Third Consecutive Year WeatherTech Championship’s Trip to CTMP Showcases LMP2 as Headliner
By David Phillips
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If it’s time for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) then it’s time for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) cars, teams and drivers to enjoy a weekend in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship spotlight for the third straight year.
That’s because, with their counterparts in the exotic Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) category enjoying a weekend off, 10 LMP2 competitors will be the fastest cars in a field expected to add a combined total of 23 Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GTD entries, making for a projected field of 33.
Thus for three days of practice, qualifying and the two-hour and 40-minute race itself, LMP2 will be king of the 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course East of Toronto. Much to the drivers’ delight.
“One of the biggest differences about being top gun on the track is your eyes are always forward,” says Jeremy Clarke who, together with Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg, co-drove the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 to a fourth-place finish in the Sahlen Six Hours of The Glen last weekend. Clarke qualified on pole, his second of the season (Rolex 24 At Daytona).
“Of course, you need to keep an eye on your competitors behind you. But you know where they’re at at all times, whereas the GTPs can pop out of nowhere. So having your eyes forward is really beneficial.”
That’s particularly true at a track renowned both for its succession of blind, high-speed turns and for its return on commitment, so to speak. That’s especially the case in an LMP2 car, given that the category’s aggressive aerodynamic rules package enables teams to dial-up the downforce generated by their ORECA chassis.
“The P2 is such a fantastic car,” says George Kurtz, who teamed with his full-season co-driver Alex Quinn to win both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. They share the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA in IMSA.
“It is so quick in the corners that I think if you’re not out on track in one of these cars you might not have an appreciation of how fast it is in the corners compared to a GTP; how well it actually gets around. Talking with some of the GTP drivers who also race LMP2, they quite enjoy these P2 cars.”
“An LMP2 car at CTMP is nuts,” adds Clarke. “It’s a really aggressive track; it takes a lot of cajones to get around there! We’re going to test this week and, hopefully, build up the confidence in the car that you need there and, hopefully, deliver a strong performance.
“Being able to go flat through Turn 1 feels really good, and the downhill run into the hairpin (Moss Corner). It’s easy to over-slow the car so it’s a great feeling when you get it just right. There’s a huge amount of time to be gained there.”
It’s a couple of other sections of CTMP that bring a smile to Kurtz’s face.
“When you get to Turn 2 over the hill, that’s a big commitment corner that carries speed all the way through,” he says. “Then you have Turn 8 . . . you’re just about flat out in that thing. You’ve got to turn in flat and just kind of manage a little lift mid-corner. It’s amazing how fast you are. Then when you look at the data and see the numbers you think ‘Wow! That’s pretty quick.’ So it’s lot of fun those turns.”
Let’s see, according to Clarke and Kurtz, that’s Turns 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8: Five turns on a 10-turn track. In other words, 50 percent of CTMP’s turns are particularly satisfying to get just right. Even more satisfying? Winning a race when your category is in the spotlight.
“When you can have an overall win at an IMSA race, that’s pretty special,” says Kurtz. “So that’s what we’re going for. We had a really good test there and we like the track: high speed, high commitment … fun. So, we’ll see how it all winds up but we’re really looking forward to it.”
The CTMP LMP2 headliner has created a trend: the last two winners have gone on to win the LMP2 title. Dillmann won the CTMP race with Nick Boulle in 2024 before securing the title, then PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron won last year to propel themselves to the 2025 crown.
Leaving Watkins Glen, Kurtz and Quinn now lead the LMP2 championship by 55 points ahead of a two-way tie between Hyett and Cameron and Daniel Goldburg (No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA), who will co-drive with Ben Hanley at CTMP.
Hyett noted how pivotal the CTMP win was for AO Racing’s summer stretch of success in “Spike,” its No. 99 ORECA.
“I knew we had a good shot at performing well there,” says last year’s Jim Trueman Award recipient. “Yeah, it was a huge confidence boost not just for myself, for the entire team. And then, yeah, absolutely helped with our championship position.”
And what does it mean to win overall?
“It’s real cool,” Hyett says, succinctly.
It’s safe to say those are sentiments shared by the other drivers who will be competing in LMP2 in the Chevrolet Grand Prix.