Blancpain GT World Challenge America, goes north of the border, to Canada, eh, for two races, at the legendary and yet fearsome Mosport Park, now corporately known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but to legions of fans, in their hearts, always called, Mosport Park. Can Am, Formula 1, Group C prototypes, and other categories have raced here throughout the years, and the venue is one of those hallowed ribbons of asphalt in the world of motor racing. Patrick Long has pole. Two Porsche's on the front row of the grid, with Daniel Morad alongside. Miguel Molina and Rodrigo Baptista are on the second row. 12 drivers in total, are accruing points for the global World Challenge manufacturer's cup.
Mercedes, Colin Braun and George Kurtz, along with David Askew and Ryan Dalziel, are scoring points. Mercedes leads Ferrari in the global manufacturers championship. Scott Hargrove is at his home track. He is 4,000 kilometers away from home, but, Mosport is Hargrove's home track, as he is sharing with Patrick Long. Hargrove says there will be tough competition indeed. Race two, happns tomorrow. So, this is the firs chapter to be written. Andy Soucek had an ABS failure in the second K-PAX Bentley and he strill qualified the automobile. Anthony Imperato puts the #91 Wright Motorsports car on pole in Pro Am. The top five in Pro Am are separated by mere tenths of a second. Miguel Molina starts for R. Ferri Motorsports and Ferrari, another team from Canada, right at home in their backyard here at Mosport.
The engines have fired for the 90 minute race. The best of the best in manufacturers, team,s and drivers, are ready to roll. Mosport has ten turns on a 2.5 mile course. Be up on the wheel. No place to rest. Moss corner is the slowest corner on the circuit, and hit top speed up the Andretti straightaway, and a bucketful of downforce also helps. Tire degradation might just be a factor in this motor race today. The pit lane delta is 62 seconds, maximum. That's real tight. So, pit strategy will be a big deal. It's a sporting time. Don't lose time in the lane. That's the key.
The long duration turns here at Mosport, the Pirelli tires will be thrashed. Porsche will be up to speed quicker, but Ferrari will be able to save their tires through the race. Drivers are generating tire and brake temperature as we get set to go. The top six drivers in the championship are covered merely by a point. Last time out at Virginia International Raceway, things happened that tightened the points margins indeed. The Acura NSX teams have struggled here at Mosport. The car's handling is a tad edgy running a higher ride height on the car than they do in other GT3 based championships. Form up, boys. Don't poke out of line.
Safety car into the lane. Green flag out, and away we go! n Patgrick Long is being harried by Daniel Morad and Long wiggles,a nd saves the car! Jeepers! That was so close. Debris on the road, look. Was there damage incurred? Wolf Henzler pressurizes Rodrigo Baptista. Through Moss corner up the Andretti straight. These blokes are flat out as Bret Curtis has a great start in the RealTime Acura NSX GT3. One lap, done and dusted. Patrick Long is opening a lead as Andy Soucek wants by Wolf Henzler, look. Down through turn three. Fall down into turn four, a quick turn, and into Moss corner again. The tires are about to hit their sweet spot as Patrick Long is dialed in, putting a big bunch of daylight between himself and Daniel Morad.
Miguel Molina has The Prancing Horse in third. Long changed to Wright Motorsport in 2016 and they swept the races here, that year. Plunging downhill again, back through Moss corner and back uphill again. Long is setting sail. Miguel Molina has all sorts of traffic behind him. Andy Soucek has pace in the Bentley. Morad tried hard to run on the outside at the start as we look at the replay. Something flew off a car right at the start. Not sure what it was or who it came from. Downforce is a big deal on these GT3 cars. Wolf Henzler is harrying Rodrigo Baptista at the moment, look. Andy Soucek is doing the same. He has to be patient as we are just six minutes into this race. Massive commitment into turn two, which is almost a double apex turn.
You just can't relax. If the car is on edge, it's a nightmare, a bugaboo to drive. The competition has started behind Patrick Long who is so far, on a Saturday afternoon cruise. Long's best lap time so far is 1:17.816. Wright Motorsports leads both the Pro and Am classes. Patrick Long overall and in Pro, and Anthony Imperato in Am. Daniel Morad has Rodrigo Baptista and Miguel Molina all over him, and similarly, Andy Soucek is applying the blowtorch to Wolf Henzler at this moment. Soucek is still in the role of the hound, as Wolf Henzler is the rabbit. Or, you can describe that as the shark swimming after the minnow.
