There’s an old saying, “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” But Saturday morning in Canada, the start of the first of two 45-minute sprint races for the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park ultimately determined the finish for the overall and LMP3 win.
Wyatt Brichacek started from pole and led flag-to-flag but was assessed a ten-second time penalty for a false start, changing columns before crossing the start/finish line. Any full-course caution could dent or fully eliminate any margin Brichacek would build and move him down the finishing order.
The decisive moment for Brichacek came with ten minutes remaining when the #87 P3 car went off course in Quebec Corner (turn three). The resulting cleanup brought the race under the full-course caution to the checkered flag and eliminated Brichacek’s well-built lead north of 13 seconds to offset the time penalty. The penalty ultimately dropped Brichacek to third.
Brichacek’s disappointment benefited Óscar Tunjo, the Colombian who won his fifth sprint and sixth total race of the P3 season, aboard the #1 Gebhardt Motorsport USA Duqueine D09.
“It was a difficult start and I was really focused; I think Wyatt had a good start,” Tunjo said. “I’m happy to get another victory in the sprint cup, for sure.
“You always want to win it on the track, racing. I think today we were not the quickest. (Brichacek’s team) did a good job, they were fast. I struggled a bit also in traffic. But I’m happy to get the points, happy to get the win, and we keep wishing for the rest of the races.”
The bright side for Tunjo was that he overcame his own disappointment at CTMP last year, when he lost a tyre and wheel mid-race when on a charge from last to the lead.
“The main thing for us was to score good points and do a good job,” Tunjo noted. “It was a big thing last year when I lost the tyre after starting last, but happy to get the win here at such a great place, a great track. Hopefully tomorrow we can do a good job and keep pushing ‘til the end of the season.”
Tunjo’s Gebhardt teammate, Danny Soufi in the #11 Pinaxis-Zone 4 Racing Duqueine was second ahead of Brichacek in third at the chequered flag in his #95 Toney Driver Development Ligier JS P325.
On home turf, Travis Hill – one of two “THs” along with brother Trevor that make up TWOth Autosport – won the LMP3 Bronze Cup in his #2 Shopify Racing Ligier in fourth overall.
Westin Workman drives the #8 RAFA Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, and if he wins Sunday, he’ll match his car number for consecutive victories to open the 2026 Grand Sport X (GSX) season.
Another trouble-free drive from pole netted Workman his seventh win in as many races. He’s a past winner at CTMP, in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin two years ago, and now adds a VPRC win to his track resume.
“The race went really well in my opinion,” he said. “The balance pretty much stayed the same in the car through the whole race, and I was really happy with the car. RAFA Racing always does a great job of giving me a good car for the short runs and the long runs, and I’m super happy with the effort from everyone today.
“It was a good race. It wasn’t easier or harder than any of the others. I give 100 percent every time I’m out there on the track and today was like any other race. It went well.
“The GT4 car is very different. I actually got my second MX-5 Cup win here, so I really enjoy this track. But the GT4 car definitely changes this track. Turn one and turn two are over 100 miles per hour, so it’s fast.”
Michelin Pilot Challenge regular Caio Chaves, in his VPRC debut, finished second in the #98 PANAM Motorsport Toyota with Ismaeel Ellahi, in his #25 CSM Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, third. Ellahi’s CSM team had run a Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport earlier this season but switched to the Aston Martin for CTMP.
Dan Ammann was the top Bronze Cup finisher in his #91 VRC Motorsports Group Porsche for his first Bronze win this season.
Images © IMSA
