JULY 12, 2017

(Acura)
Editor-In-Chief's Note: As long rumored and expected, Acura Motorsports has announced that it will join forces with Team Penske to field a prototype effort in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The program will include a pair of new Acura ARX-05 Daytona Prototype International (DPi) entries, fielded under the legendary Team Penske banner. The official competition debut will take place at the season-opening Rolex 24 in January 2018.  Testing of the Acura DPi will begin soon, with a formal unveiling of the ARX-05 slated for Monterey Car Week in August. The driver lineup will be announced at a future date. The Acura ARX-05 [Acura Racing eXperimental, generation 5] is based on the very successful ORECA 07 chassis, but the new ARX-05 prototype will feature Acura-specific bodywork and will utilize the race-proven, production-based Acura AR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine. The multi-year program will be administered by Honda Performance Development, the racing arm for both Acura Motorsports and Honda Racing in North America. -PMD

(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Dane Cameron (No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, co-driven by Eric Curran) survived a frantic final 50 minutes Sunday to win the IMSA WeatherTech Championship Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In a race fraught with changing weather conditions and various pit strategies between teams opting for wet weather or “slick” dry-weather tires, Cameron had to hold off a hard-charging Stephen Simpson (No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA LM P2, co-driven by Misha Goikhberg) in the rain over the final minutes to score his first win of the season for his team. It was Cadillac’s seventh overall win of the season, with each of the marque’s three teams now having won a race in the debut WeatherTech Championship campaign for the Cadillac DPi-V.R. “I knew the (No.) 85 was strong all weekend,” said Cameron. “I knew they had some pace on us. We probably weren’t the happiest we’d been with our car, but we had good track position. Then the rain came back a bit, and I was either going to win or go off trying to win.” “You can have all the speed in the world, but execution wins it,” said Curran. “It just kind of handed it back in our favor when it came down to who had slicks and who didn’t. We just keep doing a good job, and it shows on the Action Express side why we’re three championships in. It’s shear execution.” Scott Sharp and Ryan Dalziel (No. 2 Tequila Patrón Nissan DPi) finished third in the prototype class. The next WeatherTech Championship round for the Prototype class is the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America on Sunday, Aug. 6. Check out John Thawley's superb images from Canadian Tire Motorsports Park here.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sim (No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM) took their second consecutive GT Le Mans (GTLM) class victory in the two-hour-and-40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday, leading a 1-2 class sweep for BMW Team RLL. The No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 driven by Martin Tomczyk and John Edwards finished second. Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook (No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT) finished third. It was Auberlen’s 57th career victory in major North American sports car competition, moving him to within three of leader Scott Pruett on the all-time list. It was BMW’s first 1-2 sweep in GTLM since the 2015 WeatherTech Championship race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and was the first sweep of the top-two spots for any GTLM team since the Porsche GT Team went 1-2 at Circuit of The Americas last September. A scary incident involving Jordan Taylor in the overall race-leading No. 10 Cadillac DPi and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R in Turn 4 brought out the second of the race’s three full-course cautions with slightly more than 20 minutes remaining. Milner crashed heavily into the tire barrier but was not injured. The GTLM class headlines the next WeatherTech Championship round, joining the GT Daytona class for a two-hour-and-40-minute race at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, on Saturday, July 22.
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
 Andrew Davis and Lawson Aschenbach (No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3) won the GTD class on Sunday. It was the first WeatherTech Championship victory for both Aschenbach and Davis and the first win for Audi since the race at Lime Rock Park last July. Andy Lally and Katherine Legge (No. 93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3) finished second, and Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan (No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3) finished third. 
(John Thawley ~ Motorsports Photography @ www.johnthawley.com ~ 248.227.0110)
James French and Pato O’Ward (No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09) won in Canada - their sixth in a row - and are now three wins away from a perfect season in the Prototype Challenge (PC). It was an eventful win for the team coming back from one lap down to win the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Leading for much of the early part of the event, O’Ward hit a piece of debris with 54 minutes remaining and had to pit to replace the nose of the car. The team lost a lap in the process, but raced back to the lead lap and took the lead for good with 36 minutes to go. “I drove straight through it, broke the splitter and the nose,” said O’Ward. “When we changed it, we got out in second and it started raining. We came in to do a splash of fuel, and they asked what I wanted. I said I want to risk it and kept the slicks. That’s why we were able to overtake and get into first.” Each of the BAR1 Motorsports entries led a lap during the race. Garett Grist got around pole-winner French at the start of the race to lead the opening lap in the team’s No. 26 ORECA FLM09, while Ryan Lewis led multiple laps when O’Ward had to pit from the lead to make repairs to the nose of the No. 38. Lewis and co-driver Don Yount finished second. The PC class returns to action Sunday, Aug. 6, for the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America.