They breathe the throttle through the last corner. GT3 cars are so good for the sweeping turns here at CTMP. Former driver Ron Fellows is now the owner/manager of this track. Fellows' son, started his career here this weekend in Porsche GT3 Cup Canada. Wolf Henzler has made a name for himself in World Challenge competition, and he won the first race he ever ran at the Sonoma Raceway in California, called Sears Point, back in the day. Am drivers start the first race if you have Pro Am lineup. Pat Long's lead has been cut back to under two seconds. Andy Soucek is still harrying Wolf Henzler up the Mario Andretti straight.
Patrick Long's lead is diminishinhg. He has the fast lap, but continues to be reeled in. Soucek is still frustrated by Henzler and Miguel Molina is applying the blowtorch to Daniel Morad as well, look. At 40 minutes, the pit widow will open. It's cold here in Canada, and so, the tires have just not been able to come up to temperature. Cold tires are a big deal. If you stay out on hot rubber, that's good. It's an advantage here, in the Canadian cold. K-PAX race strategist Thomas Blam are looking for an overcut or an undercut on the traffic depending on how their pit stops go. Blam mentions that it's harder for the Bentley boys to try and make a move on the other blokes they are racinng against here.
This is a game of high speed chess. No question. At the tail end of the field, well, further down the other, there are good battles as well. Bret Curtis, George Kurtz, Naoto Takeda in the Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3, and another Mercedes. Takeda is off the road to keep the car straight. Bret Curtis has been passed by both Till Bechtolsheimer and Martin Barkey, another Canadian. He is up into the top three in Pro Am at the moment. Curtis tweaked his back during practice, somehow, sharing with Dane Cameron of course. Curtis was scrunched into the car, and Dane Cameron, stretched out. Beinng scrunched into the car is a bit of a problem. But, when the adrenaline flows during the race, the boys just have to go for it.
Rodrigo Baptista is moving up to join the Morad/Molina scrap. Takeda has cut a right front tire. Dear me. He might be overheating. Takeda is also competinng in Blancpain GT Asia. Molina still chasing after Morad, and it's game over for the BMW. That motor is toasty with all the steam billowing out of the V8. Tons of grass is clogged innto the radiator inlet. Thwere's very little urgency, and it's game over for Turner Motorsports on their first race of the season. Takeda just becomes a giant lawnmower, packing grass into the radiator, overheating the BMW. How to make your M6 into an M5 and 3/4.
Miguel Molina is running very consistently as Daniel Morad sets his best lap of the race, in the 1:17.9 bracket. Baptista lowers that, for new fast lap at 1:17.792. Takeda might get back out for this race, and gets set for race two. Will Turnner's team will run three additional events in Blancpain GT World Challenge America in 2019. Takeda was scrapping hard with George Kurtz and David Askew. Miguel Molina is pushing Daniel Morad, as Patrick Long is whistling off into the distance. Patrick Long ran very well last year, but again, in 2016, he was very strong. Oh no! Patrick Lonng is slowing! He has a problem! The left rear tire is down, look.
Long is in the pit lane. What is the problem with the tire? It may be off the stub axle. Left rear. It needs a new tire. This is emergency service, but now, Patrick Long will be out of the picture for the time being. He has three hot tires. Daniel Morad now leads his home race. Miguel Molina in the Ferrari continues to push. Miguel Molina is flying, while Daniel Morad is fighting the handling on his Porsche. Trouble in paradise, too, for the #91 Wright Motorsports Porsche, Anthony Imperato at the wheel of it. We have a five car battle for the overall lead. Who will blink first on the early stops? The undercut, as it were. Don't go too far to the outside so you pick up clag on your tires.
There's a big bump through Moss corner right when you mash the throttle. The Pro Am boys will be in the lane soon, to get the Pro drivers into the cars in another 17 minutes. 57 minutes still on the board. Bret Curtis is off the pace. His sore back is taking it's toll. If you have a physical ailment, Mosport will be a very hard track to race at. Miguel Molina is still second, and he wants the lead before the pit window opens.; Daniel Morad, the Canadian, is fending off the challenge of the Ferrari. Wolf Henzler and Andy Soucek are also in this scrum. David Askew is about to be lapped by the leaders. Team boss John Wright says they had tires cut down on both cars in succession. They are not concerned it will happen again.
