IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Race Report

July 7, 2019

Track: Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
Race: SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Acura
Date: July 7, 2019

No. 6 Acura ARX-05 DPi – Dane Cameron/Juan Pablo Montoya
Start: 3rd
Overall Finish: 3rd
Class Finish: 3rd
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 125/125
Points: 1st (207 pts)

Recap:

Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya once again found themselves on the podium of an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, this time with a third-place finish in Sunday's SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Acura at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
The duo behind the wheel of the No. 6 Acura ARX-05 DPi have finished on the podium in four-consecutive races, the longest such streak in the two-year history of Acura Team Penske.
Montoya qualified the No. 6 Acura in the fourth position on Saturday but moved up one spot on the grid when the pole winner elected to make a driver change prior to the race and was forced to start from the rear of the field.
After maintaining his position inside the top three, Montoya pitted at the 34-minute mark of the 2 hour and 40-minute event, giving way to Cameron who would take the car to the end of the race.
A late-race caution, followed by a red flag, set the field up for a sprint to the finish. With no worries about fuel, Cameron was able to throw everything he had at the win, but ultimately came up a few positions short.
The finish allowed the No. 6 Acura team to increase their lead in the point standings to three markers over the No. 31 Cadillac team with three races remaining in the season.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series will next visit the picturesque Road America circuit on Sunday, August 4.

Quote:
"I'm very proud of where we are with this No. 6 Acura team. Everyone is executing, I think we're firing on all cylinders, which is what you want when it comes to this part of the season. We extended our points lead, which is the name of the game when you come here. At the end of the year, every point counts. It's been a tough stretch for the guys the past couple of weeks, so I'm really grateful for everyone's efforts. The next few tracks [on the schedule] should be pretty good for us. It's time to make every one count." - Dane Cameron

No. 7 Acura ARX-05 DPi – Helio Castroneves/Ricky Taylor
Start: 1st
Overall Finish: 5th
Class Finish: 5th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 125/125
Points: 3rd (-9)

Recap:

Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor have been a model of consistency during the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Sunday's fifth-place finish in the SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Acura at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park was no exception as they scored their sixth top-five finish in as many race.
Castroneves qualified the No. 7 Acura ARX-05 DPi in the second position but he led the field to the green flag when the pole-winning car moved to the rear of the field before the start. He was able to lead the first seven laps before pitting at the 35-minute mark of the race for a driver change to Ricky Taylor.
The team found themselves on a different pit strategy when strategist Tim Cindric called Taylor down pit road just past the one-hour mark when he noticed something in the telemetry that gave him pause. A punctured tire was discovered after the four-tire pit stop.
A late-race caution resulted in enough yellow-flag laps that fuel did not become an issue at the end of the race, but Taylor was not able to make his way up from the fifth position over the final laps to improve on his spot in the finishing order.
The fifth-place result allowed the No. 7 Acura team to remain third in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship points, nine points behind their teammates with the next race at Road America on Sunday, August 4.

Quote:
"It was definitely a solid day for the No. 7 Acura ARX-05 team. I think we had the speed to contend for a podium finish today, but the punctured tire threw our strategy off a little bit. We're very consistent and that has us right in the hunt for the championship. We'd like to have a win or two right now, but I think the next round of Balance of Performance adjustments will put everyone back on a bit of an even playing field for the rest of the year. We have an important test coming up at Road America next week and I think that we will be really strong there to set up a run to the championship race."- Helio Castroneves