Hattori Motorsports’ Jack Hawksworth won the pole Saturday (July 13) for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 with a lap at 107.846 mph in his Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo. It is Hawksworth’s first Pilot Challenge pole of the year.
Hawksworth’s lap was .403 seconds faster than Motorsports In Action’s Michael de Quesada. Rennsport One’s Stevan McAleer will start third, then TeamTGM’s Paul Holton. Van der Steur Racing’s Rory van der Steur was fifth.
Hawksworth was fastest early on in his Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo, but he was passed up by McAleer and de Quesada. After a brief respite, Hawksworth was able to come back to the front with a lap at 107.846 mph just before the halfway point of the session.
Justin DiBenedetto, making his series debut, was quick in his TWOth Autosport Porsche early on. However, he spun in turn 3 and brought out the red flag halfway through the session.
The incident left less than three minutes on the clock when the green came back out. Everyone only had time for an out lap and one lap against the clock.
In that time, nobody could take the pole away from Hawksworth. Most of the drivers were unable to improve.
In TCR, it did not take long for trouble to break out. On the warmup lap out of the pits, Gou Racing’s Eddie Gou spun at Moss Corner and was unable to resume. That brought out the red flag. It was the end of the session for the orange Audi.
Clean-up from the incident took up half of the 15-minute session. With less than eight minutes remaining when the green came back out, everyone had to hustle to put up their best laps.
JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Chris Miller put himself on top first before being usurped by Victor Gonzalez Racing Team’s Morgan Burkhard and Bryan Herta Autosport’s Mason Filippi.
Miller was able to reclaim pole with superior pace in the middle sector. However, it was Bryan Herta Autosport’s Harry Gottsacker who snuck in there to win the class pole with a lap at 106.553 mph.
Gottsacker’s lap was .152 seconds faster than Miller. Filippi will start third in class, then Baker Racing’s Sam Baker and Burkhard.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 Qualifying Results
The Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 is scheduled to go green at 1:25 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Coverage of the race will begin at 1:20 p.m. ET on Peacock.
About the author
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.
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