2022 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

In 2022, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) was celebrating its 53rd anniversary. IMSA was founded by NASCAR's Bill France, John Bishop (a former executive director of the Sports Car Club of America), and Bishop's wife, Peggy. They succeeded in creating their vision 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.

The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship consisted of twelve race weekends.

DATE	EVENT	DURATION	CLASSES
Jan 21-23	ROAR BEFORE THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA	TEST	ALL
Jan 27-30	DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY	24 HOURS	ALL
March 16-19	SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY	12 HOURS	ALL
April 8-9	ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACT	100 MINUTES	DPi, GTD PRO, GTD
April 29 - May 1	WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA	2 HOURS, 40 MIN.	DPi, LMP2, GTD PRO, GTD
May 13-15	MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE	2 HOURS, 40 MIN.	DPi, LMP2, LMP3, GTD
June 3-6	RACEWAY AT BELLE ISLE PARK	100 MINUTES	DPi, GTD
June 23-26	WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL	6 HOURS	ALL
July 1-3	CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORT PARK	2 HOURS, 40 MIN.	DPi, LMP3, GTD PRO, GTD
July 15-16	LIME ROCK PARK	2 HOURS, 40 MIN.	GTD PRO, GTD
Aug 5-7	ROAD AMERICA	2 HOURS, 40 MIN.	ALL
Aug 26-28	VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY	2 HOURS, 40 MIN.	GTD PRO, GTD
Sept 28 - Oct 1	MICHELIN RACEWAY ROAD ATLANTA	10 HOURS	ALL

The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will be a separate championship that recognizes the top finishers in four events:

Rolex 24 at Daytona
Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen
10-Hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta

The biggest news for 2022 was that the classes grew from four to five championship categories. The GTD class was split into GTD and GTD Pro:

Daytona Prototype International (DPi) – These are purpose-built race cars and the quickest in the series. The DPi category includes the Cadillac DPi-V.R and Acura ARX-05. This class uses production-based motors which are associated with the chassis' nameplate. The engines used produce 580-horsepower. Also of note, 2022 would be the last season for this category.
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) – These are also purpose-built race cars developed by four approved constructors. The LMP2 cars are powered by a 3.8-liter Gibson V8 engine. Competitors use chassis' from ORECA, Ligier and Riley Technologies. Unlike the DPi cars, these vehicles are eligible to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24-Hours of Le Mans.
Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) – This division was introduced in 2017. Several race car manufacturers are producing chassis for this category: Ligier, Duqueine, Ginetta and Adess. They are equipped with Michelin tires and powered by a 5.6-liter naturally aspirated Nismo V8 motor, which produces over 420 horsepower. All vehicles must weigh no less than 950 kg.
Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) – This production-based class uses FIA-GT3 technical regulations. Vehicles in the category include Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, Porsche 911 GT3 R, Ferrari 488 GT3, BMW M4 GT3, Acura NSX GT3 Evo, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo, Lexus RC F GT3 and Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The vehicles in this group weigh 2,915 lbs and the engines produce approximately 540 horsepower. The IMSA technical staff uses many methods to ensure parity.
Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) – This category uses the same cars as GTD but adopted current GTLM Sporting Regulations on driver ratings, qualifying, grid placement and race procedures. GTD Pro is geared toward factory-supported teams and drivers; on-track performance levels achieved by the GTD Pro class are expected to exceed that of the GTD.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park hosted IMSA's WeatherTech Sportscar Challenge series on the first weekend in July. Twenty-seven entries competed in a two-hour and forty-minute race around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course in the Chevrolet Grand Prix.

The start of round eight of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Challenge series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Leading the field into the first corner are the front row qualifiers, Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 and a similar model, the No. 10 Konica Minolta of Ricky Taylor. Behind them are the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac Dpi and No. 01 Cadillac Racing entries.

Sharing the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac Dpi were Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais. They were winners at Long Beach and Detroit but didn't hold much hope for a victory at round eight after qualifying last in the six-car DPi field. Bourdais drove the first stint and kept the car in contention. After the driver change, van der Zande charged to the front and, with ten minutes remaining, passed the leader for the victory.

The local Pfaff Motorsports team put extra effort into winning the GTD Pro division at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Their hopes for a victory began when Mathieu Jaminet put the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R on the class pole. Jaminet kept the Porsche in the lead during his stint. Matt Campbell, his teammate, maintained the top spot to the checkered flag despite pressure from the No. 3 Corvette.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has been good to CORE Autosport drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun. In 2015 and 2016, they won Prototype Challenge and in 2018 took the overall honors driving an ORECA LMP2. This season, the pair had an LMP3 victory at Mid-Ohio. Bennett qualified the No. 54 Ligier JS P320 and started second in class. Braun moved the car into the first for the win, which extended their points lead.

The DPi podium for round eight of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Standing on the top step of the rostrum for the third time this season are the winners, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande. On the left are the runner-ups for the fifth consecutive race and new point leaders, Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis. Completing the podium are Pipo Derani and Oliver Pla.

A popular victory at the Chevrolet Grand Prix was the win by GTD competitors Maxime Martin and Ontario's Roman De Angelis. De Angelis, a former champion of the Canadian Porsche GT3 Cup series, qualified eighteenth overall and second in class driving the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The pair benefitted from the retirement of the division, leading Lexus to collect their second consecutive victory.

Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist finished second for the fifth consecutive time. The pair was optimistic at round eight as Blomqvist put the No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-05 on the pole with a new lap record. After Blomqvist's time behind the wheel, Jarvis took the lead for the run to the checker. However, he could not hold off a hard-charging Renger van der Zande. Yet, the pair were now leading the title chase.

A second-place finish in LMP3 at round eight must have felt like a victory for Andretti Autosport teammates Jarrett Andretti and Gabby Chaves. Andretti qualified for the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 on the LMP3 pole at CTMP but was disqualified and started at the rear of the field. A solid run was rewarded with a runner-up finish. In the previous round at Watkins Glen, the team was the race's first retirement.

The top three teams for the GTD Pro category at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the center are the winners from Pfaff Motorsports, Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet. This was the team's third victory of the season and extended their championship lead. Standing on the left are the runner-ups, Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia. The final position on the rostrum belongs to last week's winners, Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas.

Finishing 1.115-seconds behind the class-winning Pfaff Porsche was the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R shared by Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia. Taylor recorded the seventeenth fastest time during qualifying, which put them fourth in GTD Pro. Issues for the De Phillippi / Edwards BMW M4 and a pass on the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin contributed to their runner-up result.

Russell Ward handled the qualifying duties for the Winward Racing team. Ward set the twentieth fastest time during the qualifying session, which placed him and his teammate, Phil Ellis, fourth in class. Like the category winners from the Heart of Racing, the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 was promoted a position with the retirement of the Montecalvo / Telitz Lexus and finished second in GTD.

The Jr III Racing team won the LMP3 category at the 12-Hour of Sebring with drivers Ari Balogh, Garett Grist and Dakota Dickerson. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the No. 30 Ligier JS P320 was piloted by Balogh and Grist. The duo was gridded eighth overall and second in class for the Chevrolet Grand Prix. Late in the contest, they were fourth in LMP3 but inherited the final spot on the podium when the leader retired.

The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 was shared in the GTD Pro category by Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas. The duo was fresh off a victory in the previous weekend at Watkins Glen International. Still showing speed, the car started second in class at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. They remained in contention during the two-hour, forty-minute contest and finished third in GTD Pro.

The LMP3 podium for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the center are the winners' Colin Braun and Jon Bennett. The victory extended their points lead in the title chase. On the left are the runner-ups Jarrett Andretti and Gabby Chaves, who ended their string of bad luck. The final position on the rostrum belongs to Ari Balogh and local driver Garett Grist.

Gridded fifth for the start of the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi shared by Pipo Derani and Olivier Pla. Pla drove the opening stint and handed the car over to Derani in sixth place. However, he moved up to a third-place finish after Earl Bamber was penalized for contact, Derani hit Ricky Taylor and the No. 5 Cadillac fell out of contention.

Collecting their first podium result in IMSA WeatherTech competition was Rick Ware Racing. The team's No. 51 Acura NSX GT3 Evo was piloted by Aidan Read and sports car veteran Ryan Eversley. Before round eighth at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the team's best result was an eighth-place finish at Long Beach. Read qualified fourth in GTD and Eversley brought it home eighteenth overall and third in class.

The GTD podium for round eight of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the center of the podium, for a second consecutive week, are the winners, Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin. On the left side are the runner-ups, Russell Ward and Phil. The final spot on the rostrum is occupied by the third-place finishers, Ryan Eversley and Aidan Read.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	DPi	van der Zande / Bourdais	Cadillac DPi	123	-
2	DPi	Jarvis / Blomqvist	Acura ARX-05	123	-
3	DPi	Pla / Derani	Cadillac DPi	123	-
4	DPi	Bamber / Lynn	Cadillac DPi	123	-
5	DPi	Vautier / Westbrook	Cadillac DPi	123	-
6	DPi	Taylor / Albuquerque	Acura ARX-05	123	-
7	LMP3	Bennett / Braun	Ligier JS P320	115	-
8	LMP3	Andretti / Chaves	Ligier JS P320	115	-
9	LMP3	Balogh / Grist	Ligier JS P320	115	-
10	LMP3	Fidani / Marcelli	Duqueine D08	114	-
11	GTD Pro	Campbell / Jaminet	Porsche 911 GT3R	111	-
12	GTD Pro	Garcia / Taylor	Corvette C8.R	111	-
13	GTD Pro	Gunn / Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	111	-
14	GTD	De Angelis / Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	111	-
15	GTD	Ward / Ellis	Mercedes AMG GT3	111	-
16	GTD Pro	MacNeil / Juncadella	Mercedes AMG GT3	111	-
17	GTD Pro	De Phillippi / Edwards	BMW M4 GT3	111	-
18	GTD	Eversley / Read	Acura NSX GT3	111	-
19	GTD Pro	Barnicoat / Kobayashi	Lexus RC F GT3	111	-
20	GTD	Foley / Auberlen	BMW M4 GT3	111	-
21	GTD	Sellers / Snow	BMW M4 GT3	111	-
22	GTD	Montecalvo / Telitz	Lexus RC F GT3	80	Did Not Finish
23	LMP3	Robinson / Andrews	Ligier JS P320	74	Did Not Finish
24	LMP3	Barbosa / Willsey	Ligier JS P320	32	Did Not Finish

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