Van der Zande Goes Quick In Canadian IMSA Drills

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario — If you checked the timing screens at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Friday afternoon shortly after the start of practice for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Chevrolet Grand Prix, then tuned back in at the end of the 90-minute session, not much changed.

All three class leaders posted their best times within the first 10 laps they turned on the fast and furious 2.459-mile, 10-corner road course just outside greater Toronto.

The early pacesetters went unchallenged, leaving Renger van der Zande quickest overall and in the LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) class in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07. Van der Zande, who competes full-time in the WeatherTech Championship’s Grand Touring Prototype class for Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian, is a guest driver in the No. 8 alongside John Farano this weekend.

Van der Zande’s 1 minute, 8.402-second (129.417 mph) tour of CTMP was just over a tenth of a second quicker than Ben Hanley’s 1:08.506 (129.220 mph) effort in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07. Dane Cameron posted the third best time in AO Racing’s No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07 he shares with PJ Hyett, last year’s CTMP Motul Pole Award winner.

GTP star Tom Blomqvist is another LMP2 ‘ringer’ this weekend, sharing the No. 22 United Autosports USA entry with LMP2 championship leader Daniel Goldburg. Blomqvist was P4 in the session at 1:08.853 (128.569 mph).

Conditions conducive for speed deteriorated as the session progressed, as ambient and track temperatures both increased by about 4 degrees in the afternoon heat, with the track temp peaking at 95 degrees.

Hanley and van der Zande swapped the top spot three times in the first 20 minutes before van der Zande settled the issue on the 10th of the 47 laps the No. 8 car completed.

Van der Zande’s time was within a quarter-second of the LMP2 track record of 1:08.197 (129.806 mph) set by Matt McMurry in 2019.

It was a similar story in the GT classes. Andrea Caldarelli took just seven laps to post his best effort in local favorite Pfaff Motorsports’ No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, a 1:15.580 (117.126 mph).

That gave him and co-driver Marco Mapelli a cushion of nearly half a second in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro class over Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R at 1:16.040 (116.417 mph).

“The car felt in a much better window than last year to drive,” reported Catsburg. “We did good work on the setup, and it feels like everything is in the right window.”

Ben Barnicoat clocked 1:16.328 (115.986 mph) in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 he shares with Aaron Telitz to place third in GTD PRO.

Vasser Sullivan’s No. 12 entry competing in GTD was slightly quicker than its identical GTD PRO stablemate by 0.005 second to lead the GTD class.

Jack Hawksworth, who teams with Parker Thompson, turned that 1:16.328 (115.978 mph) lap on his seventh tour of CTMP to narrowly edge the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in which Philip Ellis got down to 1:16.412 (115.850 mph).

Other Canadian entries of note include the No. 13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R, adorned in a Canadian flag livery, which Matt Bell drove to sixth place in GTD. Co-driver Orey Fidani, from nearby Etobicoke, Ontario, is tied atop the standings for the IMSA Bob Akin Award, presented at the end of the year to the top Bronze-rated driver in GTD.

Guelph, Ontario’s Robert Wickens, who is competing in the WeatherTech Championship in the GTD sprint race rounds this year, saw teammate Alec Udell run 10th quickest in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Two more entries have revised lineups confirmed on Friday. PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports will run Benjamin Pedersen, the team’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup third driver, alongside 2024 CTMP winner and LMP2 champion Nick Boulle in their No. 52 ORECA LMP2 07. Additionally, Kenton Koch joins the No. 021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 with Onofrio Triarsi in GTD.