123	15.025
7	LMP3	54	Jon Bennett Colin Braun	Ligier JS P320	115	8 Laps
8	LMP3	36	Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves	Ligier JS P320	115	8 Laps
9	LMP3	30	Ari Balogh Garett Grist	Ligier JS P320	115	8 Laps
10	LMP3	13	Orey Fidani Kyle Marcelli	Duqueine D08	114	9 Laps
11	GTD PRO	9	Matt Campbell Mathieu Jaminet	Porsche 911 GT3 R	111	12 Laps
12	GTD PRO	3	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor	Corvette C8.R GTD	111	12 Laps
13	GTD PRO	23	Ross Gunn Alex Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	111	12 Laps
14	GTD	27	Roman De Angelis Maxime Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	111	12 Laps
15	GTD	57	Russell Ward Philip Ellis	Mercedes AMG GT3	111	12 Laps
16	GTD PRO	79	Cooper MacNeil Daniel Juncadella	Mercedes AMG GT3	111	12 Laps
17	GTD PRO	25	Connor de Phillippi John Edwards	BMW M4 GT3	111	12 Laps
18	GTD	51	Ryan Eversley Aidan Read	Acura NSX GT3	111	12 Laps
19	GTD PRO	14	Ben Barnicoat Kamui Kobayashi	Lexus RC F GT3	111	12 Laps
20	GTD	96	Robby Foley Bill Auberlen	BMW M4 GT3	111	12 Laps
21	GTD	1	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow	BMW M4 GT3	111	12 Laps
22	GTD	12	Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz	Lexus RC F GT3	80	43 Laps
23	LMP3	74	Gar Robinson Scott Andrews	Ligier JS P320	74	49 Laps
24	LMP3	33	Joao Barbosa Lance Willsey	Ligier JS P320	32	91 Laps
View full results