It is time for the final event of the weekend here in Canada. Race two of the VP Racing Fuels Sports Car Challenge is set to cap off a busy weekend for IMSA, north of the border. In race one yesterday, we saw Jagger Jones continue his winning streak. This is round eight of the championship with weather in the area that could play a factor, as we are east of Toronto. High speed and high consequences if you go off the course here at CTMP, formerly, and forever in racing fans' hearts, known as Mosport Park, since it opened way back in 1961. If you go off the road, blimey! You are going for a ride. Turn five at Moss corner is the slowest turn and to the southwest of us, there are rain showers on the horizon.
In race one, Jagger Jones started outside the front row and Jagger Jones is here to go for it. He went for it. Many awesome battles too in the GSX class for GT4 cars. Jagger Jones almost spun around but saved the car. Jesse Lazare went out of the race with mechanical problems. Then a massive accident for Eddie Killeen. Jagger Jones won LMP3 and Jack Polito the local driver won in GSX. However, in tech inspection, there was too much camber in Jagger Jones' #87 FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine. So, here are the corrected results from yesterday before we get started today.
Overall/LMP3: #6 Steven Aghakhani MLT Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GSX: #98 Jack Polito Polito Racing Ford Mustang GT4
The fact Aghakhani won the race from yesterday means major implications in the championship. With Jagger Jones unavailable to race the doubleheader at Daytona back in January, and now with the disqualification, this will put Jagger Jones on the back foot in the championship chase because after this second race at CTMP today, there will be only two race weekends, and only four races in total, to come back and try to claim the title.
In GSX too, it is the same scenario after Jesse Lazare's retirement from race one means Luca Mars has a whopping 250-point lead in his favor. Safety Car lights off. Aghakhani and Jones are on the front row. It is fair knowing that Jones has catching up to do that Aghakhani can take the bull by the horns and really go for it. As mentioned, time is of the essence in the 2024 championship. Jagger Jones is 460 points behind Aghakhani, and he will throw caution to the wind for a win. Jesse Lazare outside the front row in GSX. Green flag and away we go!
Aghakhani and Jones nose to nose through turn one and some argy bargy into the downhill plunge in turn two! Oh my! A great pass by Jagger Hones heading for Moss corner. Jesse Lazare leads GSX over Jack Polito and Josh Green. McLaren, Ford, Mercedes. Jagger Jones had the preferred position not quite the racing line. Good battles in GSX as we have said. Luca Mars right behind Josh Green and Jack Polito wants it against Jesse Lazare. He takes the lead in his home race here at CTMP on debut. This is Polito's first weekend of professional sports car racing.
So, Polito at the top of the shop, going for two in a row, living half an hour away in Lindsey, Ontario, Canada. He loves racing here, starting his racing career in a Honda Prelude, then he got into Formula 1600 open wheel racing with a team his dad drove for many years ago up here in Canada. Luca Mars and Josh Green continuing their battle. They have been swapping places. I think the bonnet latch for Mars' Mustang has given up. The bonnet will get weaker and weaker as the race goes on;. He is in the GSX points lead so he needs to keep motoring on.
Jagger Jones is really checking out in LMP3. He is in no mood to mess around after the Saturday disqualification uncorking the fastest lap of the race so far and a new lap record. Aghakhani is in the catbird seat for the championship. Jones wants to impress people watching, owners, sponsors, manufacturers, teams etc. Aghakhani is 1.9 now 1.8 seconds behind. Jagger Jones has been around racing his whole life with his father P.J. and grandfather Parnelli. They go up the Mario Andretti straightaway again and Jones ekes out the gap over Aghakhani, an impressive young driver as well. He started driving race cars in his late teens.
Both drivers have maturity and speed. He knows he can and will rebound. No blaming others and saying, "oh, poor, pitiful me." So, in the GSX class, it is Jack Polito really opening people's eyes. He knows CTMP so well but thenyou go out and need to race competitors you are not accustomed to racing with but Polito is showing his stuff, eking the gap out a quarter of a second a lap. Polito is checking out and right now we see Jesse Lazare, Luca Mars, and Josh Green not only squabbling amongst themselves, but also determined to find the solution to Jack Polito's riddle.
