The 2016 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville, Ontario on July 10, 2016.^[1] The race was the seventh round of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the event marked the 31st IMSA sanctioned sports car race held at the facility.

Background

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.^[2] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, thirty-fifth annual running of the race.^[2] The 1 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix was the second of seventh scheduled automobile endurance races of 2016 by IMSA, and was the fourth round not held on the held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.^[2] The race was held at the ten-turn 2.459 mi (3.957 km) Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada on July 10, 2016.^[2] For 2016, the WeatherTech Championship race featured all four classes, Prototype (P), Prototype Challenge (PC), GT Le Mans (GTLM) and the GT Daytona (GTD) for the first time since the 2013 edition of the Grand Prix.^[3] The weekend also included races for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Mazda Prototype Lites, the Global MX-5 Cup and the Nissan Micra Cup.^[4]

Practice

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday: two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon while the third session on Saturday morning lasted one hour.^[5]

The first practice session was held in damp weather.^[6] Jordan Taylor set the fastest lap in the No. 10 WTR Corvette DP at 1 minute, 11.158 seconds, 0.985 seconds faster than Tristan Nunez's No. 55 Mazda. Ryan Dalziel in VFR's No. 90 vehicle was third, and Oswaldo Negri Jr.'s No. 60 MSR ligier was fourth.^[7] The seven-vehicle PC class was led by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports's No. 52 car, driven by Tom Kimber-Smith with a time of 1 minute, 13.154 seconds.^[6][7] The two Corvette Racing team cars of Oliver Gavin (No. 4) and Antonio García (No. 3) led GTLM. Andy Lally's No. 44 Magnus Audi R8 recorded the fastest time in GTD.^[7]

Rain continued to affect the track in the second practice session. Jordan Taylor was fastest with a time of 1 minute, 11.206 seconds, followed by the AER cars of Fittipaldi and Cameron in second and third.^[8] A 1:12.131 lap saw Renger van der Zande's No. 8 Starworks vehicle lead PC.^[9] Bill Auberlen led GTLM in the No. 25 BMW with a 1-minute, 15.961 lap. Tommy Milner's No. 4 Corvette was second. Müller in the No. 66 CGR Ford GT was third in GTLM.^[8] Lally's No. 44 Magnus Audi R8 led GTD, and Spencer Pumpelly, in the No.16 Change Racing Lamborghini, was second in class.^[9]

The final practice was held on a dry race track which allowed for faster lap times.^[10] Negri's MSR Ligier set the fastest overall lap of 1:10.522, 0.002 seconds faster than Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda.^[11][10] van der Zande led the PC class with a 1 minute, 11.884 second lap in Starworks' No. 8 car.^[11] Corvette Racing paced GTLM with García's No. 3 car lapping 1:15.233, ahead of the two BMW M6 GTLMs.^[11] With a 1:17.888 lap, David led the GTD class in the No. 6 Stevenson Audi R8.^[11]

Qualifying

In Saturday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.^[12][5]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	P	55	Mazda Motorsports	Tristan Nunez	1:10.126	_	1 ‡
2	P	10	Wayne Taylor Racing	Ricky Taylor	1:10.435	+0.309	2
3	P	70	Mazda Motorsports	Tom Long	1:10.572	+0.446	3
4	P	5	Action Express Racing	Christian Fittipaldi	1:10.761	+0.635	4
5	P	31	Action Express Racing	Eric Curran	1:11.177	+1.051	5
6	P	90	VisitFlorida Racing	Marc Goossens	1:11.296	+1.170	6
7	P	60	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	John Pew	1:11.760	+1.634	7
8	PC	54	CORE Autosport	Colin Braun	1:11.946	+1.820	151
9	PC	38	Performance Tech Motorsports	James French	1:12.372	+2.246	8‡
10	PC	85	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Stephen Simpson	1:12.448	+2.322	9
11	PC	20	BAR1 Motorsports	Matt McMurry	1:12.471	+2.345	10
12	PC	52	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports	Robert Alon	1:12.505	+2.379	111
13	PC	8	Starworks Motorsport	Alex Popow	1:13.197	+3.071	12
14	P	0	Panoz DeltaWing Racing	Katherine Legge	1:14.077	+3.951	13
15	PC	88	Starworks Motorsport	Mark Kvamme	1:15.020	+4.894	14
16	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García	1:15.198	+5.072	16‡
17	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Dirk Müller	1:15.236	+5.110	17
18	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Richard Westbrook	1:15.430	+5.304	18
19	GTLM	100	BMW Team RLL	Lucas Luhr	1:15.446	+5.320	19
20	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Bill Auberlen	1:15.501	+5.375	20
21	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin	1:15.549	+5.423	21
22	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:15.780	+5.654	22
23	GTLM	912	Porsche North America	Earl Bamber	1:16.230	+6.104	23
24	GTLM	911	Porsche North America	Nick Tandy	1:16.476	+6.350	24
25	GTD	23	Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing	Alex Riberas	1:18.245	+8.119	25‡
26	GTD	6	Stevenson Motorsports	Andrew Davis	1:18.582	+8.456	26
27	GTD	16	Change Racing	Spencer Pumpelly	1:18.672	+8.546	27
28	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Bret Curtis	1:18.673	+8.547	28
29	GTD	73	Park Place Motorsports	Patrick Lindsey	1:18.745	+8.619	29
30	GTD	9	Stevenson Motorsports	Matt Bell	1:18.832	+8.706	30
31	GTD	27	Dream Racing	Cédric Sbirrazzuoli	1:19.000	+8.874	31
32	GTD	33	Riley Motorsports	Ben Keating	1:19.132	+9.006	32
33	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	1:19.151	+9.025	33
34	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Christina Nielsen	1:19.332	+9.206	34
35	GTD	97	Turner Motorsport	Michael Marsal	1:20.070	+9.944	35
36	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	John Potter	1:20.197	+10.071	362
37	GTD	22	Alex Job Racing	Cooper MacNeil	1:20.269	+10.143	37
Sources:[13][14]

