An early end to an otherwise positive weekend in Canada

Travelling north of the border, the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship headed to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with Ben Barnicoat looking to close the lead in the championship. Qualifying on the front row for the Canadian Grand Prix event, pace of the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 looked strong throughout the early stages of the weekend, but a technical issue during Ben’s stint of the race brought an early end to the event for the Vasser Sullivan squad, classified as P9 at the flag.

Things looked positive as the weekend got underway, with the yellow and black Lexus topping the timesheets in the final practice before qualifying. Having scored pole position a year ago, before a top-4 finish, confidence was high as Ben’s teammate, Jack Hawksworth, took on qualifying duties. He would eventually put the #14 on the front row, as Vasser Sullivan enjoyed a strong session – P2 in GTD Pro and the sister car on pole in the GTD class.

Jack took the start of the two-hour 40 minute endurance event, and had to battle to hold on to position as the lights went green around the famous Mosport circuit. After holding station from the rolling start, he was unable to defend from the chasing pair after the opening laps, dropping back a couple of places, and struggling to match the pace of the competition. Caution periods and pitstop strategies saw the Vasser Sullivan Lexus stay in touch with the top-5, and Ben took over with just over 60-minutes remaining on the race timer.

Now running green again, Ben quickly settled into his rhythm, but ultimate pace of the Lexus continued to be lacking. This limited his chances to climb back up the order, and his opportunities to challenge were then brought to a halt when an engine issue forced him to retire the car with little over 30-minutes of the event remaining. Having completed the majority of the race, the team was classified in P9 at the flag, but the result delivers a blow to the championship challenge, with their rivals outscoring the Lexus pair, to extend the lead again heading to Road America.

Reflecting on the tough weekend, Ben explained:

‍Obviously, you never want to end a race like that, especially when it’s so tight in the championship. It is a tough day for everyone to take, and we were having a tough race but didn’t deserve that outcome. Everyone at Lexus Racing and Vasser Sullivan has worked so hard all weekend.  

We had a great start to the weekend with Frankie (Montecalvo) taking the pole in the #12, and Jack (Hawksworth) also lining up on the front row. However, from the drop of the green flag, it just seemed like we didn’t quite have the pace of the other cars. Jack had a tough stint and we dropped back slightly. Then, from there, I struggled to make any progress before we had the issue which led to retirement. A tough day for the championship and for the team, but we have a great group of people. We’ve got to push on now and have the best last four races that we can. It will be what it will be from here.

With four race weekends remaining in the 2024 IMSA campaign, Ben now sits P3 in the championship. The IMSA Sportscar Weekend takes place at Road America over the weekend, 1-4 August.