Lamelas To Start Canadian Tire Motorsport Park IMSA Prototype Challenge On Pole

Lamelas To Start Canadian Tire Motorsport Park IMSA Prototype Challenge On Pole

A potential championship run in the IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda starts this weekend for Leo Lamelas.

The driver of the No. 7 Charles Wicht Racing Ligier JS P3 – who enters the weekend second in the LMP3 class standings – will start from the pole for Sunday’s one hour, 45-minute race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Lamelas lapped the 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit in one minute, 14.672 seconds (118.550 mph) for the pole, besting the No. 3 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P3 of Max Hanratty by a mere 0.001 seconds. Current points leader Kris Wright qualified third in the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports Ligier JS P3 co-driver by Yann Clairay.

Lamelas will have an assist this weekend in co-driver Roman De Angelis as he looks to close the six-point (95-89) gap on Wright. Canadian De Angelis is 1-for-1 this season in the IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda, giving ANSA Motorsports the victory at Daytona before switching his attention to the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and Canada schedules where he competes full-time and sits second in the standings in both series.

“We’re second in the championship and fighting for the lead now,” said Lamelas. “I think we’re in good position this weekend and I’ll be pushing for the lead. Roman is a very consistent driver which is very important. I think he’ll do a good job for us tomorrow.”

Forty7 Motorsports rounded out the top-five with its No. 74 Alianza Motorsports Norma M30 entry fourth driven by Anthony Simone, while the No. 47 Norma M30 of TJ Fischer qualified fifth. The team’s pair of entries has combined to finish runner-up in each of the first three races with Fischer’s co-driver Austin McCusker tied with Hanratty for third in points, 16 points back.

The IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda race will be streamed live on IMSA.tv on Sunday beginning at 10:30 a.m.
    

    
Chlumecky Scores Second Consecutive MPC Class Pole
For the second consecutive IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda race, Michael Chlumecky will start from the pole in the Mazda Prototype Challenge (MPC) class. Chlumecky scorched the MPC field Saturday, earning the top spot in the No. 31 Eurosport Racing Elan DP02 by 1.189 seconds over series points leader Dr. Robert Masson.

“The car’s been fantastic and the guys at Eurosport Racing always have always given me a car that really plants itself wherever I need it to,” said Chlumecky, who went on to win from the pole at Barber Motorsports Park. “Now it’s up to me to carry it through to the finish line tomorrow. An hour and 45 minutes at this track is tough, I’m not gonna lie. This is a very physical and very demanding track.”

Chlumecky’s lap of one minute, 17.143 seconds (114.753 mph) was good enough for 10th overall and topped the best laps of six LMP3 cars. His closest competition, however, will come from the driver starting right next to him on the MPC front row.

Dr. Masson welcomes a new co-driver for the final three races in son and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship regular Kyle Masson. A former series champion, Kyle Masson will help to do the same for his father who currently holds a two-point lead over Dave House and the duo of Bart Wolf and Tazio Ottis.

"I don't think sharing the car will be different for us in terms of how we interact and teach each other," Kyle said. "When we were racing against each other we were still teammates, so we were always helping each other out to learn and get better.

“Now, the only difference is I am going to be racing with his championship on the line instead of mine."

Wolf and Ottis will start third in the No. 28 Wolf Motorsports entry, while House starts fourth in the No. 86 for ONE Motorsports.


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