- Charlie Thornton
- Aug 11, 2025
- 6 min read
IMSA - Spike dominates at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as titles tighten
P. J. Hyett leads AO Racing to a commanding LMP2 pole position and victory in the Chevrolet Grand Prix, while GTD Pro and GTD podium fights shake up the standings ahead of Road America.
QUALIFYING
GTD Qualifying
Qualifying for the GTD class saw an intense fifteen minute session, when the early pace-sitter quickly traded positions, with the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Casper Stevenson moving to the top of the timesheets with a 1:16.250. Moments later, the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Russell Ward took over the top spot with a 1:15.553, and improved further on the following lap, while with just over six minutes remaining, Jack Hawksworth in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 surged to provisional pole with a 1:15.305, before he lowered the time once again. Hawksworth’s time held right to the chequered flag, and the Lexus squad secured pole position in the GTD class, ahead of Ward in the #57 Mercedes, Robert Wickens in the #36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Stevenson in the #27 Aston Martin.
GTD Pro Qualifying
Once the GTD Pro cars got on track at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, there was flurries of fast laps in the early running, when Antonio García in the #3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R set the early pace with a 1:15.635, just before Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo responded moments later with a 1:15.046, stealing provisional pole. Verhagen’s time stood unchallenged right until the end, securing pole position ahead of Aaron Telitz in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, García’s #3 Corvette, and Tommy Milner in the sister #4 Corvette.
LMP2 Qualifying
The LMP2 qualifying session began with the field taking its time to get up to speed, but on his third lap, the #99 AO Racing Oreca 07 of P. J. Hyett set the early benchmark with a 1:09.323, while Daniel Goldburg in the #22 United Autosports USA entry soon responded with a 1:08.986, snatching provisional pole position. Drama unfolded behind as the #43 Inter Europol Competition car of Jeremy Clarke was stopped off-track with rear-damage. In the closing minute, John Farano in the #8 Tower Motorsports entry crashed at the final corner just as Hyett was on an improving lap, despite the incident, Hyett completed the run and was able to retake pole position with a 1:08.888, finishing ahead of Goldburg, Steven Thomas in the #11 TDS Racing entry and Clarke.
RACE
The start of the Chevrolet Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park got underway with a perfect launch from P. J. Hyett in the pole-sitting #99 AO Racing Oreca 07, and had a comfortable lead going into turn one, while in the GTD Pro class, the pole-sitting #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Neil Verhagen managed to fend off a rapid challenge from Aaron Telitz in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3. Behind them, Dan Harper in the sister #48 BMW, and Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette staged an early duel for fourth position, with Harper eventually coming out ahead, meanwhile further back, contact between the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 in the penultimate corner triggered an early drive-through penalty for Onofrio Triarsi in the Ferrari, dropping him down the order and out of contention.
Trouble struck soon after Phil Fayer in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca spun at turn two, hitting the inside wall and loosening the rear-left corner, then another shake-up in the LMP2 class saw Goldburg in the #22 United Autosports USA entry tangle with Steven Thomas in the #11 TDS Racing entry at the penultimate corner, resulting in Thomas spinning from third to the back of the class. With others in trouble, Hyett was able to surge ahead, building a twelve-second lead that would become a defining feature of the early running. An unfortunate spin for the #8 Tower Motorsport entry at the same corner, possibly involving the leader Hyett while lapping, momentarily disrupted proceedings, but did little to cause alarm to the #99 AO Racing team.
Pit stops brought additional chaos, as a tyre was reportedly thrown over the wall early in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing’s Lexus pit stop, raising the possibility of a penalty, while Mike Rockenfeller in the #64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 received a drive-through for a similar pit stop infringement. The track saw further drama when the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari, the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports and #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07’s tangled at the top of the circuit, causing a multi-car stack-up, while moments later, Hyett and the #04 LMP2 entry sandwiched Triarsi’s #021 Ferrari while negotiating traffic.
A full course yellow came when the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR LMP2 went off track, and was unable to rejoin the circuit after hitting the tyre-stacks, which neutralised Hyett’s hard-earned lead. On the restart, Andrea Caldarelli in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 overtook Alexander Sims in the #3 Corvette for third position in GTD Pro, with Sims quickly losing more positions as he slipped down to eighth. Meanwhile, pitlane misfortune continued as the #51 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2 struck one of its own crew members during a regular pit stop, but fortunately without serious injury.
As the race entered its final stages, and with just over thirty minutes remaining, Mario Farnbacher in the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 crashed heavily from second position in GTD between turn eight and nine, ending a strong run from the raging bull. Meanwhile, with fifteen minutes to go, Tom Dillmann’s #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 slid off into the tyre barrier at the final corner, bringing out the final full course yellow of the race, and without enough time on the clock to clear up the mess, the race ended under caution.
After hours of attrition, strategy and wheel-to-wheel battles, P. J. Hyett completed a commanding drive to win the LMP2 class in the #99 AO Racing ‘Spike’ Oreca 07, narrowly holding off a late charge from Tom Blomqvist in the #22, with the #74 Riley entry completing the class podium.
PODIUMS IN EACH CLASS
CHAMPIONSHIP IMPLICATIONS
With a dominant performance from the #99 AO Racing ‘Spike’ crew, they jump from third to second in the LMP2 standings with 1297 points, just 78 points behind the #22 United Autosports USA crew with 1375 points, while the #74 Riley crew dropped from second to third with 1251 points.
Corvette’s #3 car remains in the lead of the championship with 1942 points, 39 points ahead of the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche, and the #81 DragonSpeed Ferrari with 1889 points.
Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo continue to lead in the GTD championship with 1902 points, while the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus and #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin have swapped over in the second and third positions with 1809 and 1778 points respectively.
ONTO ROAD AMERICA
The next round of the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship heads to Road America in Wisconsin on the 2nd - 3rd August, where all four classes, GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD will participate in a two-hour-forty-minute sprint race.
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