(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
Helio Castroneves being congratulated by Team Penske president Tim Cindric after he won the Iowa Corn 300 Verizon IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway late Sunday afternoon. The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner ended a three-year, 54-race streak without a win by taking his No. 3 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet to Victory Lane. Castroneves closed to within eight points of the championship lead (behind Scott Dixon) after 11 of 17 races. "We've been close (to winning) so many times, and finally luck was on our side," Castroneves said. "We've been working so hard together, but the Hitachi Chevy was on rails. We had a little bit of an issue in the beginning, but after we set up the car it was great. What a great finish. It's just like the first time." Castroneves led 217 of the 300 laps on the high-speed, 0.894-mile Iowa oval, winning by 3.9647 seconds over JR Hildebrand (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet). Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 Andretti Autosport DHL Honda) finished third. It was Castroneves' 30th win for Team Penske, surpassing the great Rick Mears (29). It was also the 192nd Indy car win for Team Penske - most all time - and its first at Iowa Speedway. "To see that run that Helio made all day long, I think he controlled the race," said Penske, who calls Castroneves' race strategy. "We had very good pit stops, you could see that, but you've got to have reliability and you've got to have a guy behind the wheel who knows how to climb the fence." Castroneves did his Spider Man routine after winning.
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
JR Hildebrand No. 21 ECR Fuzzy's Vodka Chevrolet) put on a good show by equaling his career-best finish first accomplished when he was runner-up at the 2011 Indianapolis 500. Hildebrand was driving the same car that Josef Newgarden raced to victory at Iowa in 2016 for Ed Carpenter Racing. "It feels good," said Hildebrand, who qualified a career-best second on Saturday and led 38 laps in the race. "I definitely think that, under some slightly different circumstances, we had a car to win out there. The guys made a great call to pit early and get out into the lead at the end and try to hustle all the way. I think if we'd been on equal tires with Helio, we'd have had something for him there at the end. But all in all, really excited for the Fuzzy's Vodka crew to get on the podium here again."

(Getty Images/BBC)
Valterri Botas (No. 77 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) won the "soporific" Austrian Grand Prix, as the BBC described it. Sebastian Vettel (No. 5 Scuderia Ferrari) was second, Daniel Ricciardo (No. 3 Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer RB13) was third and Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team) finished fourth.

(VW images)
Scott Speed (No. 41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Oberto Circle K Beetle GRC) dominated the Red Bull Global Rallycross weekend in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Raceway, ahead of his teammate Tanner Foust (No. 34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Rockstar Energy Drink Beetle GRC). It was the fourth 1-2 finish for the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team in 2017. Speed set the fastest time in qualifying and won each of his preliminary heat races on his way to a maximum points haul for the weekend. “What a great way to celebrate our team’s home race, with a commanding 1-2 finish,” said Speed after the race. “We knew we needed to get the most out of this weekend to help our championship hopes, and that’s just what we did. I couldn’t be prouder of the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross crew, and I’m looking forward to keeping this momentum rolling.” Speed’s complete sweep of the weekend - in front of team owner Michael Andretti - allowed him to retake second position in the provisional points standings behind Foust. Next up for the GRC is Atlantic City on Saturday, August 12 and Sunday, August 13. Broadcasts of the doubleheader will air LIVE on NBC each day: 5:00PM (ET) on August 12 and 4:30PM (ET) on August 13.

(Juha Lievonen/Stevenson Motorsports)
Robin Liddell and Matt Bell (No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R) won the GS class in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Saturday. It was the first race win for the Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in just its third race in the series’ GS category. Liddell crossed the finish line 6.462 seconds ahead of Dillon Machavern in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche Cayman GT4 MR. Bell started the race in fifth but moved into podium position 19 laps into the two-hour, 30-minute race. Bell pitted with a little more than an hour to go, and Liddell emerged in second place. He took the lead for good immediately after the restart. The Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R is based on the road-going Camaro ZL1 1LE production car. In addition to the GS category in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in IMSA, the Camaro GT4.R also competes in the Pirelli World Challenge’s GTS class under the Blackdog Speed Shop banner. Chevrolet leads the GTS Manufacturer’s Championship in the PWC with nine podium finishes in 10 races for Lawson Aschenbach. The next race for the Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R in IMSA competition is Saturday, July 22, at Lime Rock Park. Next up for the Camaro GT4.R in the Pirelli World Challenge is Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 29-30.

(BMW images)
Initially revealed as a goal in 2016 as part of the realignment of its motorsport strategy within the BMW Group, BMW will join the FIA Formula E Championship as an official manufacturer in Season 5 (2018/19). The cars, equipped with a completely newly-developed BMW drivetrain, will be run by the Andretti Formula E team as BMW’s works entry in the series.