Skip to main content
Please wait...

Mercedes-AMG GT3 Win, Two Mercedes-AMG GT4 Podiums Highlight Pirelli World Challenge Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Robinson Racing picked up a second-straight Mercedes-AMG GT4 podium finish Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) where Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams in two different Pirelli World Challenge Sprint series divisions capped a competitive weekend with a GT- class race win and second and third place finishes in GTS.

Following a successful Saturday at CTMP that saw local Canadian driver Daniel Morad score an overall and GT Pro class win in the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Shane Lewis finish third in GTS in the No. 72 Robinson Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, a different driver stepped up to get Mercedes-AMG to victory lane on Sunday.

After a season-best sixth-place GTS finish Saturday, Gar Robinson slipped his No. 74 Robinson Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 past his teammate Lewis for third place at the start of Sunday's GTS race.

Robinson defended the position to the finish – including a perfectly-executed restart with 10 minutes remaining – and was later elevated to second in the final results after the competitor that crossed the line in the runner-up position failed post-race technical inspection.

Saturday's third-place showing by Lewis and Robinson's second on Sunday are the first podium finishes for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in North American competition.

Lewis finished fourth in GTS Sunday in the No. 72 Mercedes-AMG GT4.

After his flag-to-flag win from the pole on the 2.458-mile CTMP circuit on Saturday, Morad started Sunday's GT race sixth overall and fifth in the GT Pro division. He kept the No. 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in lead-pack contention throughout the 50-minute sprint and was awarded the race's Hard Charger Award for a key pass at the halfway mark that moved him to fifth overall and fourth in GT Pro.

Morad frequently closed on the third-place GT Pro competitor in the late stages of the race but could never get quite close enough to pull off a pass for position before time ran out.

Next up in Pirelli World Challenge for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams is Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2018 SprintX GT and GTS championships at Lime Rock Park, this Memorial Day weekend, May 25 – 28.

Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: "Not the race I was looking for Sunday in front of my home crowd. Saturday was the highlight for sure with the win in the Mercedes-AMG GT3, but starting P6 Sunday it was always going to be difficult. At CTMP it's really hard to overtake, and with the aero-wake of these GT3 cars, it makes it nearly impossible to get close enough to make an attempt to overtake. Once you follow another car long enough your tires start to burn off. By the end I was just all arms and elbows and trying to hang on. I settled for fifth overall, good points, and overall a positive points gain on the championship leaders this weekend."

Gar Robinson, Driver – No. 74 Robinson Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: "The Mercedes-AMG GT4 is a driver's car and this is a driver's track. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is all about being smooth, having a good setup on the car and just having everything work in place. That gave us the perfect recipe for this track. We came from Trans Am, we did very well in that series, and we went into Pirelli World Challenge thinking we were going to dominate just as we did in Trans Am. Then we showed up at the St. Petersburg opener and kind of had our pants pulled down in front of everyone! It's just such a different game, this FIA-based format, and so many new things for us. We had to focus on more than one thing at one time. It is a totally different driving style. I think I am slowly coming into learning the driving style that it takes to win these races and move forward with my career. Even more seat time will give me even better results. I am pretty confident of that."

# # #