Action Express Wins At Canadian Tire Motorsports Park

Column By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – BOWMANVILLE, ONT – In possibly the most unpredictable IMSA Weathertech Series event of 2017 to date, the No 31 Whelen Engineering Action Express Cadillac piloted by Dane Cameron and Eric Curran took the surprise overall victory at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

The rain hindered event began under sunny but threatening skies, which opened up about half way through the event. The variable weather forced team’s to switch back and forth from the Continental Tire slick rubber to treaded rain tires on multiple occasions.

“When you don’t have the pace sometimes you have to do something crazy and a little different. I had four laps where I couldn’t get full throttle on the back straightaway.” Cameron said during post race interviews.

The decision for points leading Konica Minolta Racing to stay out on slicks in the waning minutes turned out to be too much for the car to handle, as Jordan Taylor was hooked by the No. 4 Corvette GTLM machine. Both vehicles were sent hard into the turn two tire barriers, where the Corvette became momentarily airborne. Both drivers were checked and released from the care center.

The GTLM class victory went to team RRL racing’s No. 25 BMW with Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims behind the wheel. Not only was this the second consecutive win for RLL racing at CTMP, but they also managed a 1,2 sweep of the podium.

Auberlen was ecstatic with the team’s first win of 2017, saying. ”It was pretty hairy out there when the rain comes and stops it’s so difficult to predict it. That win is so sweet.”

The GT-D class victory went to the Audi R8 driven by Lawson Aschenbach and Andrew Davis. The Stevenson Motorsports team had a stellar weekend in Canada, as their Continental Tire Series team took home overall victory the day before.

Aschenbach, who piloted the car in the race’s final stint said. “To be honest with you I think the long green flag runs helped us, and the pit stops on long green runs. Its a weekend sweep for Stevenson Motorsports… they deserve it more than anyone else.”

IMSA brings it’s WeatherTech Sports Car Championship to Lime Rock Park for the Northeast Grand Prix, a GT only event, on July 21st and 22nd. Ticket information is available at IMSA.com