
The2017 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix was asports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held atCanadian Tire Motorsports Park inBowmanville, Ontario,Canada on July 9, 2017. The race was the seventh round of the2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

IMSA's president Scott Atherton confirmed the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix was part of the series' schedule for the2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship atRoad America's victory lane in August 2016.[1] It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the thirty-sixth annual running of the race. The 2017 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix was the seventh of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2017 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 inBowmanville,Ontario,Canada on July 9, 2017.[2] After theSahlen's Six Hours of the Glen one week earlier,Jordan Taylor andRicky Taylor led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 202 points, ahead ofJoão Barbosa andChristian Fittipaldi with 182 points, andMisha Goikhberg andStephen Simpson with 167 points.[3] With 180 points, the PC Drivers' Championship was led byJames French andPatricio O'Ward with a thirty-point advantage over Don Yount.[3]Antonio García andJan Magnussen led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 154 points, ahead ofJoey Hand andDirk Müller with 146 points.[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led byAlessandro Balzan andChristina Nielsen with 173 points, ahead ofBen Keating andJeroen Bleekemolen with 171 points.Cadillac,Chevrolet, andMercedes-AMG were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whileWayne Taylor Racing, Performance Tech Motorsports,Corvette Racing, andScuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.[3]
A total of 36 cars took part in the event split across 4 classes. 10 cars were entered in P, 3 in PC, 8 in GTLM, and 15 in GTD.[4] In P,David Ostella andNicholas Boulle replacedJosé Gutiérrez andOlivier Pla in thePR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry.[5]Pipo Derani joinedJohannes van Overbeek in the #22Tequila Patrón ESM. In PC, Ryan Lewis joined Don Yount in the #20 BAR1 Motorsports entry.Garett Grist and James Vance shared the #26 BAR1 Motorsports entry.[6] In GTD,Alex Job Racing and Dream Racing Motorsport skipped the event.Jörg Bergmeister returned to the Park Place Motorsports entry after missing the previous round at Watkins Glen due to a family emergency.[6]Bret Curtis returned to theTurner Motorsport entry.
There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.[7]
The first practice session took place at 11:20 amET on Friday and ended withJordan Taylor topping the charts forWayne Taylor Racing, with a lap time of 1:09.443.[8] The PC class was topped by the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca FLM09 ofPatricio O'Ward with a time of 1:12.512.[9]Laurens Vanthoor was fastest in GTLM whileAndy Lally set the fastest time in GTD.[9]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:09.443 | _ |
| 2 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Ryan Dalziel | 1:09.450 | +0.007 |
| 3 | P | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Jonathan Bomarito | 1:09.741 | +0.298 |
| Sources:[10][11] | ||||||
The second practice session took place at 3:55 pmET on Friday and ended with Ryan Dalziel topping the charts forTequila Patrón ESM, with a lap time of 1:08.994.[12]James French set the fastest time in PC. The GTLM class was topped by the #912Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR ofLaurens Vanthoor with a time of 1:14.753.Patrick Pilet was second in the sister #911 car andJohn Edwards rounded out the top 3.[13]Sage Karam was fastest in GTD.[13]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Ryan Dalziel | 1:08.994 | _ |
| 2 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Ricky Taylor | 1:09.053 | +0.059 |
| 3 | P | 22 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Pipo Derani | 1:09.093 | +0.099 |
| Sources:[14][15] | ||||||
