2022 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Michelin Pilot Challenge

In 2022, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) was celebrating its 53rd anniversary. IMSA was founded by NASCAR's Bill France and John Bishop (a former executive director of the Sports Car Club of America) and Bishop's wife, Peggy. They succeeded in creating their vision which was to build a sanctioning body for professional road racing in North America. From its humble roots, IMSA currently sanctions seven different race series: IMSA WeatherTech SportCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup, Mazda MX-5 Cup, Lamborghini Super Trofeo and the Ferrari Challenge.

Introduced in 2022 is a new per-event and season-long Bronze Cup award for participants in the Grand Sport (GS) class. To be eligible, every driver in a GS car's lineup must be Bronze rated.

The Bronze Cup winners will be recognized on the podium at each event, along with recognition and a season-ending award for the highest placing Bronze Cup combination in the championship standings.

The 2022 season features ten race weekends; each contest is two-hours in length. The exceptions are Daytona and Road America, which are four hours.

DATE	EVENT	DURATION
Jan 21-23	ROAR BEFORE THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA	TEST
Jan 27-30	DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY	4 HOURS
March 16-19	SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY	2 HOURS
April 29 - May 1	WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA	2 HOURS
May 13-15	MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE	2 HOURS
June 23-26	WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL	2 HOURS
July 1-3	CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORT PARK	2 HOURS
July 15-16	LIME ROCK PARK	2 HOURS
Aug 5-7	ROAD AMERICA	4 HOURS
Aug 26-28	VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY	2 HOURS
Sept 28 - Oct 1	MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA	2 HOURS

Two race groups are competing in the Michelin Pilot Challenge:

Grand Sport (GS): This category underwent some changes in 2017. The new rules accepted cars prepared to the SRO (Stephane Ratel Organisation) GT4 technical requirements. The quicker of the two groups, this class includes cars such as the Ford Mustang GT4, BMW M4 GT4, Mercedes-AMG, Audi R8 and Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Vehicles competing in this group produce between 400 - 450 horsepower and are capable of speeds over 175 mph.
Touring Car (TCR): TCR is a global touring car category that was added to the Michelin Pilot Challenge series in 2018. This category includes the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, Honda Civic TCR, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR and Audi RS3 LMS TCR. They use a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine which will produce between 300 – 350-horsepower.

Close, competitive racing with cars that fans could relate to contributed to the series' popularity. It also provided an environment for automotive manufacturers to test and showcase their products.

Round six of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series was conducted at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Competitors would race around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course for two hours in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120.

The start of round six of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Leading the field of thirty-one competitors into corner one is Christian Szymczak in the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4. Falling in behind him are his teammates, Marc Miller in the No. 56 Mercedes-AMG and the No. 65 Mercedes driven by Brent Mosing. On the outside is the Riley Motorsports Toyota.

The Grand Sport winners in round six were Eric Foss and Marc Miller. Foss qualified the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 third fastest. Miller, who drove the final stint, has extensive experience at this track driving everything from a Formula 1200 to a CASCAR stock car. He moved into the lead during the driver change. A late full-course caution bunched the field, but Miller hung on for the win.

The most popular win of the weekend went to the Canadian duo of Mark Wilkens and Robert Wickens. They were fresh off a TCR victory in the last round at Watkins Glen International. The pair were forced to start round six at the back of the field. The reason: Wickens was not available to qualify due to the birth of his first child. It seemed of little consequence and the pair moved up the order to finish eleventh overall.

Claiming the runner-up spot in Grand Sport were the teammates of the winners, Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak. Szymczak put the No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 on the pole and led the race early. They lost first place during the driver change. An opportunity to retake the lead came after the final caution. Murillo challenged Marc Miller but came up short by a margin of 0.338-seconds.

The Grand Sport podium for round six of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the center are the winners from Murillo Racing, Eric Foss and Marc Miller. Foss became the first repeat winner this season. On the left side are the runner-ups from Murillo Racing, Kenny Murillo and Christian Szymczak. Completing the rostrum are Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman.

