Louis Deletraz was quickest from the opening free practice session at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as part of this weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
A 90-minute session kicked off a special weekend marking the championship’s only trip across the border into Canada as the Mosport Park welcomed the return of the LMP2 category.
Ambient temperatures were on the warmer side at 28 degrees Celsius (84 Fahrenheit) and 52 Celsius (125 F) on the track surface.
Producing one of the fastest and most exciting laps seen on the calendar, this seventh round will host an exciting 2-hour and 40-minute sprint on Sunday 14 July with LMP2, GTD and GTD Pro cars.
The session started with the GTD championship-leading #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 running slowly on its outlap with Phillip Ellis at the wheel before pitting, although the car continued to run as normal afterwards.
Corvette Racing’s pair of GTD Pro Z06 GT3.Rs showcased promising lap times as they headed the field during the opening portion of the session.
At the end of the session, Alexander Sims was quickest with a 1:15.696 in the #3 followed by the sibling #4 car of Nicky Catsburg (1:15.714).
Ross Gunn took third place in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR from a 1:16.022, followed by the highest-placed GTD competitor – the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 – owing to Robby Foley’s 1:16.024.
Fourth position in the GTD Pro running was claimed by the other BMW, the #1 Paul Miller Racing entrant, after Bryan Sellers set a 1:16.050.
Seb Priaulx rounded out the top-five in the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R after a driving out a 1:16.109.
In LMP2, a quadrant of GTP drivers took the opportunity to familiarise with their Oreca 07 machinery which is set to keep the fight for the win close between the respectable talents.
One of whom – Louis Deletraz – set the outright pace during the opening stages of the session in the #99 AO Racing ‘Spike the Dragon’ Oreca, albeit just three-thousands ahead of another GTP driver, Renger van der Zande (#8 Tower Motorsports Oreca).
A red flag was called with 45-minutes remaining in the session as United Autosports USA’s Dan Goldburg found himself off at Turn 10, the final corner, having lost the car into the right-hander.
He returned to the pit lane in his #22 Oreca and rejoined later on as the session resumed with 42 minutes on the clock.
By the end, Deletraz was fastest in the #99 Oreca with his 1:07.895 lap time, followed by van der Zande and his 1:07.898 time.
Third place was taken by Ben Hanley in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca which set a 1:08.382, followed by Filipe Albuquerque’s 1:08.427 in the #22 United Autosports USA Oreca.
Colin Braun, a six-time winner at Mosport Park including last year’s race with the GTP category instead of LMP2, rounded out the top-five for the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca after setting a 1:08.469.
The next session will be FP2 on tomorrow Saturday 13 July from 10.35am local or 3.35pm BST – see here for the full results.
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