2014 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

On September 5, 2012, it was announced that the Grand American Road Racing Championship and American Le Mans Series would be merging to form United SportsCar Racing, later it was renamed the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The final Grand-Am event was held in September 2013 at Lime Rock Park, Connecticut.

The first race in the new championship took place in January at Daytona International Speedway for the 51st running of the Rolex 24. It was followed by the historic 12-Hours of Sebring, Long Beach, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Detroit, Kansas, Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Indianapolis, Road America, VIRginia International Raceway, Circuit of the Americas and a 10-hour finale at Road Atlanta – Petit Le Mans.

The merger of the two series resulted in four new categories:

Prototype (P) – These are purpose-built race cars and the quickest in the series. Included in this group are Daytona Prototypes from the former Grand-Am series and P2 cars. Manufacturers such as Ford, Chevrolet, Honda and Mazda are supplying engines that produce 550-600 horsepower. Chassis’ competing in the category include the Corvette DP, DeltaWing DWC 13, Mazda/Lola, Riley DP, Ligier JS P2 and Ford DP.
Prototype Challenge (PC) – This is a spec class from the American Le Mans series using the ORECA FLM09 chassis. The cars are powered by a Chevrolet LS3 engine, which produces approximately 485-horsepower.
GT Le Mans (GTLM) – Cars in this group are highly modified production vehicles from manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, Chevrolet and BMW. As a result, a wide range of engine configurations and displacements are employed. The series technical staff uses many methods to ensure that teams are competing on a ‘level playing field.’ Most of the teams racing in this group are receiving factory support.
GT Daytona (GTD) – This is also a production-based class but does not allow the same level of technological improvements that can be made to GTLM cars. Vehicles in the category include Audi R8 LMS, Porsche 911 GT America, Ferrari 458 Italia, BMWZ4 and SRT Viper GTS-R. Similar to GTLM, the technical staff uses several methods to ensure parity.

The primary concern among teams is whether their current equipment will be competitive in the new series. While progress has been made to balance the performance of different GT marques, the series would be challenged by their premier class – the Prototypes. Those ‘in the know’ recognize that it will be difficult to achieve parity between the Daytona and Le Mans Prototypes as they were designed and constructed using different rules. The series technical officials are listening to the teams and will make progress on this issue in 2014.

Round nine of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship was held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Competitors would race around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course for two-hours and forty-five-minutes in the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance.

The start of round nine for the 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Leading the field into corner one is the pole-sitter, Gustavo Yacaman, in the No. 42 OAK Racing Morgan Nissan. On either side of Yacaman is the No. 90 Corvette DP of the third-place starter, Michael Valiante and the second-fastest qualifier, Ryan Dalziel, driving the No. 1 HPD ARX-03b/Honda.

It was a perfect weekend for Prototype category teammates, Gustavo Yacaman and Olivier Pla. They were fastest on Friday and Yacaman earned OAK Racing’s second consecutive pole position. The race would be one of three events (Long Beach and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) that ran caution-free. This scenario allowed the pair to lead all 133-laps and earn their first win of the year in the No. 42 Morgan powered Nissan.

The drivers of the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen entered Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with the GTLM points lead. They were victorious in the three previous events. In the qualifying for round nine, Garcia was second in class. Magnussen started the race and an error by the leading Viper allowed him to grab first place. After the driver change, Garcia remained in the top spot and claimed the victory.

Capturing the GTD pole position at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was Jeroen Bleekemolen piloting the No. 33 Dodge Viper GT3.R. This was a good omen as the team had not finished in the top-ten after five races. Team principal, Ben Keating, drove the first stint and would keep the Viper in contention. Late in the contest, contact between the class-leading Porsche and a faster GTLM car allowed Bleekemolen to grab the win.

The winners of the previous round were Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante. Westbrook performed the qualifying duties and was third fastest in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP. Valiante started the contest and was in second place at the driver change. Westbrook chased the race leader, Olivier Pla and closed to gap to 7.886-seconds at the finish. He had to settle for a runner-up result.

The GTD podium for round nine at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Standing in the center of the rostrum for the first time this season are the winners, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating from Riley Motorsports. To the right of the winners are the second-place finishers, Kevin Estre and Patrick Lindsay. Completing the podium are the victors from the previous round, Dane Cameron and Markus Palttala.

Starting on the GTLM pole for round nine was the No. 93 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS.R. The credit goes to Canadian Kuno Wittmer, who was 16-years old the first time he competed at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Wittmer was leading the contest when he lost the top spot to avoid a slower car. His co-driver, Jonathan Bomarito, attempted to chase down the classing leading Corvette by fell short by 11.024-seconds.

The first lap for the Grand Touring competitors for round nine of the Tudor United SportsCar Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The front runners have already caught the slow-moving Mazda DP of Tremblay and Long. Leading the GTLM group is the class pole-sitter, Kuno Wittmer, in the No. 93 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS.R. Behind the Mazda is the Corvette of the second-place starter, Jan Magnussen.

