After a long break, since Sebring, the single driver sprint race format of the IMSA VP SportsCar Challenge is back in action here in Canada, at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport Park). This is the first of two races set to go this weekend for the LMP3 and GSX (GT4) cars. We are set to go. Good things come to those who wait. This is Canada's rollercoaster. High commitment, high speed. If you want to win at Mosport, you have to go for it right from the green flag. 2.459 miles, elevation changes, fast and slow corners, fast straightaways. LMP3 and GT4 cars racing together as we have Brian Till and Jeremy Shaw on commentary for the VP Challenge events.
This track was resurfaced several years ago and has become incredibly fast. Bijoy Garg is the LMP3 polesitter in the #3 JR III Ligier JS P320 Nissan. Francis Selldorff in the #95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (G82) has the GSX pole. Greg Liefooghe qualified on the pole originally, but it is the same car he will be racing in Michelin Pilot Challenge later today and in the second VP Challenge race tomorrow. Lance Willsey racing today in LMP3 will be doing likewise in LMP3 in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship race tomorrow as well. LMP3 cars will not be in the WeatherTech Championship next year with the arrival of more GTP and LMP2 teams.
But the LMP3 cars will continue to race in this championship, in VP SportsCar Challenge. The Canadian race fans know their stuff. Here comes the field as the safety car pulls off. Green flag! We're racing at Mosport! A massive jump there by Jonathan Woolridge! Holy cow! He completely monstered Bijoy Garg! Greg Liefooghe of course withdrew from this race. Michael Cooper in the Accelerating Performance Porsche Cayman is teamed with Moisey Uretsky in their Aston Martin. Jonathan Woolridge, from here in Ontario, Canada, has track knowledge here at Mosport.
Points leader Dan Goldburg was swamped and is fifth. Courtney Crone is now third in the Gainsco liveried "Red Dragon". She has her hands full with Brian Thiennes in the #77 Forte Racing with USRT Ligier. Crone's car is run by Forty7 Motorsport. No Jon Brownson or Scott Neal in this race today. Neal wrecked and the car was repaired, but Scott Neal is too sore after backing the car into the fence. We'll see him in tomorrow's race. The GSX battle is on through turn four and into Moss corner. Michael Cooper being harried by Francis Selldorff with Sebastian Carazo next up in the Porsche Cayman #27 for Kellymoss with Riley.
Sebastian Carazo is the GSX points leader coming into this weekend and we have a huge issue as one of the LMP3 cars has plowed into the tires! Keith McGovern, through the gravel trap and is totally buried. In replay, he got loose, and... ker-runch! That is a scary wreck! Was that head on into the wall? It might have been. Oy yoy yoy yoy! The front nose on McGovern's Ligier has been obliterated. Game over. McGovern should be OK. The left front wheel separated from the chassis and suspension and it was caught by the banded tire wall and the catch fence. Keith McGovern should be OK. Oof! Before he got to the apex, the rear end of the car stepped out big style, and you have to open your hands and try to avoid it, but Keith McGovern was a passenger at that point.
Scott Neal is his brother-in-law. Thank heavens Keith McGovern is OK and he will have a check over at the medical center. That wreck is petrifying to watch because of the sheer speed before walloping the barrier! Motor racing is still dangerous, but Thank God for the safety equipment, the modern safety equipment we do have. High commitment and high reward if it goes right but if it goes wrong, hang on and pray, take your hands off the wheel. The safety workers will clean the track up and we have run now for 12 minutes and we'll have the rest of this race broken up into two 15 minute sprints, more than likely.
You don't have to save your stuff except for the car. Just go for it. High skill, high anxiety. That wreck was truly scary. McGovern was following behind the #54 MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Adrian Kunzle. This is a great introduction to sports car racing and the Michelin Pilot Challenge which we wil see race later today, is the next rung on the ladder. We have run at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway with these cars already. John Woolridge is still at the top of the shop. Michael Cooper has also leapfrogged into the GSX lead. You know Frank Selldorff is going to want a bite of the cherry when we go back to green.
Francis Selldorff started racing in a Mini Cooper and then a BMW in SCCA and is a senior in College studying computer science and finance. So he has something to fall back on but will surely continue in his racing career, hopefully. Woolridge did get by Garg in LMP3. Safety car lights out. We'll be back to green shortly. Selldorff was misplaced before getting the green flag. He has been given a warning as such, by the stewards. Safety car lights off. Green flag! We're racing again here at Mosport. Courtney Crone is up to third and a car runs wide through turn one but gets back in the fight. That is Dan Goldburg, the championship leader!
Goldburg will also race the WeatherTech Championship race tomorrow. He is stymied behind Alex Kirby. Bijoy Garg raced in the U.S. F2000 open wheel race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last weekend. Starts are restarts are pressure packed and we could see a car that has jumped the restart. That is one of the Ligier LMP3's. That was Alex Kirby in the #7 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier and he remains on probation for an incident last time out in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. No action yet. What will the stewards decide? Cooper leading Selldorff in GSX. Francis Selldorff is turning up the heat. This is some great racing and Sebastian Carazo is next up.