The third and final practice session took place at 9:20 amET on Saturday and ended withStephen Simpson topping the charts forJDC-Miller MotorSports, with a lap time of 1:09.142.[16]Patricio O'Ward set the fastest time PC by 1.678 seconds ahead of Ryan Lewis in the #20 BAR1 Motorsports entry.[16] The GTLM class was topped by the #911Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR ofDirk Werner with a time of 1:14.799.[17]Tristan Vautier was fastest in GTD.[17] The session wasred flagged two times. 20 minutes into the session, the #153GT RacingLexus RC F GT3 ofJack Hawksworth crashed at turn 3 after going wide, and dipped into the grass launching the car into the tire barriers before becoming airborne. The car suffered heavy damage to the front, but Hawksworth was uninjured and exited his car without external aid.[18] The final stoppage came for debris on the track.[16]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 85 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | Stephen Simpson | 1:09.142 | _ |
| 2 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:09.195 | +0.053 |
| 3 | P | 22 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Pipo Derani | 1:09.374 | +0.232 |
| Sources:[19][20] | ||||||
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.[21][7]
The first was for cars in GTD class.Sage Karam qualified on pole for the class driving the #143GT Racing entry, besting Andrew Davis in the #57 Stevenson Motorsports entry.[22]
The second session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class.Dirk Werner qualified on pole driving the #911 car forPorsche GT Team, beatingBill Auberlen in the #25BMW Team RLL entry by less than one tenth of a second.[23]
The third session of qualifying was for cars in the PC class.James French set the fastest time driving the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.[24]
The final session of qualifying was for the P class.Ricky Taylor qualified on pole driving the #10 car forWayne Taylor Racing, bestingMikhail Goikhberg in the #85 entry fromJDC-Miller MotorSports.[24][22]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 10 | 1:08.459 | _ | 1‡ | ||
| 2 | P | 85 | 1:08.587 | +0.128 | 2 | ||
| 3 | P | 2 | 1:08.886 | +0.427 | 3 | ||
| 4 | P | 22 | 1:08.934 | +0.475 | 4 | ||
| 5 | P | 55 | 1:08.959 | +0.500 | 5 | ||
| 6 | P | 5 | 1:09.173 | +0.714 | 6 | ||
| 7 | P | 90 | 1:09.286 | +0.827 | 7 | ||
| 8 | P | 31 | 1:09.895 | +1.436 | 8 | ||
| 9 | P | 52 | 1:09.958 | +1.499 | 9 | ||
| 10 | P | 70 | 1:09.959 | +1.500 | 10 | ||
| 11 | PC | 38 | 1:11.471 | +3.012 | 11‡ | ||
| 12 | PC | 26 | 1:13.193 | +4.734 | 12 | ||
| 13 | PC | 20 | 1:13.821 | +5.362 | 13 | ||
| 14 | GTLM | 911 | 1:14.085 | +5.626 | 14‡ | ||
| 15 | GTLM | 25 | 1:14.103 | +5.644 | 15 | ||
| 16 | GTLM | 912 | 1:14.251 | +5.792 | 16 | ||
| 17 | GTLM | 24 | 1:14.294 | +5.835 | 17 | ||
| 18 | GTLM | 67 | 1:14.434 | +5.975 | 18 | ||
| 19 | GTLM | 66 | 1:14.732 | +6.273 | 19 | ||
| 20 | GTLM | 3 | 1:14.844 | +6.385 | 20 | ||
| 21 | GTLM | 4 | 1:14.904 | +6.445 | 21 | ||
| 22 | GTD | 14 | 1:16.563 | +8.104 | 22‡ | ||
| 23 | GTD | 57 | 1:16.828 | +8.266 | 23 | ||
| 24 | GTD | 86 | 1:17.106 | +8.369 | 24 | ||
| 25 | GTD | 48 | 1:17.149 | +8.647 | 25 | ||
| 26 | GTD | 63 | 1:17.149 | +8.690 | 26 | ||
| 27 | GTD | 93 | 1:17.265 | +8.806 | 27 | ||
| 28 | GTD | 16 | 1:17.281 | +8.822 | 28 | ||
| 29 | GTD | 96 | 1:17.524 | +9.065 | 29 | ||
| 30 | GTD | 73 | 1:17.672 | +9.213 | 30 | ||
| 31 | GTD | 75 | 1:17.817 | +9.358 | 31 | ||
| 32 | GTD | 50 | 1:17.959 | +9.500 | 32 | ||
| 33 | GTD | 33 | 1:18.073 | +9.614 | 33 | ||
| 34 | GTD | 28 | 1:18.085 | +9.626 | 34 | ||
| 35 | GTD | 54 | 1:19.220 | +10.761 | 361 | ||
| 36 | GTD | 15 | Did Not Participate | 352 | |||
| Sources:[25][26] | |||||||
The result kept Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor atop the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 226 points, 19 points ahead of fifth-place finishers Barbosa and Fittipaldi.[27] In the PC Drivers' Championship, French and O'Ward extended their points lead to thirty-two points over Yount.[27] In the GTLM Drivers' Championship, Auberlen and Sims advanced from third to second.[27] The result kept Balzan and Nielsen atop the GTD Drivers' Championship whileAschenbach and Davis advanced from seventh to fifth.[27] Cadillac, and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships. Ferrari took the lead of the GTD Manufacturers' Championship while Wayne Taylor Racing, Performance Tech Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa kept their respective advantages in the Teams' Championships with five rounds left in the season.[27]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| Previous race: 6 Hours of The Glen | 2017 season | Next race: Northeast Grand Prix |