BOWMANVILLE, Ontario — It’s always best to get the jump on the competition. Jonathan Woolridge and Michael Cooper proved that Saturday when they won their respective classes in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Each driver started second in class – Woolridge in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and Cooper in GSX – but both managed to scoot into their class lead at the drop of the green flag and remained there throughout the 45-minute race that ended under a full-course caution.
Woolridge claimed the overall victory in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320, his first in the sprint series that debuted this year. It came at the Whitby, Ontario, native’s home track and in his first race with Performance Tech after competing with Remstar Racing in the March doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway.
Woolridge forged ahead of overall polesitter Bijoy Garg (No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier) as they charged down the front straight as the race began on the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course.
“I think I had a little bit of an advantage having so many starts at the home track,” Woolridge said. “I knew right away that as soon as you see that opening, you’ve just got to go for it. Just getting the run into Turn 1 is super important and I just kind of manhandled it with cold tires.”
Garg pressured Woolridge through the first 30 minutes until they encountered lapped traffic that allowed Woolridge to build a gap of more than three seconds. The second caution of the race came with just under eight minutes to go, when Mark Siegel crashed exiting Turn 8 in the No. 93 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport, locking in the order to the checkered flag.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Woolridge said. “Coming into this weekend there was obviously a lot of pressure with so many people behind you to make it happen. Performance Tech did an amazing job setting up the car today. We knew coming into the weekend that we were going to be strong, so when we qualified P2, it was like, ‘We have some work to do.’ Right off the bat it was just, ‘Go!’”
By finishing second, Garg unofficially closed within 20 points of fourth-place finisher Dan Goldburg (No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08) for the LMP3 championship lead heading into Sunday’s race.
Cooper’s drive to the GSX triumph in the No. 48 Accelerating Performance Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport came despite intense pressure throughout. Cooper bolted ahead of GSX polesitter Francis Selldorff (No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 (G82)) at the start. Selldorff remained glued to Cooper’s rear bumper the rest of the way, with Cooper fending off numerous overtake attempts.
“Getting a good start and getting track position from the jump was super important,” Cooper said. “The BMW was super-fast. I don’t think that we would’ve been able to stick with him if he was in front of us the whole race.”
Considering the team took possession of the car two weeks ago and he tested for the first time in it last week, Cooper was pleased with the result and knows there’s more to come.
“It’s a new car and every new car’s got a couple little teething issues,” he said. “We’re just working through some of that stuff right now, trying to figure out where we need to set the alignment, how to set it up, what springs to run, all that kind of stuff. We’re just building a notebook on the car right now. Hopefully, we’ll get our heads around it and have some stronger performance in it.”