Porsche maintained its success streak in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship this weekend. Two weeks after scoring a double victory at Watkins Glen, the 911 RSR campaigned by Porsche North America has now scored its second GTLM-class win of the season at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
On the challenging 3.957-kilometer circuit not far from Toronto, recent Le Mans winner Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet secured a convincing lights-to-flag win after the two hour forty minute race with the number 911 vehicle. With a total of six GT wins at the former Mosport International Raceway, one of the most historic race tracks on the North American continent, Porsche as the defending champion has moved up the manufacturers’ standings to now rank second.
After the wild weather conditions recently in Watkins Glen, the sixth round of the popular US race series was contested in summer temperatures and under slightly cloudy skies. At the wheel of the 911 RSR, Nick Tandy headed into the race from pole position for the first time this season. In the very first lap, he pulled clear of his pursuers, but lost his advantage after a good half hour with the first caution phase.
“That was a perfect weekend for us.” said Tandy “We started from pole position and led over the entire race – you can’t do better than that. I’m very relieved that we’re finally winning again, because this is our first victory in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship since our first win at Daytona in 2014. I hope everything continues to go well in the next races and we gain ground in the championship.”
After the first pit stop, his teammate Patrick Pilet took up the race again at the head of the pack and fended off strong opposition from BMW, Chevrolet and Ferrari, before handing the 911 RSR back to Nick Tandy with 35 minutes to go. The Briton, who was the first driver to take up a race for the second time from pole position since the championship was inaugurated in 2014, managed to gradually extend his lead and ultimately bring home the second victory of the season for Porsche.
“Nick managed to build a gap from pole position and that was really important.” said Pilet “Afterwards it was somewhat more difficult for me. My pursuers put me under a lot of pressure and I often encountered heavy traffic. Moreover, we struggled with the high temperatures halfway through the race. Still, I managed to maintain the lead and didn’t make any mistakes. Nick did the rest brilliantly.”
After 122 laps, Jörg Bergmeister and Le Mans winner Earl Bamber crossed the finish line in seventh at the wheel of the sister 911 RSR campaigned by Porsche North America. Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers, the Watkins Glen winners, had to park their 911 RSR fielded by the Falken Tire customer team with 15 minutes to go due to a faulty transmission – a consequence of becoming caught up an earlier collision.
Race result
GTLM class
1. Pilet/Tandy (F/GB), Porsche 911 RSR, 122 laps
2. Edwards/Luhr (USA/D), BMW Z4 GTE, 122
3. Magnussen/Garcia (DK/E), Chevrolet Corvette, 122
4. Auberlen/Werner (USA/D), BMW Z4 GTE, 122
5. Gavin/Milner (GB/USA), Chevrolet Corvette, 122
6. Kaffer/Fisichella (D/I), Ferrari F458 Italia, 122
7. Bamber/Bergmeister (NZ/D), Porsche 911 RSR, 121
8. Henzler/Sellers (D/USA), Porsche 911 RSR, 103