Molina swamps David Askew in the DXDT Mercedes. Morad is using more of the road throught turns nine and ten. Alegra Motorsports may be on the alert that their tires could be in trouble as well. Don't divulge performance secrets from your rival teams, but at least let them know about tire safety. Morad leads Molina, Baptista, Henzler, and Soucek. Till Bechtelsheimer leads Pro Am in the #5 Gradient Racing Acura. Molina still wants a bit of the apple, chasing Morad. Till Bechtolsheimer is British, but lives in New York. He does a lot of historic and vintage racing with old Allard's and cars like that from motor racing's great past, back in the days when the drivers were fat and the tires were skinny.
The Ferrari is more planted to the road than the Porsche as the pit window will open soon. Who blinks first? The Pro Am boys are going to hit the lane early. These boys are coming up on George Kurtz in the Crowdstrike Mercedes he is sharing with Colin Braun. Andy Soucek is fifth in the overall right now, chasing Wolf Henzler. The pit window is open. Any takers? Ah yes. Morad in the lane early, and Kurtz stays out. Rodrigo Baptista also in the lane. Martin Barkey turns the #80 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 over to Kyle Marcelli. K-PAX struggles to get the tires on. That was not a good stop for the K-PAX blokes there.
Miguel Molina now into the race lead, look, as Baptista is also still on course. Bechtolsheimer in the lane for Gradient, turning the #5 Acura over to Marc Miller. Miguel Molina is still leading the motor race up the Andretti straightaway again. Molina will have to pull the pin to get away from Baptista. He has clear track, and has a very good Brazilian driver right behind him, Rodrigo Baptista sharing with Belgian Maxime Soulet. You run a risk by staying out if there is a Full Course Yellow. People who pit and stay on the lead lap end up behind you. But, the overcut has a big advantage.
Miguel Molina is going to press it one more lap. They could squeak it out one more lap, but that will be really squeaky at the moment. More like a squeaky wheel. The Ferrari hugs the road with an earlier entry into the corner while the Bentley slides through the middle of the turn as Molina gets loose through Moss corner! He saves it! Ferrari and Bentley both in the lane, with just 41 minutes on the board. Pit stop execution is crucial. Driver change for R. Ferri. Toni Vilander is now in the car. Stay calm. Go through your routine. Alvaro Parente is monstering Michael de Quesada as Toni Vilander and Maxime Soulet will both get the track position, but they will have no tire temperature.
de Quesada and Parente both have tire temperature. Soulet pinches de Quesada, Alvaro Parente has the advantage, but now it is team mate wars at K-PAX. Alvaro Parente vs. Rodrigo Baptista. Parente squares the corner. Check that, it's Soulet in the sister car. Maxime Soulet is washing out the front end on his Bentley. Meanwhile, Michael de Quesada is closing up on Toni Vilander. Toni Vilander's gap at the sharp end is stabilizing a bit. Maxime Soulet and Andy Soucek have their first race opportunities here at Mosport.
Parente had an amazing qualifying run for the race tomorrow. When he is on, Alvaro Parente is tough to beat. Michael de Quesada is running very well in the Alegra Porsche, the #24 car. Toni Vilander will start on the front row for tomorrow's race. Maxime Soulet is second. So, it is a Bentley 1-2 at the moment. Mosport is not the easiest track to pass on. That's for sure. Keep up the pressure. Vilander easing away from his rivals. Michael de Quesada is keeping Alvaro Parente at bay at the moment. Just over a half an hour left in the race. Marc Miller continues to lead Pro Am in the #5 Gradient Acura. Kyle Marcelli is pushing Miller, and Marcelli of course, has an identical machine, another Acura NSX GT3.
The Miller/Bechtolsheimer car underwent some setup changes, and they've done so. Kyle Marcelli is next in Pro Am. Marcelli is a wheel man, and you give him a chance for a victory, he'll grab it. Alvaro Parente continues closing in on Daniel Morad, and here comes Maxime Soulet as well, look. Cue the Jaws music. Soulet is the shark, while his team mate is the minnow. Toni Vilander runs wide! Yikes! Alex Riberas, in qualifying here, destroyed an R. Ferri Ferrari here, a couple years ago. Vilander way off the road into the gray area, the clag off the outside of the road! Yikes! Remo Ferri was a Ferrari tech in the 1970s racing here at Mosport with cars like the awesome 512S prototype.
The Bentley Boys continue battlig each other. Michael de Quesada has been running extremely well and fending off Parente. The gap between De Quesada and Parente has ballooned back out again. Once again, the Bentley Boys are after each other. Parente leading Soulet. The Morad/de Quesada duo has had good speed, but their luck just hasn't been there. It would be a great result for these two, in general, and not just because they are at their home speedway. The season is still young. Scott Hargrove has taken the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche over from Patrick Long, fifth in the overall. This is Hargrove's home track, too. Marc Miller is being harried now by Kyle Marcelli, look. These two Acura driver's are chasing each other for position. Team boss John Morachi for Racer's Edge has been doing very well. Marc Miller is also a regular in Trans Am.