I think I see raindrops on the camera lens. Polito using the windscreen wipers on the Mustang already. He has been around sports but not in go karts. His formative years were in snowmobiles, and Snocross, motocross on snow, on snowmobiles. He is a 14-time snowmobile racing champion. So, he is a natural as a racing driver moving from snowmobiles to cars. We have seen motorcycle racers move into cars and do well. So, Jagger Jones is catching GSX traffic with the LMP3 cars turning laps in the 1:14 range. Maybe the track is getting a tad slicker.
34 minutes left on the board. The raindrops are falling, and every lap will be different. You have no clue what you will get. Jagger Jones is the pioneer, the rabbit. The track has moisture on it although both Jagger Jones and Jack Polito are whistling off into the distance because of the speed. But now we are under Full Course Yellow due to the rain. The track is getting slicker and slick Michelin tires will not help you in the least. We have a weather system around the racetrack and the rain is coming at a quick pace. The race has been neutralized and the wind is picking up. As long as we don't see an all out deluge, I think the cars can stay on slick tires.
In short, sharp races like this, tire changes are not expected. Maybe there are Michelin rain tires set up in the lane, but it is hard to tell, currently. The fans wisely have the brollies up. A pretty stout wind will blow the weather through. We have fabulous racing. It is not raining hard yet. But we will have to see what is going to happen. Most drivers in this field are not seasoned professionals. When the track is slick with slick tires sans tread, it is extremely dangerous. Drivers are racing the racetrack with the dampness on it with Mother Nature checking in. How long will this front last? There are heavier showers even though it is moving quickly. Look out for lightning because it is dangerous for the crews and the fans.
IMSA has a great weather warning system where everyone gets a text message to seek shelter if there is severe weather. It is measured back to 30 miles away from the circuit. If it blows through, great. Otherwise, the right thing to do is to continue for a few laps and maybe throw the red flag to change to wet weather tires and maybe we can go back to green if there is no lightning. Keep the fans and the marshals safe. All of the IMSA championships can run in the rain. Teams are not set up to do pit stops in VP Sports Car Challenge. Get control of the field with the safety car and wait out the conditions.
If rain tires are needed, change to them under red and then resume the race. Will we have a sharp, quick shower? That is the issue because if it buckets down with rain, the track will be undrivable. Again, prototypes intermingled with production coupes. There are no lapped cars between Polito and Jones. The marshals are looking at the track asking the teams to ask the drivers if it is raceable. There is no real spray anywhere. But don't stay out and then need the rain tires in a pinch. This is a wait and see approach being taken by the marshals. Look at 22 and a half minutes, the halfway mark. Half the race still counts.
All the LMP3 cars are on the same lap and all of the GSX cars are on the lead lap. The rain is not intensifying and there is no lightning or thunder yet. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is an elongated racetrack. It is similar to Road America or Watkins Glen where it can rain on one end and be bone dry on the other end. Very similar to the longer tracks in Europe like Spa in Belgium or the Nurburgring in Germany. The lake effect causes weird weather patterns. It is a microclimate just like at the Nurburgring and at Spa. We see the red and white, the maple leaf of the Canadian flag. So much great racing in Canada. Eastern Canada with Toronto, Trois Rivieres, and Mosport. Western Canada has racetracks as well. I think there was a road course in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but I don't think it exists anymore.
Luca Mars is in to fix the loose bonnet. So, we have crossed the halfway mark. Luca Mars is down in tenth so if he doesn't move forward, he will score only last place points. Hopefully this decision doesn't come back to bite the team. Jesse Lazare is second in GSX, and he'll get 320 points while in tenth, Luca Mars will earn only 210 points and that is a 110-point swing. The next time we meet you for VP Challenge will be at Virginia International Raceway. The race has been declared wet. The final events will be a doubleheader at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Georgia, in October. We are prepping for a noncompetitive tire change for safety for the second half of this race.
