The BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs were on pace with the other GTLM cars in the IMSA WeatherTech Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, but although both cars led the class during the race, they finished seventh and eighth. The #25 car driven by Alexander Sims and Connor De Phillippi finished seventh, just 13.7 seconds behind the class-winning #67 Ford GT driven by Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe.
M8 #25 had led at mid-race, but after dropping to seventh on a pit stop, it was unable to move up due to the slow pace of the race brought on by later caution periods.
Car #24, shared by Jesse Krohn and John Edwards, took the lead on Krohn’s stint when it stayed out while other GTLM cars pitted. It was running second behind #25 on Edwards’ stint when it was hit and taken out of the race by Earl Bamber in the #911 Porsche. Bamber was not penalized for the incident.
Nick Galante and Devin Jones won the ST class in the CTSC race. (BMW Motorsport photo)
Brandon Fry, BMW Team RLL technical and racing operations director, said, “We split our strategies, and both cars benefited at certain times in the race, but ultimately we didn’t get the result we wanted. We thought we were in a good position with the No. 24, but then the contact on the track ended our day.”
Contact with a Porsche also took out the #96 Turner Motorsport M6 GT3 driven by Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley; it was hit by the #58 Wright Motorsports car. The Porsche received a drive-through penalty for the incident.
The #96 Turner Motorsport M6 GT3 had to drop out after it was hit by a Porsche. (BMW NA/Sam Cobb photo)
The highlight of the weekend for BMW came in Saturday’s Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race, when Nick Galante and Devin Jones in the #81 BimmerWorld 328i won the Street Tuner class and moved into the lead in both driver and team points going into the series’ next event at Lime Rock in two weeks.
BimmerWorld M4 GT4 racers James Clay and Tyler Cooke finished eighth overall and eighth in the Grand Sport class, while Greg Liefooghe and Ari Balogh finished ninth in the Stephen Cameron Racing M4 GT4. The overall and GS wins went to Kyle Marcelli and Nate Stacy in a Mustang GT4.—Brian Morgan
The #25 Team RLL M8 GTE finished seventh in GTLM. (BMW NA/Sam Cobb photo)