We're into the final 20 minutes as Maxime Soulet is all over Alvaro Parente like the proverbial el cheapo suito here. The body language of the Porsche just isn't as comfortable as the Bentley. The Porsche is fidgety while the Bentley is really compliant on the road, with their new Gen 2 car that K-PAX is now campaigning, compared to the Gen 1 Bentley from last year. Parente closes back up on de Quesada here, look. Marco Holzer is reporting he has a problem with a tire. No worries on the telemetry from the team. We'll have to watch this development. The sister Wright Porsche, now with Norway's Dennis Olsen at the wheel of it, is flying. Olsen is at his first race here at Mosport. That's what makes these GT3 races so great.
Michael de Quesada continues to keep Alvaro Parente at bay. Kyle Marcelli is closing up on Marc Miller. Martin Barkey has won at Mosport in GT4 as well. The cooler weather helps the tires. The #5 car is bounding over the curbs through Moss corner compared to the #80. Identical cars, handling completely differently right now. Marc Miller has won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE Am class. The Pro Am battle continues between the two Acura's. Miller leads over Marcelli as we are nearly done with this race. Third place is Colin Braun in the #04 DXDT Mercedes, followed by Ryan Dalziel in the sister #63 DXDT Mercedes, and Dane Cameron is next in the #43 RealTime Racing Acura NSX GT3.
The marginn has come down under 3.5 seconds between Toni Vilander and Michael de Quesada. Alvaro Parente knows he has to attack now, and Maxime Soulet will be right there too. Miller continues to get the best of Marcelli in the battle of the Acura's, and Miller is still having trouble into Moss corner. Ten minutes to go now. Parente is right on the tail of de Quesada in the Porsche. They plunge over the hill down into turn two. That's another diabolical turn on this course. Back in the day you had nothing but guardrail and trees when the Formula 1, Can Am, and Group C drivers drove here. Bentley on Porsche here, look. de Quesada will be hanging on by the skin of his teeth over Parente.
You have to fight to find the last hundredth of a second over your competition, flying through the forest here at Mosport. Parente creeps up on the Porsche another time as we have seven minutes left. Toni Vilander still has 3.5 seconds over Michael de Quesada. Clear sailing for the Prancing Horse? Maybe. Marc Miller and Kyle Marcelli, these two chaps continue to battle each other. Gradient vs. Racer's Edge. The tires chirp, and now, Parente is really trying to wrestle the spot away from Michael de Quesada. de Quesada takes the rim shot in turn two. He runs very wide, and two wheels will touch the curbs. Parente goes inside and some argy bargy, look. Maxime Soulet is back in it, look, as these two bloks are fighting, and here comes Parente, slamming the door in his face! Maxime Soulet wants the isndie, but no dice.
Trouble for Michael de Quesada? Yes! Right rear tire down on the Porsche! Jeepers creepers! R. Ferri is going to have a tough go of it in these last three minutes trying to keep the Bentley's behind. Vilander now leads by five seconds. He might just have this one in the bag. Two laps left to run. Then, Remo and the boys at R. Ferri can celebrate. If Parente hadn't been snookered by de Quesada, he could have given the Ferrari a run for it's money, and poor old de Quesada, you just have to feel for him after his stonking drive today. White flag out, for Toni Vilander and the R. Ferri Ferrari. One lap to go. Ferrari will gain in the global constructors championship. No further action from the stewards in the Parente/de Quesada fracas from earlier.
Once more through Moss corner, for the final time. Vilander has the lead over the Bentley boys. Toni Vilander and Miguel Molina have run a flawless race. Ferrari and R. Ferri win at home!
Marc Miller and Till Bectolsheimer win Pro Am for Gradient Acura! The Am class, despite the troubles the team had, is still won by the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 in the hands of the Japanese duo of Takuya Shirisaka and Naoto Takeda, who normally race in Blancpain GT Asia competition.
Overall/Pro: #61 Molina/Vilander R. Ferri Motorsports Ferrari 488 GT3
Pro Am: #5 Bechtolsheimer/Miller Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3
Am: #96 Shirasaka/Takeda Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3
Tomorrow, race two beckons. Stay tuned for a full report on that one, as we take to the track at Mosport, once more. See you tomorrow. Good night, from Ontario, Canada, everyone.
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