Following Carazo we have a fou way battle between Adam Adelson, Patrick Wilmot, and Tim Probert as well as Moisey Uretsky. Porsche Cayman, older generation BMW M4 F82 GT4, and Mercedes AMG GT4. The BMW has the legs up the Mario Andretti straightaway. Alex Kirby passes Brian Thienes for fourth spot. Kirby is pushing hard. So, we are past the halfway mark in VP SportsCar Challenge race one here at Mosport Park. Courtney Crone is pulling away in LMP3. The restart is under review by the stewards as well.
Cooper in the #48 Accelerating Performance Porsche Cayman over Francis Selldorff in the #95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT4. Dan Goldburg in LMP3 in the Duqueine is reeling in Brian Thiennes hand over fist as we have had a spin for Todd Coleman in the #69 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 as Alex Kirby is, as predicted, pinged with a drive through penalty. Jonathan Woolridge is on a Saturday drive in the lead of this motor race even if he is getting into lapped traffic. Yikes! Trouble for the #17 car as Will Wachs gets chopped by an LMP3 car! Wachs in the BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman. Boom! He tried making a move for the apex but it just was not on.
Alex Kirb serves his drive through penalty. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. The marshals and stewards judged the replay and the replay cameras never lie. It looks like it is game over for Will Wachs in the #17 Porsche Cayman. That was a late, late lunge into the corner and Alex Kirby is walking a tightrope with the IMSA folks because you don't want to violate your probation and be benched. Cooper and Selldorff continue their GSX fight and Jonathan Woolridge flies between them. The LMP3 cars have great aerodynamics and make speed in the corners, but down the straightaways the LMP3 and GT4 (GSX) cars are fairly equal.
Traffic giveth. Traffic taketh away. We always say it, but it is true. Jonathan Woolridge's lead has ballooned to three seconds. Stop + ten seconds penalty for Alex Kirby. He should be very careful. Sorry, sunbeam. You'll have to learn the hard way and gain experience. Courtney Crone works her way past the GSX leaders. Selldorff wants to use Crone as a pick and Cooper slams the door in his face. Dan Goldburg, the LMP3 points leader, is fourth, and Bijoy Garg is his target. This will put the cat among the pigeons. Cooper says, "you'll have to go the long way if you want the spot, mate." The BMW has the straight line speed for dead sure.
Cooper realizes he has to let the LMP3 car by. It is the cars but also the experience of the drivers, truthfully. Michael Cooper has driven every car you can imagine. Mazda MX-5, GT3, GT4, and others. He started in the Skip Barber Racing Series of course as so many aspiring race car drivers have. He was also a SprintX champion in SRO America competition several years ago in both GT3 and GT4. Once again, Jonathan Woolridge is on a leisurely drive and has clear road ahead of him. Bijoy Garg is quicker but he isn't making inroads. Woolridge, Garg, Goldburg, Thiennes, Willsey, the top five.
We have just under eight and a half minutes of racing left here at Mosport for VP SportsCar Challenge race one. Cooper leads with Selldorff pushing hard. Big crash for the #93! Mark Siegel in 17th place has completely wrecked the #93 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche Cayman! Massive impact entering turn nine and he dropped a wheel, speared back across the track, smashed the wall, and is in big, big trouble. He was off the apex and absolutely clobbered the barrier before hitting the grass! Ouch! That hurts like you cannot believe. Brakes! Brakes! That only makes it worse, to the inside, and... bang!
No room for error here at Mosport. He had junk on the tires and was just a passenger. I think this might end this race under Full Course Yellow. We have six minutes to go and the track cleanup should mean that we might end the race under yellow. Hopefully Mark Siegel is OK. Mark Siegel is talking to the safety workers. He has had his bell rung for sure and so they will take good care of him and make sure he is OK. We also saw Keith McGovern walk away from his incident earlier in the race. Just maybe, we could see a green flag finish. We'll have to see.
In replay, Siege was off course, got into the clag, and the spinning car was in no man's land, the front stuck, and was pounded into the barriers! Ouch! Those walls are like magnets. They draw you in if you aren't careful. He'll have a king size headache after that wallop but should be OK. Final lap. We'll end under yellow and tomorrow is race two which will have the grid set tomorrow by your fastest race lap today or your second fastest lap from qualifying yesterday. it will be the second fastest lap in quali that sets the grid for tomorrow and race two of the weekend. Bijoy Garg will be at the top of the shop tomorrow.
Jonathan Woolridge will start third and he is going to win today's motor race. Michael Cooper wins GSX.
Overall/LMP3: #38 Jonathan Woolridge Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GSX: #48 Michael Cooper Accelerating Performance Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS
This is special for Woolridge as a Canadian driver who will win at home, at his home circuit. Cue "Oh Canada!" This is special for Jonathan Woolridge, who has raced here at Mosport in Canadian Formula Ford. Michael Cooper gets his first VP Challenge victory as well and Sebastian Carrazzo extends his points lead before tomorrow's second race of the weekend. Tim Probert in the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes AMG GT4 wins the Bronze driver category in GSX as well.
So, race one (round five) in the bag. Race two (round six) tomorrow. Join us, won't you? Believe me, you will not want to miss it. See you tomorrow. Bye for now.
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