2022 Chevrolet Grand Prix



The 2022 Chevrolet Grand Prix was a sports car race held at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on July 3, 2022. It was the eighth round of the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the fifth round of the 2022 WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The 01 Cadillac Racing entry piloted by Sébastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande took the overall victory. The No. 54 CORE Autosport Ligier JS P320 driven by Jon Bennett and Colin Braun won in the LMP3 class. In the GTD Pro class, the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell claimed victory, while in GTD the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 driven by Roman De Angelis and Maxime Martin claimed victory.

Background


International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021. It was the seventh year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2022 Chevrolet Grand Prix was the eighth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2022 by IMSA, and it was the fifth of eight rounds held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The race was held at the ten-turn 2.459 mi Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on July 3, 2022. The race marked IMSA's return to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park after the previous 2 years editions were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada. Competitors were required to be vaccinated prior to traveling.

On June 28, 2022, IMSA issued the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event. In the GTD classes, the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, BMW M4 GT3, and Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 received a 20 kilogram weight increase while the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo received a 20 kilogram weight break. No changes were made in DPi.

Before the race, Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 2399 points, 17 points ahead of Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis. With 1001 points, Jon Bennett and Colin Braun led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship; the duo held a fifty-point advantage over Garett Grist and Ari Balogh. In GTD Pro, Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet led the Drivers' Championship with 1671 points, ahead of Ben Barnicoat with 1573 points. The GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Stevan McAleer with 1765 points, 5 points ahead of Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen. Acura, Porsche, and BMW were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Wayne Taylor Racing, CORE Autosport, Pfaff Motorsports, and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries
A total of 24 cars took part in the event, split across four classes. 6 were entered in DPi, 6 in LMP3, 6 in GT Daytona Pro, and 6 in GTD. The only changed from the previous round in DPi was the absence of Ally Cadillac Racing. Risi Competizione's absence saw 6 cars competing in GTD Pro. Kamui Kobayashi substituted for Jack Hawsworth in the Vasser Sullivan Racing #14. Scott Andrews substituted for Felipe Fraga in the Riley Motorsports entry due to a clash with the DTM round at the Norisring. In GTD, CarBahn with Peregrine Racing were forced to skip after their primary car was destroyed in a crash at Watkins Glen. Wright Motorsports, Team Korthoff Motorsports, and Inception Racing elected to forego the round due to its championship point output only counting for the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Practice
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday; one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session on Friday afternoon ran for 90 minutes while the second session on Saturday morning lasted 105 minutes.

Qualifying
Saturday's afternoon qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP3/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP3, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.

Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Post-Race
Blomqvist and Jarvis retook the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship while Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor dropped to second. Bourdais and van der Zande advanced from fourth to third while Bamber and Lynn dropped from third to fourth. In The LMP3 Drivers' Championship, Bennett and Braun extended their lead to 98 points over Grist and Balogh, while Andretti and Chaves moved to fifth after being eighth coming into Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. With a total of 2056 points, Campbell and Jaminet's victory increase their advantage to 138 points as Antonio García and Jordan Taylor took over second position in the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship. GTD drivers, teams, and manufactures did not score full season points due to the event only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Acura and Porsche continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while CORE Autosport and Pfaff Motorsports kept their respective advantages in their Teams' Championships. Meyer Shank Racing took the lead of the DPi Teams' Championship with four rounds remaining.

Race Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Standings after the race

 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
 * ‡: Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
 * ‡: Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
 * ‡: Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.