Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Tom Blomqvist won the pole Saturday afternoon (July 2) for Sunday’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a lap at 137.472 mph. It is Blomqvist’s second straight pole after pulling off the feat last Saturday in Watkins Glen.
“It was absolutely everything I had,” Blomqvist told IMSA Radio’s Shea Adam afterwards. “I wasn’t sure that I was going to survive the session, to be honest. I had quite a few hairy moments, especially in the first couple of corners. I had to close my eyes and be very, very brave.”
The lap is a DPi track record, but is not an outright lap record for CTMP. That lap record is 138.115 mph, set in 2008 by Marco Werner for Audi Sport Team Joest in an Audi R10 TDI.
Unlike the other classes on Saturday, a number of the DPi teams chose to wait a little bit since the lap times at CTMP are such that you could complete a dozen laps in a 15-minute session. The only drivers that went out right away were Ricky Taylor and Action Express Racing’s Olivier Pla. The other teams joined in roughly halfway through the session.
Ricky Taylor was down in the low 65-second bracket on his first lap at speed. His second lap at speed was a new DPi record. He then continued to improve until he set a lap at 137.327 mph.
Then, the sheer forces involved in lapping such a track so quickly came into play. Ricky Taylor nearly wiped out in Moss Corner. Blomqvist did the same. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais actually spun out. Bourdais didn’t hit anything, but his tires were essentially toast afterwards.
Blomqvist was able to set his pole lap with four minutes remaining in the session. Ricky Taylor attempted to better it, but could not do so.
The final margin was ultimately .068 seconds behind the two Acura runners. JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Tristan Vautier will start third in his Cadillac, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Lynn and Pla.
Andretti Autosport’s Jarett Andretti was fastest early on in LMP3 qualifying, but lost his advantage to Riley Motorsports’ Gar Robinson. Undeterred, Andretti came back and set a lap at 121.097 mph to retake the advantage and win the LMP3 pole.
Andretti’s lap was .072 seconds faster than Robinson, who improved late, but couldn’t catch Andretti. Jr III Racing’s Ari Balogh will start third, followed by CORE autosport’s Jon Bennett. Andrew Wojteczko Autosport’s Orey Fidani will start…
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