- VGRT Honda Civic Type R finishes fourth in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge run
- Victor Gonzalez qualifies ninth, leads early in two-hour contest
- Karl Wittmer completes drive to fourth in home-race return
The #99 Honda Civic Type R TCR of VGRT notched a fourth-place finish Saturday in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series’ return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Driving the lone Honda Civic in the field this weekend, Victor Gonzalez qualified ninth around the fast, flowing 2.459-mile road course. Going off-strategy during an early yellow flag, Gonzalez would go on to lead three laps after the restart and ultimately hand the #99 over to co-driver Karl Wittmer while running in fifth place.
Native Canadian Wittmer resumed in the seventh position after the pit stop, and would wow his home-race fans as he drove the Honda Civic up to fourth at the line—just 0.196 from scoring the team’s second podium finish of the season.
VGRT currently sits fifth in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Teams’ championship with four rounds to go in the 2022 championship.
CTMP 120 Michelin Pilot Challenge Honda TCR Race Results
- 4th #99 Victor Gonzalez and Karl Wittmer, VGRT Racing Honda Civic Type R TCR
Quotes
Victor Gonzalez (#99 VGRT Honda Civic Type R TCR) finished fourth: “I’m so proud of all my guys. We have half of the crew for this race because some of the guys couldn’t come into Canada—but I’m so happy with what we have accomplished. We ran most of the race in the top five, we almost got a podium! It’s a battle, but we show we can compete with the factory teams. But, we’ll get it, we’ll get another win, and show the product that we’re running. This car, this Honda, the HPD support, it’s a great product. We’re going to be even stronger next year, but we also are shooting for the best championship result we can this year.”
Karl Wittmer (#99 VGRT Honda Civic Type R TCR) finished sixth: “It was amazing to be back. Just the excitement of everybody coming back to the races in Canada after everything that has happened, it’s really surreal. The paddock was buzzing and it’s awesome. VGRT gave me an awesome car at the end of the stint—which is what we planned and simulated. I can’t thank HPD enough for putting me in this situation with the team. It was a really solid effort by everybody, the pit stop was great, Victor did an amazing job during his stint, and we brought home P4! It’s great for the points standings.”
Next
The Michelin Pilot Challenge now returns to the USA for the final four rounds of the 10-race season, beginning with Lime Rock Park 120 on Saturday, July 16. The race will be streamed live on NBC Peacock.
HPD has three ready-to-race Civic models for touring car competition. The line starts with the affordable and reliable Civic Si TCA race car, then leads to the Civic Type R TC racer that puts legendary Type R performance on track, and culminates with the no-compromise, championship-winning Civic Type R TCR race car. Our unparalleled trackside support at every level from HPD engineers is a unique benefit that no other manufacturer can offer. Find out more about these cars and our touring programs at: https://hpd.honda.com/Motorsports/Touring
Honda Racing social media content and videos from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park are available on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD). Produced by CoForce Digital Media, YouTube video packages can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.
# # #
