Murillo One-Two At CTMP – What A Week For Wickens – Another Win With Mark Wilkins
From the outside, few IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race wins looked as straightforward as the victorious drive Marc Miller and Eric Foss combined to produce in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 at the racetrack of the same name.
But Foss, who drove the anchor stint in the #56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, struggled physically in the latter stages of the two-hour race, the legacy of injuries he sustained recently when brake failure caused a student he was coaching to crash during a training session.
A couple of minor errors in the closing laps allowed his Murillo Racing teammate Christian Szymczak to pull the #72 Mercedes alongside the #56 as they negotiated the Mario Andretti Straightaway on the penultimate lap. But Foss maintained the advantage into Turn 9 and held on to claim the overall and Grand Sports (GS) class win by 0.338 seconds over Szymczak.
Trent Hindman and Alan Brynjolfsson took third place in the #7 Volt Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4. The top five GS entries crossed the line grouped within 1.496 seconds in a race slowed by just two full-course cautions.
Miller was victorious in his first Michelin Pilot Challenge start in more than three years as a stand-in for the injured Jeff Mosing, who has been out of action with a rib injury since April’s race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This was his fourth career series win and first since 2016. Foss took a GS class win earlier this year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Kenton Koch as his co-driver.
Foss, who claimed his ninth Michelin Pilot Challenge win, has won two previous season championships and is smack in the middle of another title battle. Saturday’s victory unofficially draws him and the #56 Mercedes within 90 points Hindman, Brynjolfsson and the No. 7 Aston Martin with four races remaining in 2022.
“I’m in quite a bit of pain right now, but overall I can’t think the Murillo team enough,” Foss said after he and Miller completed 77 laps on the way to victory in the two-hour race. “Christian was a great teammate. I obviously made a couple mistakes there near the end, but he never really pounced.
“Ken Murillo is our engineer, and the car setup was perfect on the #56 and the #72,” he added. “We have a great driver lineup sharing information that’s helping the team progress as well as the drivers.”
Szymczak said that while it looked like he was playing defense in the closing laps, there were no team orders and he was free to attempt a pass on Foss if the opportunity presented itself.
“It was tough,” Szymczak said. “I tried to get as close as I could at tighter parts of the track. I’d pull out of Turn 5 and be able to equalize and get caught up at the end of the straight, but I couldn’t really do much. I couldn’t make anything happen, and I’m not going to do anything crazy to my teammate.”
It’s been a blur, Robert Wickens said. That’s an understatement.
Wickens finished off a whirlwind week Saturday by teaming with Mark Wilkins to win on home turf in the Touring Car (TCR) class of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The victory came a week after they won at Watkins Glen International – Wickens’ first victory since a crash in 2018 left him paralyzed – and a day after Wickens and wife Karli welcomed the birth of their son, Wesley Joseph.
“It’s been a fairytale, really,” Wickens said. “The win at Watkins felt very deserved. We’ve worked hard. We’ve been there every race this year. It finally clicked when we got that win. We thought, ‘Let’s take this momentum into our home race.’”
After Wickens and Wilkins arrived in their native Canada to do advance promotional work for the race, Karli called during Thursday’s track walk. Wesley was arriving two weeks earlier than expected, she said, and Robert needed to get back to Indianapolis.
“She said, ‘I need you home tomorrow morning,’” Wickens said. “I can’t thank everyone at Bryan Herta Autosport enough – not only for being understanding, but for not making me feel like there was any pressure. They made it very clear that family always comes first. Honestly, I’m so grateful.”
For those of you wondering why I wasn’t at the track today.. I would like everyone to meet Wesley Joseph Wickens. Born two weeks early but we could not be happier. Baby and Mom are doing great! I am so grateful to be married to such a strong woman! Let’s start the next chapter! pic.twitter.com/XY4ypAUdlG
— Robert Wickens (@robertwickens) July 1, 2022
Because he wasn’t at CTMP to qualify Friday, the #33 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR started from the back of the 14-car TCR field. Little more than 30 minutes into the two-hour race, Wickens had the car in third place.
Wilkins took over midway through the race, drove to the lead on a restart with 20 minutes left and went on to prevail in a podium sweep for the BHA Hyundais on what the two Canadian drivers consider their home track.
“The story is really Robert today,” Wilkins said. “Coming in (to start the race) with no laps and passing three cars on his first lap? He hadn’t turned a lap at all here in I don’t know how many years. Mega drive. Lots of tense nerves for me waiting to get out there. … It just feels amazing.”
Michael Lewis finished second – just 0.522 seconds behind Wilkins – in the #1 BHA Hyundai he co-drove with Taylor Hagler. Harry Gottsacker was third in the #98 BHA Hyundai he shared with Parker Chase.
As Wilkins praised Wickens after the victory, Wickens returned the favor. Without Wilkins doing the prep work and communicating it, Wickens said he wouldn’t have been able to be as fast as he was.
“I’ve never been so prepared ahead of a race,” Wickens said. “But I’ve also never jumped into a race without a single lap of practice. Honestly, it’s just amazing. I definitely didn’t expect to win today. It’s obviously a dream.”
Eight days, two wins and – most importantly – a son. The time of a racer’s life.
“It’s been a blur,” Wickens said. “Everything up until Thursday afternoon was pretty calm. It’s been a world of emotions. I think I got all my tears out on Friday when our son Wesley was born and he was healthy. I just can’t wait to get back home and see the baby again.”
Lewis and Hagler unofficially reclaimed the TCR points lead by 40 over Roy Block, Tim Lewis and the 35 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. Wickens and Wilkins moved into a third-place tie with Gottsacker and Chase, 90 points out of the lead.
The Michelin Pilot Challenge returns to action July 15-16 with the Lime Rock Park 120 in Connecticut.
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