We’re baaaaaaack! The Motion Motorsport Report returns again this year offering you, the fans, a ‘Coles Notes’ summary of what happened in the racing world on each and every weekend. We cover all the major sanctioning bodies and list the races at many of the local tracks. And I do it as a hobby because I love all things motorsport.
OH Canada!! Canada was well represented in Florida this year. In the Rolex we had the two Multimatic Mustangs plus Pfaff Racing’s new Lambo ride. I feel a connection to that team as I sat next to Chris Pfaff nine years ago when we both were inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. And they had James Hinchcliffe as one of their drivers!! There were three Canadians in LMP2 – Chris Cumming, John Farano and Tobi Lutke. There were three Canadians in PRO – Hinch, Mikael Grenier and Roman DeAngelis. In GTD – there were six Canadians – Kyle Marcelli, Parker Thompson, Misha Goikhberg, Zacharie Robichon, Orey Fidani and Daniel Morad.
Canadian Super Spotter Jeff Gotelaer had a busy week spotting for several teams finishing up with Af Corse Ferrari in the 24 Hours.
As well the Daytona ARCA race has 77 entrants including 6 Canadians. Craig Bracken from Windsor, third generation driver Chase Pinsonneault from Belle River, second generation driver Kyle Steckly from Milverton, another third-generation driver Treyten Lapcevich from Grimsby, Amber Balcaen from Winnipeg, Manitoba and Tristan Maheu from St. Michel, Quebec.
Meanwhile Canada was well represented at the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton Florida.
The new U.S. President may not like Canada, but the sanctioning bodies welcome us with open arms!!
A little controversy involving NASCAR earlier in the month when they refused the entry of Mike Wallace for the Daytona 500 while accepting the entry of Helio Castroneves. Wallace, 65, was deemed to have been away from the sport too long and has no experience in the new car. Castroneves, 50, was accepted as an ‘international’ entry. I completely agree with both decisions.
NASCAR’s Clash at Bowman Gray goes Sunday night at 8 P.M. with coverage starting 6 on TSN 1, 3, & 5 and Fox. The 6 o’clock start may be delayed on TSN if the Pro Bowl runs long or if the PBA Bowling goes long on Fox. I love the fact that they are teching the cars at Charlotte. Hopefully they will seal the trailers? LOL
IMSA – 61 cars took the green flag for the legendary Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona Saturday. Canada stood proud with the two Multimatic Mustangs starting 1,2 in PRO. The Pfaff Lamborghini Huracan started 5th in PRO.
In GTP the BMW of Team RLL took the pole over the Acura of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian and the Penske Porsche. 12 entrants.
In P2 it was United Autosports USA ahead of PRI Mathiasen Motorsports and the second United Autosports car. 12 entries.
In Pro it was the two Multimatic Mustangs ahead of the Paul Miller BMW. The Pfaff Lambo started 5th.The Corvette Racing cars started 4th and 6th. 15 entries.
In GTD the Wright Motorsport Porsche was quickest followed by the Winward Racing Mercedes and the Wayne Taylor Racing Lambo. 22 entries.
It didn’t take long for the Pfaff Team to pull the gun out of the holster and they took the class lead less than ten minutes into the race. It was nearly three hours before a pace car was dispatched to slow the field. The P2 Oreca of TDS Racing overcooked a corner in the infield and got into the catch fencing.
Thanks to NBC for it’s token one hour with proper, understandable announcers at the start of the race.
NASCAR did you notice how much attention was paid by the TV crew to the work in the garage on the Meyer Shank Acura? That could happen in Cup if the ‘damaged vehicle policy’ was rescinded. Just saying.
We lost the audio on REV TV at about 5 ½ hours but IMSA.TV still had audio. Strange. Now the audio on the IMSA feed is breaking up. But everything eventually returned to normal.
At the Six Hour mark it was Acura in P, BMW in PRO and Ferrari in GTD. The lighted Mustang silhouette on the rear quarters of the Multimatic cars looked really cool at night. At about the Eight Hour Mark one of the Caddy P cars spun coming off corner two, slid off track then came back on collecting several cars including the Pfaff Lambo effectively taking it out of the race. The Lambo had led a LOT of laps in it’s debut and it’s very clear that Pfaff made the right call in switching nameplates. At the half way mark the P cars were running nose to tail and the PRO cars were doing the same. They looked like they were in a sprint race and not an endurance one. And that continued from green to checker.
