International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[2] It was the sixth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2019 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix was the seventh of twelve sports car races of 2019 by IMSA, and it was the third of seven rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[3] The race was held at the ten-turn 2.459 mi (3.957 km) Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on July 7, 2019.[4]
On July 3, 2019, IMSA released their latest technical bulletin announcing BoP for the event.[5] Restrictions were left unchanged for the two prototype classes from the previous round at Watkins Glen International, while minor changes were made within the two GT classes. The lone modification in GTLM was a 10 kilogram weight increase for the Corvette, while victory at Watkins Glen led to a 20 kilogram weight increase for the Acura NSX. The only other change was a four liter fuel capacity increase for the Lexus RC F.
Mazda Team Joest Mazda RT24-P - Winner 2019 SportsCar Grand Prix
A total of 34 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 11 were entered in DPi, 2 in LMP2, 8 in GTLM, and 13 in GTD. In DPi, Victor Franzoni replaced René Binder in Juncos Racing's sprint race lineup, with no other changes to the class. A similar change was noted in LMP2, as Dalton Kellett replaced Gabriel Aubry for PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. In GTLM, Tommy Milner was sidelined after suffering a hand injury at Watkins Glen, necessitating Marcel Fässler to step into the No. 4 Corvette. GTD featured wholescale changes, with two cars dropping out after the preliminary entry list had been released. The Audis of Moorespeed and Starworks Motorsport withdrew, with the former having suffered a shunt at Watkins Glen and the latter citing performance issues as the cause for withdrawal. Bia Figueiredo also replaced Christina Nielsen in the Meyer Shank Racing No. 57 entry.[8]
Practice
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday morning lasted 75 minutes while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted one hour. The third on Saturday morning lasted one hour.[9]
Colin Braun(pictured in 2010) set the fastest overall lap time in qualifying.
Saturday's late morning qualification session into was broken into three groups that lasted 15 minutes each.[9] Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM and DPi/LMP2 had two separate identically timed sessions. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[27] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi, LMP2, and GTLM cars started in front of the GTD field.
The first was for cars in the GTD class. Robby Foley qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 96 car for Turner Motorsport, beating Ben Keating in the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG by less than one-tenth of a second. Following in third was Trent Hindman's No. 86 Acura with the No. 57 Acura of Bia Figueiredo in fourth.[28]Zacharie Robichon completed the top five in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche followed by Frankie Montecalvo's No. 12 Lexus in sixth position.[29]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM class. Jesse Krohn qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 24 car for BMW Team RLL, besting teammate Tom Blomqvist in the sister No. 25 BMW by less than four-tenths of a second. Following in third was Ryan Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT followed by the No. 911 Porsche of Patrick Pilet.[30]Laurens Vanthoor completed the top five in the No. 912 Porsche followed by Joey Hand's No. 66 Ford GT in sixth.[28][31] The Corvette Racing entries rounded out the GTLM qualifiers.[29]
1 The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the DPi field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified. Additionally, the team elected to change tires after qualifying.[23]
Race
Post-race
The final results of DPi meant Cameron and Montoya increased their points lead to 3 points over Derani and Nasr while Jarvis and Nunez advanced from seventh to fourth.[41] McMurry's victory allowed him to take the lead of the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 165 points while Cassels and Masson dropped to second.[41] Bamber and Vanthoor retook the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 186 points while Pilet and Tandy dropped to second. De Phillippi jumped to fourth after being fifth coming into Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.[41] The final results of GTD meant Farnbacher and Hindman extended their advantage to 19 points while Montecalvo and Bell took over second position. Auberlen and Foley advanced from eighth to third.[41] Acura and Porsche continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Acura took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship.[41] Acura Team Penske, Porsche GT Team, and Meyer Shank Racing kept their respective advantages in their Teams' Championships, while PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports took the lead of the LMP2 Teams' Championship with five rounds left in the season.[41]