It was a split start for round six of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The second wave included fourteen TCR competitors. Grabbing the lead is the pole-winning No. 77 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR of Mason Filippi. Behind Filippi is the other front-row qualifier, Chris Miller driving the No. 18 JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS Seq.

The defending TCR champions Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler, finished twelfth overall and second in class. This equaled their best result of the season as they finished in the runner-up position in round one at Daytona International Speedway and the next event at Sebring International Raceway. The No. 1 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR started sixth in TCR and finished 0.522-seconds behind the class winners.

The Grand Sport point leaders heading into round six at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park were Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman. Brynjolfsson qualified the No. 7 Volt Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 fourth in the Grand Sport category. During the race, the pair moved past the Riley Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4 to claim the final spot on the podium. The result allowed them to retain the championship lead.

The Bryan Herta Autosport w/ Curb Agajanian team swept the TCR podium. Finishing thirteenth overall and third in class were former World Challenger competitors Parker Chase and Harry Gottsacker. The duo shared the No. 98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR and were gridded twentieth overall and third in their category. On the final restart, Chase could not match his teammates' pace and secured the final spot on the rostrum.

The TCR podium for round six of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series belonged to the Bryan Herta Autosport w/ Curb Agajanian team. In the center, for the second consecutive week, are the winner's Mark Wilkins and Robert Wickens. This was Wilkin's third victory of the season. On the left are the runner-ups, Taylor Hagler and Michael Lewis. The final spot belongs to Parker Chase and Harry Gottsacker.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GS	Miller / Foss	Mercedes AMG GT GT4	77	-
2	GS	Murillo / Szymczak	Mercedes AMG GT GT4	77	-
3	GS	Brynjolfsson / Hindman	Aston Martin Vantage GT4	77	-
4	GS	DePew / Liddell	Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R	77	-
5	GS	Fineschi / Telitz	Toyota Supra GT4	77	-
6	GS	Pesek / McCumbee	Ford Mustang GT4	77	-
7	GS	Collingwood / Pumpelly	Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS	77	-
8	GS	Foley / Barletta	BMW M4 GT4	77	-
9	GS	Monk / Marcelli	Ford Mustang GT4	77	-
10	GS	Quinlan / Liefooghe	BMW M4 GT4	77	-
11	TCR	Wilkins / Wickens	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	77	-
12	TCR	Lewis / Hagler	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	77	-
13	TCR	Gottsacker / Chase	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	77	-
14	TCR	Gonzalez / Wittmer	Honda Civic FK7 TCR	77	-
15	TCR	Rockwell / Dupont	Audi RS3 LMS DSG	77	-
16	TCR	Block / Lewis, Jr.	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR	77	-
17	TCR	Muss / Norman	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	77	-
18	TCR	Filippi / Maxson	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	77	-
19	TCR	Ernstone / Morley	Audi RS3 LMS SEQ	77	-
20	TCR	Johnson / Simpson	Hyundai Veloster N TCR	77	-
21	GS	Siegel / McQuarrie	Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS	76	-
22	GS	Davis / McCann	Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS	76	-
23	GS	Ferrera / Wilson	Mercedes AMG GT GT4	76	-
24	GS	Galante / McAlister	Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS	76	-
25	GS	Giovanis / Trinkler	Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS	75	-
26	TCR	Hill / Killeen	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	75	-
27	TCR	Attrell / Attrell	Hyundai Elantra N TCR	68	-
28	TCR	Miller / Taylor	Audi RS3 LMS SEQ	65	Did Not Finish
29	TCR	van der Steur / Gonzalez	Hyundai Veloster N TCR	65	-
30	GS	Mosing / Probert	Mercedes AMG GT GT4	27	Did Not Finish
31	GS	Plumb / Plumb	Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS	11	Did Not Finish
-	GS	Auberlen / Machavern	BMW M4 GT4	-	Did Not Start
-	TCR	Tomlinson / Looijmans	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	-	Did Not Start

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