Thankfully NBC broadcast the final hour and a half, so we didn’t need to try and figure out what the ‘other’ announcers were saying. And that final hour was full of drama. I was shocked to see two of the Penske Porsches, running 1,2 at the time, mixing it up going door to door. Roger must have been having heart palpitations watching them. And the P cars didn’t have a corner on the fun. The Mustangs were running in a tight pack of about seven cars including both Vettes. One of the Vettes made a ‘dive bomb’ pass on another car, a Paul Miller Bimmer, trying to catch his teammate. Race Control did not like him bumping the car out of the way, so he was invited to visit pit road!!
At the flag the Penske Porsche of Nasr, Tandy and Vanthoor took the GTP win over the Acura of Rosenqvist, Dixon, Braun and Blomqvist with a second Penske Porsche (there were three of them!!) of Campbell, Jaminet and Estre third.
In LMP2, the team of Van Uitert, Bourdais, Alvarez and CANADIAN John Farano (below) took the win over Lindh, Allen, Di Resta and Goldburg. Third was Massa, Burdon, Frago and Robinson.
PRO saw the big win by the CANADIAN Multimatic Mustang Team of Olsen, Vervisch and Mies followed by the Corvette of Juncadella, Sims and Garcia. Third went to the other CANADIAN Mustang of Rockenfeller, Cindric and Priaulx.
GTD was won by the CANADIAN Team AWA Corvette (below) of Kirchofer, Kern, Bell and CANADIAN Orey Fidani. Finishing second was the pole sitting Wright Motorsports Porsche of Guven, Sargent, Skeer and Adelson. Third went to the Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage of Drudi, Stevenson, Gamble and CANADIAN Zacharie Robichon.
Other Canadians were Chris Cumming finishing tenth in P2 and Tobi Lutke fifth in P2. In PRO Hinch was 13th in the damaged Pfaff Lambo, Mikael Grenier (Mercedes) 15th and Roman De Angelis (Aston Martin Vantage) 14th. In GTD Kyle Marcelli (Lamborghini Huracan) was 10th, Parker Thompson (Lexus) was 15th, Misha Goikhberg (Lamborghini Huracan) was 13th and Daniel Morad (Mercedes) was 9th. And Super Spotter Jeff Gotelaer’s Ferrari ended up 7th.
All in all the Canadians scored well. If you have never attended a Rolex 24 Hour race at Daytona you must put it on your bucket list. It is an experience that you will never forget. I go all the way back to my first 24 hour race at Daytona the 1968 Continental and they have only gotten better since then. BE there!!
Next race – Sebring 12 Hours, March 15.
U.S. Street Nationals – at Bradenton the qualifying for the 32 car Pro Mod field was very close. Number one Mark Micke ran a 3.567 while 32nd Matt Deitsch put down a 3.655. See that NHRA, there are LOTS of them out there!! Canadians Spencer Hyde and Kenny Lang qualified 14th and 16th. Unfortunately, both Hyde and Lang were first round runners-up.
In the final Ken Quartuccio took out Lyle Barnett – 3.586 at 208.62 to a losing 3.608 at 207.62. 10 upsets (lower qualified car wins). A great race with an awesome turnout of bad fast Pro Mods.
NASCAR Cup – first race – Clash at Bowman Gray – Sunday, February 2 at 8 P.M. on TSN 1, 3 & 5 and Fox. Twins – Thursday, February 13. Daytona 500 – Sunday, February 16 at 2.30 P.M.
NASCAR Xfinity Series first race – Daytona, Saturday, February 15 at 5 P.M.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks first race – Daytona, Friday, February 14 at 7.30 P.M.
Formula One first race – Australia, March 16.
IndyCar – first race – St. Petersburg, March 2.
Trans Am – first race – Sebring, February 23.
ARCA – first race – Daytona, February 15
NHRA – first race – Gainesville, March 9.
NASCAR Canada Series first race – Mosport (CTMP), May 18.
APC Series – first race – Sunset, May 18.
Ontario Sportsman Series first race – Delaware, May 16
Delaware Speedway – first race – Friday, May 9.
Ohsweken Speedway – first race – Friday, May 9.
Flamboro Speedway – first race – Saturday, May 3
Southern Ontario Motor Speedway (Buxton) – first race – Enduro race, Saturday February 22
Full Throttle Motor Speedway – first race – Saturday, May 17.
Grand Bend Speedway – first race – Saturday, May 10.
Grand Bend Dragway – first race – weekend of May 18.
St. Thomas Dragway – first race – weekend of May 24/25.
Toronto Motorsports Park – first race – weekend of May 11.
Can Am Stock/Super Stock – first race – TMP, weekend of May 18.
PMRA – first race date – Empire Dragway, June 21.
660 Sportsman Nationals – first race date – Grand Bend, October 5.
John Scotti NHRA Canadian Championship Series – first race weekend of May 18 – TMP
Shannonville Drags – first race – June 7 & 8.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
