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JULY 9, 2023
By Mark Robinson
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Dan Goldburg learned his lesson in Saturday’s first IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race of the weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park when he was balked in traffic at the start. He wasn’t about to let it happen again in Sunday’s finale.
Goldburg got the jump on polesitter and chief championship rival Bijoy Garg at the drop of the green flag in Race 2, then held Garg at bay the rest of the way to claim his third win of the season in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class. Meanwhile in the GSX class for GT4 cars, Gregory Liefooghe drove away from the pack to a comfortable victory.
Goldburg pushed the No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08 into the early race lead on the 2.459-mile road course as Garg was slow getting up to speed in the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 and slipped to fourth position. While Goldburg remained up front, Garg worked his way back to second place just past halfway through the 45-minute race and set his sights on the leader.
When Goldburg drifted wide in Turn 5 (CTMP’s historic Moss Corner) with 15 minutes remaining, it allowed Garg to close up tight behind. The Californian made several takeover attempts the rest of the way – none successful – and Goldburg won by 1.347 seconds.
“I knew the start was super important so I was really on edge for that,” Goldburg said. “After that, it was run clean laps. The team was calling out the gap. I knew Garg was a little faster but I had a feeling where that would be and it would be pretty tough to pass, so I just stuck to my plan and focused on the traffic.
“Everything was just solid,” he added. “We were really strong for Race 1 but got held up at the start and all kinds of stuff, so happy to pull it out today.”
With the win, Goldburg unofficially leaves CTMP with a 50-point lead over Garg at the halfway point of the six-event, 12-race season.
JULY 8, 2023
By Mark Robinson
BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Down 20 seconds halfway through, Mikey Taylor wasn’t sure he could claw back and win the Touring Car (TCR) portion of Saturday’s race. But cagey strategy coupled with a bump-and-run pass for the lead on the penultimate lap took Taylor and co-driver Chris Miller to victory in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
Miller started from pole in the No. 17 and led the bulk of his stint, with Harry Gottsacker in the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR hot on his heels the entire time. Gottsacker pitted from second position with an hour and 7 minutes to go, turning the No. 33 Hyundai over to Robert Wickens – the latter seeking a second straight win at his home track.
Miller stopped five minutes later but Taylor was staring at a 20-second deficit when he returned to the track in the No. 17 Audi. From there, the South African put on a calculated comeback as Wickens tried to conserve fuel in a gambit to make it to the finish.
“The team was just telling me what numbers to hit and what to do, and we were closing down on those guys,” Taylor said. “Save fuel, go fast, it’s a bit of a balance. It was just a management game the whole race.”
The leaders ran nose-to-tail late until Taylor dove inside Wickens into Moss Corner with under two minutes to go. The cars made contact, forcing Wickens wide and allowing Taylor to take the lead. Sensing damage to his Hyundai, Wickens made another pit stop for a splash of fuel and a quick check of the car. He returned nearly a lap down but still came home second, ahead of the sister No. 98 Hyundai shared by Mark Wilkins and Mason Filippi.
“There was a little bit of contact but we were both saving fuel and he was saving a little bit more than me,” Taylor explained. “I went down the inside and he turned in and I was there. That’s racing.”
Wickens said his car was challenging to drive on top of the need to conserve fuel.
“That was the only pace I had and I knew he was catching me,” he said. “My only plan was hopefully to have enough tire left to make a run at the end. Unfortunately, he hit me in (Turn) 5B to take the lead and then we had to pit the next lap. It is what it is.”
The win was the first for Miller and Taylor since Lime Rock Park last season and the first in the updated version of the Audi RS3 LMS.
“We’re learning more about this new Audi every race,” Miller said, “and it’s been a great job by the team to continue to develop it, get better with our pit stops. I think we’re in great shape for the rest of the season now.”
Despite losing out on the victory, Wickens and Gottsacker unofficially took sole possession of the TCR class lead after five races by 20 points over Wilkins and Filippi and 30 up on Miller and Taylor.
“Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out for us today, but it’s coming,” Gottsacker said. “It’s good points for us but we want that win pretty badly.”
The Lime Rock Park 100, a TCR-only race at the Connecticut road course, is next on the schedule on Saturday, July 22.
JULY 5, 2023
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Weekend Will Conclude a Nearly Four-Month Break for the Sprint Series
By Mark Robinson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It’s no wonder Dan Goldburg is itching to get back into IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge competition again.
When the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and GT4 (GSX class) cars take to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for practice on Friday, it will have been nearly four months since the new sprint series conducted a race. On top of that, it’s been a decade since Goldburg – the LMP3 points leader heading into the weekend – has raced on the track he adores.
“CTMP is a rippin’ track,” said Goldburg, who drives the No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08. “High speed, full commitment, blind corners – I love CTMP! It’s probably our highest average speed of any track we’ll visit this year.
“I was last at CTMP in 2013 in the IMSA Lites days,” he added. “The track is a bit different (now) – bumpier, some new asphalt patches and some runoff areas that didn’t used to be paved – but the essence is still the same. The LMP3 car really rips here. It should make for some great racing.”
Goldburg was the overall and LMP3 class winner in both 45-minute sprint races when the VP Racing Challenge debuted at Daytona International Speedway in January. He added a pair of podium results at Sebring International Raceway in March and holds a 60-point advantage on Bijoy Garg (No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320). They head up a dozen LMP3 entries for CTMP, the largest LMP3 field to date in the new series.
Goldburg has worked to remain sharp during the long layoff between events. He’s raced a shifter kart at his local track whenever possible, gone testing in the LMP3 and was part of the JDC-Miller LMP3 lineup in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Watkins Glen International on June 25. Goldburg turned 52 race laps over two full stints as the No. 85 Duqueine finished ninth in class.
“It’s been some time since Sebring, but I’ve kept pretty active to be ready,” Goldburg said. “… I’m ‘primed and ready’ and looking forward to getting back on track with a solid field of 12 competitors in LMP3 for the CTMP races.”
Sixteen cars are entered in GSX at CTMP. Sebastian Carazo (No. 27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport) is the class leader despite not winning a race yet. He’s on a streak of three straight podium finishes and leads Moisey Uretsky (No. 44 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage GT4) by 40 points atop the standings.
Two practice sessions and qualifying are scheduled for Friday at CTMP. Race 1 starts at 11:40 a.m. ET Saturday, with Race 2 at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Both races will stream live on Peacock in the U.S. and on IMSA.com/TVLive outside the U.S.