• ¹ The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the PC field as per Article 43.1 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting driver).^[12]
• ² The No. 44 Magnus Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).^[12]

Report

Race summary

The race was won overall by Eric Curran and Dane Cameron, driving a Chevrolet Corvette DP for Action Express Racing. They finished ahead of the Action Express Racing sister car of João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, while the podium was completed by Ricky and Jordan Taylor of Wayne Taylor Racing. In sixth place overall, CORE Autosport won the Prototype Challenge class with drivers Jon Bennett and Colin Braun, while the GT Le Mans honors were taken by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook in the Ford GT in fourteenth place overall. The GT Daytona class was won by Bret Curtis and Jens Klingmann in the Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]}

Race results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Final race classification Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 P 31 Action Express Racing Eric Curran Dane Cameron Corvette Daytona Prototype C 125 2:41:22.601‡ Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 2 P 5 Action Express Racing João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi Corvette Daytona Prototype C 125 +10.112 Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 3 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor Corvette Daytona Prototype C 125 +18.124 Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 4 P 90 VisitFlorida Racing Marc Goossens Ryan Dalziel Corvette Daytona Prototype C 125 +32.183 Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 5 P 70 Mazda Motorsports Tom Long Joel Miller Mazda Prototype C 125 +42.575 Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo 6 PC 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett Colin Braun Oreca FLM09 C 123 +2 Laps‡ Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 7 PC 8 Starworks Motorsport Alex Popow Renger van der Zande Oreca FLM09 C 123 +2 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 8 PC 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Robert Alon Tom Kimber-Smith Oreca FLM09 C 123 +2 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 9 PC 38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French Kyle Marcelli Oreca FLM09 C 123 +2 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 10 PC 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson Oreca FLM09 C 122 +3 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 11 P 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian John Pew Oswaldo Negri Jr. Ligier JS P2 C 122 +3 Laps Honda HR35TT 3.5 Turbo V6 12 PC 20 BAR1 Motorsports Matt McMurry Johnny Mowlem Oreca FLM09 C 122 +3 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 13 P 0 Panoz DeltaWing Racing Katherine Legge Sean Rayhall DeltaWing DWC13 C 121 +4 Laps Élan (Mazda) 1.9 L I4 Turbo 14 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Ford GT M 119 +6 Laps‡ Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 15 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 119 +6 Laps Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 16 PC 88 Starworks Motorsport Mark Kvamme Richard Bradley Oreca FLM09 C 119 +6 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 17 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 119 +6 Laps Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 18 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner BMW M6 GTLM M 119 +6 Laps BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 19 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller Joey Hand Ford GT M 119 +6 Laps Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 20 GTLM 912 Porsche North America Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR M 119 +6 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 21 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Toni Vilander Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 488 GTE M 119 +6 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 22 GTLM 911 Porsche North America Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR M 119 +6 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 23 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Bret Curtis Jens Klingmann BMW M6 GT3 C 116 +9 Laps‡ BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 24 GTD 6 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis Robin Liddell Audi R8 LMS C 116 +9 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 25 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 116 +9 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 26 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen Alessandro Balzan Ferrari 488 GT3 C 116 +9 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 27 GTD 16 Change Racing Corey Lewis Spencer Pumpelly Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 116 +9 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 28 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Lindsey Porsche 911 GT3 R C 116 +9 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 29 GTD 22 Alex Job Racing Cooper MacNeil Leh Keen Porsche 911 GT3 R C 115 +10 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 30 GTD 27 Dream Racing Cédric Sbirrazzuoli Fabio Babini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 115 +10 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 31 GTD 9 Stevenson Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach Matt Bell Audi R8 LMS C 114 +11 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 32 DNF GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter Andy Lally Audi R8 LMS C 112 Accident Audi 5.2L V10 33 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Dodge Viper GT3-R C 110 +15 Laps Dodge 8.3L V10 34 GTLM 100 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Lucas Luhr BMW M6 GTLM M 108 +17 Laps BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 35 GTD 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Mario Farnbacher Alex Riberas Porsche 911 GT3 R C 106 +19 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 36 DNF P 55 Mazda Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito Tristan Nunez Mazda Prototype C 60 Rear hub Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo 37 DNF GTD 97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal Markus Palttala BMW M6 GT3 C 34 Gearbox BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 Sources:[22][23]

Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer C Continental M Michelin