Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker end two-year drought
Robert Wickens and Harry Gottsacker drove the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N to victory in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Bowmanville. In three visits of the series to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, local hero Wickens has finished twice first and once second. Saturday’s win was Wickens’ first since the July 2022 victory at Bowmanville and Gottsacker’s first since Mid-Ohio in May of the same year.
Gottsacker and Wickens ran second for most of the race behind the championship-leading #17 JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS 3 LMS of Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor. The race took a dramatic turn when Taylor pulled off course with a mechanical failure with 27 minutes to go. It opened the door for the #33 drivers to snatch the victory.
Wickens never surrendered the lead after the Audi’s exit, though he was constantly harried by Karl Wittmer in the #93 Montreal Motorsport Group Honda Civic FL5. Wittmer was handicapped by a loss of the anti-lock braking system for the final twenty minutes and unable to mount an overtake attempt. He and co-driver Daijiro Yoshihara held onto second place, 0.723 seconds behind the winners that was the best result so far for the Canadian team.
The #76 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai, with Denis Dupont and Preston Brown, took third place, while the #17 Audi wound up eighth and saw its championship lead trimmed to 150 points over the #76 BHA Hyundai and 190 over the winning #33 Hyundai.
The next event of the series will be at Road America on August 2/3.
Bowmanville – Race
- R. Wickens/H. Gottsacker (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N), 80 laps
- K. Wittmer/D. Yoshihara (Montreal Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 0.723
- P. Brown/D. Dupont (Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N), 4.576
Championship points
- C. Miller/M. Taylor, 1930 pts; 2. D. Dupont/P. Brown, 1780; 3. R. Wickens/H. Gottsacker, 1740
Picture: IMSA/LAT Images
