Hyett Finds Speed at Right Time to Put AO Racing on LMP2 Pole at CTMP

For PJ Hyett, the issue was speed and time. He had the speed but wasn’t sure if he’d have the time to show it.

After a red flag during qualifying Saturday for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Hyett had just more than two minutes to land his best lap. He did, recording a time of 1 minute, 9.582 seconds (127.222 mph) around the 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 to win the Motul Pole Award in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class.

The pole position was AO Racing’s primary goal, which leads directly into Sunday’s goal – winning the race.

“Step one was getting on pole because it’s hard to pass people here – that’s what we’ve found,” Hyett said. “But also, to get around the GT traffic is really difficult in a way that you don’t lose a lot of time. Sometimes you just get unlucky depending on where you catch them. I think that’s going to be the big ticket. If you’ve got the speed, great, but you’ve got to get around the GTs to keep the speed up.”

The 15-minute qualifying session for the LMP2 class was twice interrupted by red flags. Dennis Andersen hit the tire barrier in the No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing ORECA four minutes into the session to force the first stoppage. On his first flying lap after the green flag returned, Hyett logged what would be the pole-winning lap, edging Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA he’ll share with Filipe Albuquerque by 0.090 seconds.

Less than a minute after Hyett turned his flyer in the purple dinosaur-liveried car known as “Spike,” Luis Perez Companc slid into the tires in the No. 88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA, clinching Hyett’s third pole of the season. Gar Robinson will start third in the No. 74 Riley ORECA that he shares with Felipe Fraga.

Hyett, whose co-driver this weekend is Louis Deletraz, credited his AO Racing team for the speed.

“It’s always a team effort,” Hyett said. “They give me these unbelievable cars to drive in qualifying and the race. I’m able to go out here and push as hard as I can, and the car responds in really positive ways and gives me the lap time. It's incredible.”

With the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s top class, Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), taking the weekend off, LMP2 gets a shot at the spotlight at CTMP.

“This circuit is unbelievable,” Hyett said. “You just carry so much speed, and the P2 has so much downforce. The things that the car is capable of around here, you just can’t believe it. You can’t believe what’s happening – to your body, to the car, the fact that it’s able to stay on the road. It’s so much fun. So much fun.”