BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – Bryson Morris and Mason Filippi extended their championship lead in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge’s Touring Car (TCR) class with a tactical victory in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 at the track of the same name.
One lengthy and one brief full-course caution opened the possibility for TCR competitors to complete the two-hour race with a single pit stop, but the last 64 minutes were run under green flag conditions, creating drama whether a late splash-and-go would be required.
Morris was running third 41 minutes into the race when he pulled the No. 33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR in for what would turn out to be its only pit stop. In fact, almost the entire TCR field pitted simultaneously, but fast pit work by the BHA team and a perfectly executed driver change allowed Filippi to exit the pits with a lead he would not relinquish.
But Karl Wittmer didn’t make it easy. He and the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR he shared with fellow Canadian LP Montour were rarely far from Filippi’s rear bumper, before finally dropping 2.194 seconds back at the checkered flag. Local driver Dean Baker of Bowmanville and ex-Indy car star Bruno Junqueira, a late addition to the lineup this weekend, took third place in the No. 56 Baker Racing Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
The tense battle gave Morris butterflies as he watched from the pit lane.
“Very nervous watching,” he admitted. “We tried to run our own race, but track position is so important. The No. 93 (Wittmer) was coming fast after they got by Harry (Gottsacker, who finished fourth in the No. 18 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR he shared with Lance Bergstein) and we watched closely. But Mason did a great job hitting the number.”
Filippi, who shared the No. 98 car with 2025 Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR champion Gottsacker in all but one race before moving to the No. 33 this year, revealed he and the team worked on their fuel-saving techniques during practice in case those skills would come handy in the race.
BHA is the dominant team in the TCR class, with 32 wins and six championships since 2019. Filippi has been part of 11 of those wins.
“I didn’t know if we could do it; it was long,” Filippi said. “We did some practice in FP2, so we hit those numbers. Once we knew we could get it, we tried to save the track position.”
Filippi and Morris have opened up a gap nearing 200 points on Denis Dupont and Preston Brown, who finished eighth at CTMP in the No. 76 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR. Unofficially, third through sixth in the standings – which includes the Nos. 18, 98, 5 and 93 cars – are separated by just 20 points