The conditions thankfully have not worsened but it is frustrating for everyone. We had a threat of serious rain which would have been diabolical. It will get worse. Let's see how the final 18 minutes will work out as the cars pit for the change to rain tires. Make the right decision and do so in a timely manner. These are not competitive stops. Jonathan Woolridge in the #38 Performance Tech car in LMP3 has arrived in the pit lane after we wondered where he was. The rain is coming down harder so the timing of this tire change was spot on. This gives the teams plenty of time to complete their tire changes.
The #59 KOHR Motorsports Mustang will plummet to the tail end of the field. Jack Polito though in the #98 is that family run team from his Ford/Mercury dealership. Crew Chief Bart Slott has put together a very good car. Polito has raced the FEL Championship, the old Canadian Touring Car Championship set up with GT4 and TCR cars much like the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. We have a qualifying session worth of racing to go yet. So, this will become an eight- or ten-minute sprint in the rain on the rain tires to be a more level playing field. We see the work going on the #88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (G82) in the hands of Patrick Wilmot out of Roswell, Georgia.
Wilmot was running fifth before the red flag and pit lane intervention. The windscreen wipers are now definitely necessary as there will be a handful of laps behind the safety car to check track conditions. Some of the most difficult conditions to drive in is light rain when the racetrack is changing or when the track is drying out. A fully sodden track is not too difficult to drive. It is sprinkling and spritzing, not coming down too hard. There will be a field reset to put the LMP3 cars ahead of the GSX cars. Jack Polito was stopped momentarily and now we are set to restart this race.
Make sure the safety car stops at the end before the field gets recycled. They had plenty of time to change tires and the rain is really coming down. Heavy rain and dark skies to the south. Brighter skies to the north. The weather system is moving in from the west and southwest with twelve minutes to go and we will perhaps have about ten minutes of actual racing left on the board. We have been jolly lucky that some of the worse weather has missed us. Just in the nick of time, too. It is about five or ten miles away from the track. So, the fianl few laps are going to be on a dry course with rain tires.
This is bananas. We have to get the cars moving. 11 minutes and change on the board. I am not sure why it took so long to change tires. That's a weird situation. I think the communication to shuffle the field up is the trouble. Jonathan Woolridge is at the back of the pack and here come a few other LMP3 cars. The #19 Ford Mustang GT4 slides through, the Stephen Cameron Racing Ford Mustang GT4 in the hands of Sean Quinlan. Everyone is now moving back onto the racetrack. Most LMP3 teams are single car operations except Performance Tech Motorsports who have three LMP3 cars in the field with Alex Kirby, Jordan Menzin, and Jonathan Woolridge.
We never did see a red flag. Only nine minutes to go and the safety car is trundling slowly. Pick up the pace boys and girls. That's what we need to do to get into formation for this sprint to the finish. Rain tires are designed to work better when they are cooler. The spray is coming up off the Michelin rain tires. So, this is a wise decision in the final eight minutes of the race for the sprint to the finish. We hopefully have just one lap more before we go ahead and go racing. We were stopped for eight minutes and had a ten-minute warmup lap just now.
Performance Tech Motorsports had to change tires on all three of their LMP3 cars of course. Timing and scoring now being sorted out and some of it must be manually done with pencil and paper. Safety Car lights off. Green flag this time by with a shade over five minutes left on the board. Jagger Jones will be leading with Jack Polito the GSX leader right behind. Jesse Lazare and Josh Green in GSX might also be right there, the #21 McLaren and the #78 Mercedes. With the extra pit stop for Luca Mars in the Mustang for KOHR Motorsports, this promotes the #88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 of Patrick Wilmot up to fourth in class in GSX.
