- Scuderia Corsa drivers Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen record sixth-straight podium at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park
- Third-place finish propels Ferrari to lead of GT-Daytona manufacturers championship
July 9, 2017 (Bowmanville, Ont). – Scuderia Corsa continued their remarkable run of consistency on Sunday afternoon at the SportsCar Grand Prix at the challenging 2.459-mile Canadian Tire Motorsport Park outside of Toronto, Ontario.
Sunday afternoon’s race, which was affected by two seperate periods of rain and multiple full-course cautions, saw the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 finish on the podium for the sixth-straight IMSA race. The Ferrari, started in fifth position by Christina Nielsen, was taken over by Alessandro Balzan in fourth position near the end of the first hour of the race.
With the weather taking a dramatic turn in the final hour, Balzan was forced to guide the Ferrari on dry-weather tires through mixed conditions. He made up one position, bringing the Ferrari to the checkered flag in third position with the final laps occurring under caution.
That finish has also unofficially propelled Ferrari to the lead of the GT-Daytona manufacturer championship after outscoring chief rival Mercedes over the past three rounds.
Balzan and Nielsen entered the weekend with a slim lead in the GT-Daytona drivers’ championship, and their third-place finish has extended their championship lead to eight points over the #33 AMG Mercedes driven by Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen. The finish at CTMP was their sixth straight podium finish, following Sebring (second), Long Beach (third), Austin (second), Detroit (second) and Watkins Glen (second).
The IMSA Sports Car Championship returns to action in two weeks for the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticuit on July 21-22.