Boulle, Dillmann, No. 52 Inter Europol ORECA Win Chevrolet Grand Prix
Nick Boulle took control early and co-driver Tom Dillmann held on late to take the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 to victory Sunday in the Chevrolet Grand Prix, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Boulle moved into the overall and Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class lead on Lap 10 around the 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course, the first of 88 laps that the No. 52 ORECA led in the race featuring the LMP2, GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes. Dillmann took over the car just over an hour into the two-hour, 40-minute race and maintained a strong advantage as the middle stages ran under green-flag conditions for nearly 90 minutes.
A late full-course caution bunched the field for a final restart with eight minutes to go, but Dillmann was able to hold off Felipe Fraga, whose co-driver was Gar Robinson, in the No. 74 Riley ORECA. Dillmann and the No. 52 and won by 0.658 seconds. The No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA shared by Steven Thomas and Scott Huffaker placed third.
The win is the second for Boulle in WeatherTech Championship competition, the first coming in the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona’s Prototype Challenge class. Dillman collected his initial series win in just his fourth start. For long-time team PR1 Mathiasen, it’s IMSA win No. 29.
Chevrolet dominated its namesake race in GTD PRO, with the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R driven by Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia edging the sister No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg for class win honors. The GTD win went to Spencer Pumpelly and Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.
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