After collecting their first victory in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition last Sunday at Watkins Glen, Mazda Team Joest has won yet again, this time with Oliver Jarvis behind the wheel at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Jarvis, in the No. 77 Mazda RT24-P, led teammate Harry Tincknell in the No. 55 to another 1-2 finish for the team. Tincknell won last week’s event at the Glen.
“I gotta say, I feel sorry for the 55,” Jarvis, who shared his victory with co-driver Tristan Nunez, told NBC Sports. “They’ve had a perfect weekend. I think they had an issue with a pit stop, but that’s the way it goes. I think we had the pace last weekend, and it went their way, and this weekend it went our way.”
Mazda’s victory was unfortunately overshadowed by a violent late-race crash by Victor Franzoni in the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, which came up on its side in Turn 2 tire barriers.
The accident prompted a red flag with 17 minutes remaining as crews cleaned the accident scene. Franzoni was reported by IMSA to be awake and alert and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya finished the race in third.
McMurray, Kellett claim LMP2 victory
In the two-car LMP2 class, Matt McMurray and Dalton Kellett scored an easy victory in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson when their lone class competitor went off-track with an hour remaining in the race. For Kellett, an Indy Lights regular who grew up in nearby Toronto, the win was his first in IMSA competition, also coming in his first start.
“If we can just do this every time, that’d be great,” Kellett told NBC Sports. “This has been a great day. The PR1 guys did a really good job. I’m happy to get my first IMSA win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where I started racing.”
Porsche scores fifth consecutive GTLM victory
Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor won gave Porsche their fifth consecutive GT Le Mans victory in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.
Driving the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR, Bamber held off John Edwards in the No. 24 RLL BMW to take the checkered flag by 1.208 seconds.
“It feels amazing,” Bamber told NBC Sports. “Everyone at Porsche has been really working hard. Since we started this season we’ve had a good car. I think we’ve been on the podium nearly every race.”
“To get five in a row is an incredible achievement.”
Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet finished third in the No. 911 Porsche.
Turner BMW wins in GTD
Turner Motorsports won in GT Daytona for the first time this season with Robby Foley and Bill Auberlen in the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3.
Foley started from the pole and built a healthy lead early on before handing the wheel to Auberlen, who extended the lead before holding off Mario Farnbacher to take the checkered flag.
With his 54th career class victory, Auberlen passed Lucas Luhr to move to second all-time in IMSA class victories. Only Scott Pruett has more wins, with 59.
“Scott is an amazing guy,” Auberlen told NBC Sports. “To be anywhere near him is great.”
“The competition is so heavy in this class that when you win here, it’s something to be proud of and these guys [Turner Motorsports] should all be happy.”
Townsend Bell finished third in the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus.
************************
The next race of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on July 20. Live race coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBCsports.com and the NBC Sports app.
Follow Michael Eubanks on Twitter