AO Racing’s “Spike” the Dragon Slays the Field to Capture Elusive First IMSA LMP2 Win

Given the number of Motul Pole Awards PJ Hyett has accumulated, an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race win always seemed to be a matter of “when,” not “if.”

The “when” finally arrived on the second Sunday of July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and fittingly in a race where Hyett’s Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class served as the headlining category in the Chevrolet Grand Prix.

For Hyett, co-driver Dane Cameron and AO Racing, Sunday’s win was new for each in the IMSA LMP2 class, but not new in their IMSA careers.

Hyett’s AO Racing team had won in two prior IMSA classes (Grand Touring Daytona Pro and Grand Touring Daytona). Cameron, who won his 18th IMSA race Sunday, has won championships in four different IMSA classes (Grand Touring Prototype, Daytona Prototype international, Prototype and GTD).

But until Sunday, none had collectively won as this group in WeatherTech Championship LMP2 competition, even though Hyett, Cameron and Louis Deletraz won the LMP2 Pro/Am class together at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Hyett’s breakthrough comes in his 11th LMP2 start and 20th IMSA career start, after running his first driving season in GTD in 2023.

The Illinois entrepreneur shifted from driving his GTD Porsche to the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07, nicknamed “Spike” with its purple dragon livery, ahead of the 2024 season where he’s quickly come to grips with the high-downforce LMP2 machine.

On Saturday, Hyett claimed his sixth Motul Pole Award in those 11 LMP2 attempts and after an authoritative run in the car, appeared poised to win without much challenge. He built a lead hovering at or over 15 seconds as he ran throughout his two stints, covering more than the 60-minute required minimum drive time.

Cameron took over and held station atop the charts but fell victim to a strategic play by close rivals Inter Europol Competition, in the hands of 2024 CTMP LMP2 race-winner Tom Dillmann.

Dillmann, who’d taken over the No. 43 Inter Europol ORECA from Jeremy Clarke, kicked off the final sequence of green flag pit stops with 44 minutes remaining in the two-hour, 40-minute race. He’d put himself in position one lap earlier in his stint where in one lap he’d passed two cars, driven by Benjamin Pedersen and Tom Blomqvist, to move from fourth to second.

While the No. 43 car didn’t ascend to the lead at that point, it forced the hand of the remaining LMP2 competitors to pit in response. Once the No. 99 AO car visited the pits, the momentum and pace Dillmann had carried on hot Michelin tires ensured he had the run to get ahead of Cameron on pace.

However, the race’s complexion changed with just over half an hour remaining when another LMP2 contender – the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA – was judged to have been responsible for an incident with the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Hurácán GT3 Evo2, sending what had been the second-placed GTD car into the tire barriers at Turn 8.

Dillmann led at the subsequent restart, but with 15 minutes remaining, the Frenchman ran off course into the Turn 3 tire barriers. The track services crew extricated Dillmann from the car. Dillmann was transported to an area hospital for further evaluation following the incident.

As a result, the race finished under full-course caution with Cameron out front and Hyett finally able to celebrate a maiden IMSA win as a driver.

“I woke up on the right side of bed this morning, I suppose,” said Hyett, who led his entire stint as the No. 99 AO Racing car led 97 of the 113 total laps. “I absolutely love this racetrack and driving an LMP2 car around here. It’s such a phenomenal experience.

“When you’re sort of in the zone, you’re in the zone. I was having the time of my life driving out there today. It was really fun. I’d say when you get it on pole and don’t convert it to a win, it’s a tough lesson to learn.

“So, we’ve learned a lot of those lessons over the years and to be able to pull away with a win today is sort of this magical moment for the team and everybody who works so hard. For the times we don’t get on the podium, it all makes it worthwhile. So, you have to savor these, that’s for sure.”

Owing to a steady race from both drivers, Blomqvist and championship leader Daniel Goldburg finished second aboard the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA. Goldburg unofficially leads Hyett and Cameron by 78 points with this result, with Blomqvist filling in successfully for Paul Di Resta, one of several drivers absent from CTMP this weekend due to a scheduling clash.

Riley’s full-season pair of Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson completed the podium in their No. 74 ORECA. They’re unofficially third in the championship, 124 points behind.

With revised lineups, United’s new pair of Ben Hanley and Philip Fayer was fourth in the No. 2 ORECA and PR1 Mathiasen’s Pedersen and Nick Boulle were fifth in the No. 52 ORECA.

On his series debut, Fayer was the highest finishing of four Canadians in the category racing in their home country.

Results are HERE