Kyle Marcelli reached the podium on both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. First up was the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 race in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series on Saturday. Kyle and his driving partner Nate Stacey placed first in their #60 KohR/Roush Performance Motorsports Ford Mustang. Also in that race Canadian team AWA with Martin Barkey and Brett Sandberg driving, placed second in the race in the #80 AWA Ford Mustang GT4.
Sunday’s WeatherTech Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix saw Kyle and driving partner Dominik Baumann place second in that race.
Tag: #CTSC
A Seventh Place Finish Misrepresents the Efforts of Jesse Lazare, Chris Green and the MIA Team in California !
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September 24, 2017.- This weekend, Quebec’s Motorsports In Action (MIA) team and its Montreal drivers Jesse Lazare and Chris Green contested the penultimate round of North America’s Endurance series, the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, at the Laguna Seca circuit in California. A four-hour race, twice as long as the other races held this summer, saw the McLaren 570S GT4 #69 in the lead longer than any other competitor or team, before Chris Green was sent spinning with only two laps left, while he was in second place.
The weekend had a rough start for the MIA team, as was the case for the other competing McLaren GT4, which were significantly off the pace at the tricky Laguna Seca track. « We worked very hard and opted for “aggressive” changes during the free practice, which turned out to be beneficial. With help from Ian Willis, the respected owner of the AIM team, they finished by getting the right qualifying and race setups, enabling Jesse Lazare to make his way to the front starting line », confided team owner Eric Kerub.
The Pfaff McLaren/Garaga endorsed #69, driven by Jesse Lazare, found itself in second position during the first few minutes of the race, but by the time one hour was completed, Lazare and Green were leading the event. Their position barely changed and by mid-point of the race and the start of the last hour, the MIA team’s McLaren was still at the top of the leaderboard.
After executing a perfect race strategy and flawless pit stops, the MIA team, with Chris Green at the wheel, found themselves in a podium position with only minutes remaining. As he was completing the second to last lap, Green fell victim of a rear end hit from an over ambitious competitor that misjudged his braking, causing a spin, and eliminated any potential podium that the team worked so hard for in 3 hours and 57 minutes of this 4 hour enduro. The Lazare/Green duo eventually finished the event in eighth spot, which turned into seventh place in the official race results when the competitor that sent Chris Green in a spin was penalized by the officials at the finish.
The MIA team and its drivers completed excellent work throughout the entire weekend in California. Despite the disappointing result, all team members want to finish the season on a positive note, as explained by team owner Eric Kerub ” we were one second slower than the other manufacturers during the free practice but got everything right when it counted and lead for more than half of the race”, he confided prior to continuing ” Chris had a broken rear diffuser early in his stint which certainly caused some performance loss with an hour to go. This, with combination of the extremely strong Aston Martin’s over the weekend made a victory impossible, but losing second place that way really hurts. The entire team did a perfect job this weekend and that’s the major positive point to retain “.
The next round of the 2017 championship of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series will take place in two weeks at the Road Atlanta circuit in Georgia. This will be the final race of the season, contested as part of the prestigious “Petit Le Mans”, on October 6th.
Another Top 5 for Jesse Lazare, Chris Green and the MIA Team in Virginia!
August 26, 2017.- Quebec’s Motorsports In Action (MIA) team and its Montreal drivers Jesse Lazare and Chris Green, earned another Top 5 finish this weekend in the North American endurance IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series, upon completing the two-hour race presented at the Virginia International Raceway. At the wheel of their McLaren 570S GT4, Lazare and Green progressed among the leaders throughout the duration of the race and could’ve finished even higher than their fifth place ranking had it not been for caution periods interfering with their pit-stop strategy.
After qualifying their Corum and Zetta Jet McLaren in fourth place, Jesse Lazare and Chris Green were eyeing another podium during this eighth of ten races in the 2017 season. After the start, Green maintained his position before entering the pits for a brief refuel after only thirty minutes of racing. The MIA team had calculated that on this track, the GS class cars would not be able to contest the entire race with only one refuelling stop. The Quebec team therefore decided to schedule a pit stop early in the race, without switching drivers.
Restarting in twelfth, Green gained positions as the laps passed and by the midway mark of the race, he was back among the leaders. This coincided with a long caution period following an incident in the peloton. Everybody entered the pits, including the MIA McLaren for its second refuelling, which took longer than anticipated as a result of a stuck lug nut. For Green, this was also time to relinquish the driver’s seat to his teammate Jesse Lazare.
The team’s strategy, which could’ve played out brilliantly, did not work in their favour as a second caution period took place shortly after the restart, to the point that once the race got started again, less than thirty minutes remained as the green flag waved off a peloton of the thirty-two competitors.
