Recently, IMSA has released the entry list for Sunday’s Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. There are 36 teams entered between the four classes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
In the headlining Prototype class, there are a couple of changes. Tequila Patron ESM’s Ed Brown has officially retired from prototype racing. The team has moved Pipo Derani into the No. 22 full-time for the rest of the season alongside Johannes van Overbeek.
In addition, PR1/Mathaisen Motorsports has a completely new lineup this weekend. Replacing Olivier Pla and José Gutierrez are Nick Boulle and David Ostella. Both drivers have experience racing in Prototype Challenge. Boulle has started two races this year, one for Performance Tech Motorsports and BAR1 Motorsports. He was part of the winning lineup at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and claimed second at Circuit of the Americas. Ostella has not started a race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship since 2014. Back then, he ran full-time for Performance Tech Motorsports with a best finish of second at VIR. Both drivers will be making their first starts in the Prototype class.
The Prototype Challenge class once again has three entries. BAR1 Motorsports has not confirmed a driver lineup for the No. 26 as of yet. For the No. 20, Ryan Lewis returns to the car, replacing Buddy Rice. Rice has a conflict with this weekend’s Red Bull Global RallyCross round in Indianapolis.
GT Le Mans is completely unchanged from Watkins Glen. The same eight cars with the same eight driver pairings will compete this weekend.
GT Daytona sees a couple of driver changes as opposed to the normal lineups. For Alegra Motorsports, CTMP is their home race. As a result, the team has chosen to put Michael de Quesada (son of team owner Carlos de Quesada) in the car alongside of Daniel Morad instead of Porsche factory racer Michael Christensen.
Jörg Bergmeister is scheduled to be back in the No. 73 Porsche for Park Place Motorsports. Last weekend, he was a last minute withdrawal from the weekend due to a medical issue with his newborn son. However, his son appears to be doing much better now.’
Thank you for all the kind messages and all the support! My son (new born) is doing a lot better again! See you in Mosport @ParkPlaceRacing
— Jörg Bergmeister (@JBergmeister) July 3, 2017
Aside from those changes, the biggest difference is that two teams from Watkins Glen aren’t entered this week. One is Alex Job Racing with their No. 23 Audi. They are only entered in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races, so they likely won’t be back until Road Atlanta in October. The other is Dream Racing Motorsport, which made their first start since Sebring.
Entry List: Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix
| Class | Team | Drivers | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 2 - Tequila Patron ESM | Ryan Dalziel Scott Sharp | Nissan DPi |
| GT Le Mans | 3 - Corvette Racing | Antonio Garcia Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| GT Le Mans | 4 - Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| Prototype | 5 - Action Express Racing | Joao Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi | Cadillac DPi-V.R. |
| Prototype | 10 - Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor | Cadillac DPi-V.R. |
| GT Daytona | 14 - 3GT Racing | Sage Karam Scott Pruett | Lexus RCF GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 15 - 3GT Racing | Robert Alon Jack Hawksworth | Lexus RCF GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 16 - Change Racing | Corey Lewis Jeroen Mul | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| Prototype Challenge | 20 - BAR1 Motorsports | Ryan Lewis Don Yount | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| Prototype | 22 - Tequila Patron ESM | Pipo Derani Johannes van Overbeek | Nissan DPi |
| GT Le Mans | 24 - BMW Team RLL | John Edwards Martin Tomczyk | BMW M6 GTLM |
| GT Le Mans | 25 - BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen Alexander Sims | BMW M6 GTLM |
| Prototype Challenge | 26 - BAR1 Motorsports | TBA | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| GT Daytona | 28 - Alegra Motorsports | Michael de Quesada Daniel Morad | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| Prototype | 31 - Action Express Racing | Dane Cameron Eric Curran | Cadillac DPi-V.R. |
| GT Daytona | 33 - Riley Motorsports | Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| Prototype Challenge | 38 - Performance Tech Motorsports | James French Patricio O'Ward | ORECA FLM09-Chevrolet |
| GT Daytona | 48 - Paul Miller Racing | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 50 - Riley Motorsports/WeatherTech Racing | Gunnar Jeannette Cooper MacNeil | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| Prototype | 52 - PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Nick Boulle David Ostella | Ligier JS P217-Gibson |
| GT Daytona | 54 - CORE autosport | Jon Bennett Nic Jonsson | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| Prototype | 55 - Mazda Motorsports | Jonathan Bomarito Tristan Nunez | Mazda RT24-P |
| GT Daytona | 57 - Stevenson Motorsports | Lawson Aschenbach Andrew Davis | Audi R8 LMS GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 63 - Scuderia Corsa | Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen | Ferrari 488 GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 66 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand Dirk Müller | Ford GT |
| GT Le Mans | 67 - Ford Chip Ganassi Racing | Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook | Ford GT |
| Prototype | 70 - Mazda Motorsports | Tom Long Joel Miller | Mazda RT24-P |
| GT Daytona | 73 - Park Place Motorsports | Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey | Porsche 911 GT3 R |
| GT Daytona | 75 - SunEnergy1 Racing | Kenny Habul Tristan Vautier | Mercedes-AMG GT3 |
| Prototype | 85 - JDC/Miller MotorSports | Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson | ORECA 07-Gibson |
| GT Daytona | 86 - Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Oswaldo Negri Jr. Jeff Segal | Acura NSX GT3 |
| Prototype | 90 - Visit Florida Racing | Marc Goossens Renger van der Zande | Riley Mk. 30-Gibson |
| GT Daytona | 93 - Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Andy Lally Katherine Legge | Acura NSX GT3 |
| GT Daytona | 96 - Turner Motorsport | Bret Curtis Jens Klingmann | BMW M6 GT3 |
| GT Le Mans | 911 - Porsche GT Team | Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner | Porsche 911 RSR |
| GT Le Mans | 912 - Porsche GT Team | Gianmaria Bruni Laurens Vanthoor | Porsche 911 RSR |
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.