20 May 2018
Bowmanville, 20 May 2018 – Mother Nature threw the Pirelli World Challenge competitors a curve in Saturday’s opening round of a double-header Sprint weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, but the Ferrari competitors rebounded for a strong finish to the 50-minute race. All three Ferrari drivers were mired back in the pack for the start of the race,vwhich was delayed by fog for more than two hours after morning qualifying for the Victoria Day classic was held in the rain. Every competitor started the race on rain tires on the challenging 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit. As the track began to dry in the latter stages of the race, the Ferraris came to life.
GT. Daniel Mancinelli worked his way into third position with 11 minutes remaining, and held that position at the checkered flag in the no. 31 TR3 Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. The result marks two podiums in two races this season for Mancinelli after winning in his PWC season debut at Long Beach. GT points leader Toni Vilander gained an overall position in the second half of the race and took fifth overall in the Toronto-based no. 61 R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3. Vilander posted the fastest lap of the race – 1:24.181-seconds– on the final lap of the race while running on rain tires. The lap will help the Ferrari factory pilot on Sunday as the lap earns him a prime spot on the grid for the second race of the weekend.
GTA. Running third for most of the race, Martin Fuentes no. 07 Squadra Corse Garage Italia Ferrari 488 GT3 roared into contention during the second half of the race. He took over second with 15 minutes remaining and then managed to run down the race leader in the closing laps. But the drying track surface meant that his tires didn’t have much to offer for a late charge as he took the checkered flag just 0.559 seconds behind the winner. The fourth top-two finish of the 2018 PWC campaign allowed Fuentes to extend his lead in the GTA standings.
Sunday. Race-2 will take the green flag for 50 minutes of racing at 4:05 PM ET on Sunday afternoon. World Challenge will provide live streaming at world-challenge.com.