From that point on, everyone knew that it was possible to finish the race with only one refuel and, for Jesse Lazare, all he could do was hope to stay in the Top 5. The young Montreal driver completed his mission without problem, crossing the finish line less than ten seconds behind the leaders.
« We took a chance that this would be a race without too many incidents, and that was true. However, the caution periods were long and that gave our rivals exactly what they needed to complete the race with only one refuel. As a result, our gamble on two stops played against us » confided team owner, Eric Kerub. « At the same time, our problem with the wheel nut cost us the most. We can’t blame anyone for it and I think that given the circumstances, we’re satisfied with finishing in fifth place » he added.
The MIA team also entered the #68 Corum, Zetta Jet and “The Advanced Cardiovascular Center of Tampa Bay McLaren in this event with Ontarian driver Kenny Wilden and American Rod Randall were at the wheel. Qualifying in twelfth, they unfortunately had to retire due to mechanical issues with fifteen laps to go.
The next round of the 2017 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series will take place in four weeks in California, on September 22nd – 23rd on the Laguna Seca track near Monterey. This will be the penultimate round of the season.
Promising Start for Motorsports in Action At the Daytona Track
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Promising Start for Motorsports in Action At the Daytona Track
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, January 28, 2017.- The Motorsports In Action (MIA) Team took to Florida’s Daytona Beach track yesterday to contest the first round of the 2017 endurance IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. This four-hour event launched the season, and saw the MIA Team’s two McLarens realize a very promising start. At the wheel of the #69 McLaren 570S GT4, Montreal drivers Chris Green and Jesse Lazare were among the leaders until a small hit resulted in mechanical problems that ended their hopes with only half an hour remaining, as Lazare was battling for victory. In the #68, Ontarian Kenny Wilden and American teammate Rodney Randall had better luck, finishing the event in ninth place.
For the MIA Team, entirely Montrealers and brought together by owner and veteran driver Eric Kerub, this first event of the season marked the team’s grand debut in North American endurance. It was full of emotions but undoubtedly confirmed the competitiveness of the two McLarens.
In a practice session that included the forty entries, the #69 Garaga and Pfaff car, driven by Chris Green and Jesse Lazare, made its way into the top 10. Kenny Wilden and Rodney Randall also had a great start to the weekend, making it to third place in the second practice session, despite still learning the car. During qualifying, Wilden brought the #68 “The Advanced Cardiovascular Center of Tampay Bay” car to the third starting row, while Green found himself in the fifth.
During the race, Kenny Wilden and Chris Green quickly found a good rhythm before handing the wheels off to their respective teammates, while both cars were sitting in the top 8. In car #69, the young Jesse Lazare, winner of last year’s American Porsche GT3 Cup, had a fantastic stint as he climbed his way up to a fighting position for the lead. Lazare was in third place when, less than an hour to the finish, he came into contact with one of the two adversaries with which he was battling, forcing him to enter the pits with a broken radiator. All hopes of winning were lost and, so as not to damage the engine, Lazare had to accept an early end to the race shortly after he retook the track. The car #69 is classified 13th in GS class, 27th overall.
In car #68, following Rodney Randall’s successful and incident-free shift in a car he was still getting familiar with, Kenny Wilden retook the wheel for the last section of the race. In a battle to break the top 5, and after getting caught up by tricky traffic caused by the slower cars, Wilden finished the race in ninth place overall. This result was very encouraging for Wilden, Randall, and the MIA Team’s McLaren.
For owner Eric Kerub, this initial outing was intense but it highlighted the competitiveness of the entire team : « Sure, our inexperience meant we made a few mistakes during the changeovers in the pits that probably cost us a few seconds but we challenged for the podium with both cars and that’s excellent » he indicated. « Jesse came into contact with one of his competitors close to the end, which meant pulling car #69 but that’s part of racing. He tried to regain his place, he fought for it and that’s great. Jesse takes full blame in going for a pass that could have been attempted later with more room to maneuver. However, I’m happy that he pushed to go for the win, but also I believe we should never cause avoidable collisions with a competitor. But overall, I’m proud of all of the drivers’ skills and I now know that we’re a team that can win. We’ll analyze all the data from Daytona and work with McLaren to do even better at the next race in Sebring » he concluded.
Victory went to the Porsche Cayman of the American duo Trent Hindman/Cameron Cassels. The next round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge is set for mid-March, as part of the 12 Hours of Sebring, also in Florida.
@James_Vance Resigns with @minijcwteam for 2017
James Vance announced today that he will be returning to the @minijcwteam for the 2017 race season in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series. The first race will be the BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona, Thursday, January 26, 2017 to Sunday, January 29, 2017.