BOWMANVILLE, ON – WeatherTech Racing finished third in GTD Pro in today’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Jules Gounon (France) took the start of the two-hour-and-forty-minute race behind the wheel of the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Mercedes-Benz of Billings, Montana support. The Frenchman put in a long stint with some excitement. Around the one-hour-and-twenty-two-minute mark he had contact with the No. 23 Aston Martin who was making an aggressive move on the outside of Turn 10. The two cars had contact sending the 23 into the wall and out of the race.
Gounon handed over to teammate Daniel Juncadella (Spain) who had to serve a drive-thru penalty for the earlier contact. Soon after the pole sitting and leading Lexus in class went behind elevating the WeatherTech Racing/Proton team to third. What was looking to be a fuel saving race to the end didn’t materialize as there were two more yellows in the final hour with the race ending under caution.
“My stint was pretty ordinary,” Juncadella said. “After the Aston went out and the Lexus went down several laps, we were pretty much a third-place car. We finished a little better than we expected dropping from the P2 starting position. Another podium finish for the WeatherTech/Proton team which is good. We will go onto Lime Rock and see what we can do.”
Gounon had an eventful opening run.
“At the start it was a bit sketchy with an LMP3 that spun and then ended up in the middle of the GTD Pro field,” Gounon said. “We were trying to do maximum fuel save because it was looking like we were not on the pace. Unfortunately, I had a small contact with Ross Gunn in the Aston and he went into the wall. I am sorry for that team and Ross. We were able to finish P3 with Dani doing a good stint to the end. The team did a good job all weekend, hopefully we can get back on top at Lime Rock.”
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will travel to Lime Rock Park for the FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix presented by Liqui Moly to run July 21-22.
For more information on WeatherTech Racing, including race recaps, photos and team gear, please visit the team site at www.WeatherTechRacing.com.