The Prototype point leaders, by just three markers, entering round nine at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park were the brothers, Ricky and Jordan Taylor. At the end of the qualifying session, the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP was sixth on the grid. Early in the race, the car slid off the track and had to make an unscheduled pit-stop. They made up the deficit and finish third. More critical, the duo still led the title chase.

The second SRT Motorsports entry was driven by Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goosens. The best result to date for the No. 91 SRT Viper GTS.R was a runner-up finish in the previous round at Watkins Glen International with Jonathan Bomarito. The Viper was gridded sixteenth overall and seventh in GTLM for the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. A solid performance earned the duo the final spot on the class rostrum.

Sharing the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America was Patrick Lindsey and the 2013 German Porsche Carrera Cup champion, Kevin Estre. The car started twenty-sixth overall and seventh in the GTD category. Their efforts during the race moved the pair into first place. Estre was leading late in the contest when he was hit by the Porsche of Michael Christensen. The incident resulted in a second-place finish.

During qualifying for the GTD category, Dane Cameron was third fastest driving the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GTE. However, Cameron inherited a position when the Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS failed the post-qualifying technical inspection. Cameron and his co-driver, Markus Palttala, were second when the team received a 20-second penalty for a pit violation. They raced back to a third-place finish.

The 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Challenge GTLM podium at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Standing in the center are the category point leaders and winners from Corvette Racing, Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia. On the left are the runner-ups, Kuno Wittmer and Jonathan Bomarito. The final spot on the rostrum is occupied by the third-place finishers, Dominik Farnbacher and Marc Goossens.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	P	Gustavo Yacaman / Olivier Pla	Nissan Morgan	133	-
2	P	Richard Westbrook / Michael Valiante	Corvette DP	133	-
3	P	Ricky Taylor / Jordan Taylor	Corvette DP	133	-
4	P	Joao Barbosa / Christian Fittipaldi	Corvette DP	133	-
5	P	John Pew / Oswaldo Negri Jr.	Riley Ford Ecoboost	131	-
6	GTLM	Jan Magnussen / Antonio Garcia	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	127	-
7	GTLM	Jonathan Bomarito / Kuno Wittmer	Dodge Viper SRT	127	-
8	P	Joel Miller / Tristan Nunez	Mazda Prototype	127	-
9	GTLM	Dominik Farnbacher / Marc Goossens	Dodge Viper SRT	127	-
10	GTLM	John Edwards / Dirk Müller	BMW Z4 GTE	126	-
11	GTLM	Richard Lietz / Nick Tandy	Porsche 911 RSR	126	-
12	GTLM	Bill Auberlen / Andy Priaulx	BMW Z4 GTE	126	-
13	GTLM	Oliver Gavin / Tommy Milner	Chevrolet Corvette C7.R	126	-
14	GTLM	Bryan Sellers / Wolf Henzler	Porsche 911 RSR	126	-
15	GTLM	Patrick Long / Michael Christensen	Porsche 911 RSR	126	-
16	GTLM	Pierre Kaffer / Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari F458 Italia	125	-
17	GTD	Jeroen Bleekemolen / Ben Keating	Dodge Viper SRT	121	-
18	GTD	Patrick Lindsey / Kevin Estre	Porsche 911 GT America	121	-
19	GTD	Dane Cameron / Markus Palttala	BMW Z4	120	-
20	GTD	Ben Barker / Damien Faulkner	Porsche 911 GT America	120	-
21	GTD	Cooper MacNeil / Leh Keen	Porsche 911 GT America	120	-
22	GTD	Ian James / Mario Farnbacher	Porsche 911 GT America	120	-
23	GTD	Madison Snow / Jan Heylen	Porsche 911 GT America	120	-
24	GTD	Christopher Haase / Bryce Miller	Audi R8 LMS	119	-
25	GTD	John Potter / Andy Lally	Porsche 911 GT America	119	-
26	GTD	Nelson Canache Jr / Spencer Pumpelly / Dion von Moltke	Audi R8 LMS	119	-
27	GTD	Patrick Dempsey / Andrew Davis	Porsche 911 GT America	119	-
28	GTD	Al Carter / James Davison	Aston Martin V12 Vantage	118	-
29	GTD	Bill Sweedler / Townsend Bell	Ferrari 458 Italia	118	-
30	GTD	Seth Neiman / Dion von Moltke / Spencer Pumpelly	Audi R8 LMS	118	-
31	GTD	Mark Thomas / Chris Green	Porsche 911 GT America	117	-
32	GTD	Charles Espenlaub / Charlie Putman	Audi R8 LMS	117	-
33	P	Ed Brown / Johannes van Overbeek	HPD ARX-03b	117	-
34	P	Scott Sharp / Ryan Dalziel	HPD ARX-03b	92	Not Running
35	P	Memo Rojas / Scott Pruett	Ford EcoBoost Riley DP	86	Not Running
36	GTD	Alessandro Balzan / Jeff Westphal	Ferrari 458 Italia	44	Not Running
37	P	Sylvain Tremblay / Tom Long	Mazda Prototype	23	Not Running
38	P	Andy Meyrick / Katherine Legge	DeltaWing DWC13	0	Did Not Start
39	P	Eric Curran / Boris Said	Corvette DP	0	Did Not Start

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