Chevrolet Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Toronto

Sandy Mitchell targeting home podium as IMSA heads to Canada with PFAFF Motorsports

Lamborghini factory driver Sandy Mitchell returns to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action this weekend when he tackles the Chevrolet Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Toronto. Significantly it’s the home race for his Pfaff Motorsports team.
“In many ways this is the most important GTD Pro race of the year for the team,” explained Mitchell, the 26-year-old from Forfar who will again partner factory driver, Italian Andrea Caldarelli, in the No9 Motomaster Temerario GT3, which returns to its iconic red plaid livery for the weekend. “The team’s base is just 45-minutes west of the circuit, so it’s definitely our home race. Plus it’s the only time we get to race in Canada in front of our huge support base, so it’s a really important weekend for everyone.”

And Mitchell — who having just finished the last round, the six hour race at Watkins Glen in upstate New York, immediately jumped in a car and drove the 250-miles to the team’s HQ — is looking forward to tackling the daunting 10-turn, 2.459-mile road course east of Toronto in Sunday’s 100-minute race.

“It’ll be my first time racing on the track,” Mitchell, personally backed by Tunnocks and Dama Fortuna Premium Tequila, continued, “but we tested there last week so I know my way round it. It’s a fast, really challenging circuit renowned for its blind, high-speed turns which demand a lot of commitment. “Testing went well and we believe we’ve made  significant progress on the car from last time out at Watkins Glen. We know the Temerario has been super reliable through its first four races and we’re confident we’ve uncovered some more pace in the car. We finished on the podium a couple of races ago at Detroit and it would be fantastic to repeat that in front of our home fans at CTMP. We know we have a huge core of support in Canada and we’ll be doing everything we can to give them the result they want.”

Action gets underway on Friday, July 10, with a 90-minute Free Practice, followed by another 90-minute session on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying in the afternoon. The 33-car race grid forms on Sunday ahead of the 100-minute race which starts at 2.05pm local (7.05pm UK). You can watch the race live on the official IMSA You Tube channel.