Behind him is Scott Blind in the #45 bright yellow Ruckus Racing Aston Martin leading the Bronze Cup class. OK. We're back under green with less than six minutes remaining. Who has been to CTMP in the rain before? The outside on the polished line where they don't run on the rain line. Josh Green going for second around Jesse Lazare in the McLaren as Jagger Jones slides off the apex and trouble for the #72 of Frank DePew in the zebra striped Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. No trouble as DePew is back underway. Jagger Jones in the lead of the motor race with no trouble, showing he can race in the wet just as well as the dry.
Jones is 1.1 seconds to the good over Steven Aghakhani. Right on the apexes through turns eight, nine, and ten. He has checked out. Oh dear. We have a spin for the #18 of Jordan Menzin, a driver new to otor racing in general and to the prototypes. He was on the outside and got distracted by another car off the road in front of him. Once he started sliding, he couldn't arrest the speed. Jesse Lazare is back to second place and Josh Green in the Mercedes is bumped back to third in GSX. The top five runners in LMP3 are Jagger Jones, Steven Aghakhani, Brian Thienes, Alex Kirby, and Ryan Phinny.
In GSX it is Jack Polito, Jesse Lazare, Josh Green, Patrick Wilmot, and Scott Blind. This is a mission of discovery, moving to a higher line through the middle of the corner to find the grip. In the dry the prototypes make contact with the track, polishing it. You don't want to be on the polished line in the wet or on anything painted. Josh Green has a head of steam catching Jesse Lazare as Jack Polito extends the lead. Moss Corner is a real handful in the wet, turn five here at CTMP. Jesse Lazare inching up on Jack Polito. I believe this is the final lap. White flag this time by.
Jones down through turn three. He has not seen the white flag yet. Maybe this time by it will be. Aghakhani and Jones have been very impressive. Aghakhani and Jones both have the same amount of time in the car. Alex Kirby is now up to third place in LMP3. Jagger Jones should make up for the disappointment from yesterday and Josh Green passes Jack Polito for second spot. It is the final lap of the motor race. Now, a massive, three-way battle for the GSX win! Jack Polito passed by Josh Green. Polito tries going around Jesse Lazare in turn one!
Wow! Green was shot out of a cannon! Different grip levels in different corners. Jagger Jones will hang on and win race two of the weekend for VP Sports Car Challenge in Canada! Josh Green has checked out in the GSX class and he hopes to hold on but there's a huge wreck for Jack Polito and an LMP3 car! Green wins in GSX for the first time!
Overall/LMP3: #87 Jagger Jones FastMD Racing with Remstar Duqueine D08 Nissan
GSX; #78 Josh Green Thaze Competition Mercedes-AMG GT4
Before we say so long, let's see what on earth happened in this last lap coming together in the GSX division. Michael Dayton has gotten spun around with massive damage to the rear end of his BMW M4 GT4. Jack Polito in the Mustangf was also involved in this mess. Polito was tagged by the #18 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Jordan Menzin. Poor old Michael Dayton had no place to go, and... ker-runch! He spears across the road to driver's right and clobbers the barrier absolutely destroying the rear bodywork, the rear bumper of his BMW! Ouch! He was leading the GSX Bronze Cup points coming into this weekend and so this will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Swish Motorsports group.
A big hit both literally and figuratively. One of the LMP3's came through jumbling the GSX order and Josh Green, he saw the opportunity and wriggled his way through to the lead. He used the prototype as a pick. A heady drive for him to win. It was hard fought and hard earned. Two new winners. Retribution for yesterday for Jagger Jones. Hats off to the series for controlling the difficult conditions in the middle of the race. An impressive drive for Josh Green. Aghakhani leads Brian Thienes by 500 points in LMP3. Brian Thienes fourth and winning Bronze Cup. Jagger Jones moves to fourth but is 600 points out of the lead with four races to go in 2024.
In GSX, Luca Mars had a 250-point advantage over Jesse Lazare. Mars finished fifth in class and now is working from a total of 2,410 points. He is 90 points to the good of second place finisher Jesse Lazare who comes in second to Josh Green. Another wild race today. We will see you next time from Virginia International Raceway in late August. So long, for now.
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