Heart of Racing secure second overall pole position, but forced to recover after opening lap contact at CTMP
- RACERS
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham secured their second consecutive overall pole position before an opening-lap collision dropped them to the back of the GS field. Despite the setback, the Heart of Racing's all female duo produced a great recovery through the pack to fight for the top five again, before a mechanical black flag denied them a deserved top-ten finish.
Hannah Greenemeier and Hannah Grisham secured their second consecutive overall pole position before an opening-lap collision dropped them to the back of the GS field. Despite the setback, the Heart of Racing's all female duo produced a great recovery through the pack to fight for the top five again, before a mechanical black flag denied them a deserved top-ten finish.
After an impressive first half of their rookie IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign, Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier arrived at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park looking to continue the momentum they had built with the Heart of Racing Team. Sharing the #26 Aston Martin Vantage GT4, the duo had consistently battled among the leading GS contenders, displaying front-running pace from their debut at Daytona before overcoming setbacks at Sebring to secure a seventh-place finish at Laguna Seca.
They continued to demonstrate their growing competitiveness at Mid-Ohio despite an unfortunate late-race caution dropping them outside the top ten, before enjoying a breakthrough weekend at Watkins Glen, where Grisham made history by securing an overall pole position and led the opening half of the race, on their way to another top-six finish.
Round six of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season brought the championship north of the border to the legendary Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport. One of North America's fastest and most demanding road courses, the historic venue, once also home to Formula 1 Grands Prix, features an unforgiving high-speed layout where commitment and precision are rewarded, while overtaking opportunities remain difficult.
The Heart of Racing duo immediately focused on getting up to speed at the demanding circuit during practice. Greenemeier posted the team's benchmark in the opening session with a lap of 1:23.693, placing the Aston Martin 25th overall, before Grisham found additional pace in FP2 with a 1:23.552 to climb to 21st.
The team's true speed, however, would emerge in qualifying. Greenemeier took qualifying duties aboard the #26 Aston Martin for the 15-minute GS session. The session was interrupted almost immediately by a red flag after Koch's Toyota stopped on circuit, freezing the clock with Greenemeier having completed only a single timed lap of 1:28.4, placing her 15th.
With just three minutes remaining once the green flag returned, every driver had effectively one final opportunity. Greenemeier delivered under pressure: her first flying lap after the restart vaulted the Aston Martin to provisional pole with a 1:22.998. While several rivals briefly improved, Greenemeier still had one final attempt available. Producing purple sector times, she pieced together a superb lap of 1:22.461 to reclaim the top spot and secure overall pole position.
It marked back-to-back pole positions for the all-female Heart of Racing pairing after Grisham's historic pole at Watkins Glen, with Greenemeier becoming the second member of the crew to place the Aston Martin at the front of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge field.
Sunday's two-hour race began with Greenemeier leading the 35-car GS field away from pole position. She made a clean getaway, but Paul Holton carried speed around the outside of Turn 1 to snatch the lead. Before Greenemeier could settle into second place, disaster struck.
Approaching Turn 5, Chaves attempted an overly optimistic move on the inside, making contact with the Aston Martin and spinning Greenemeier around. The pole sitter was helpless as the field streamed past, dropping all the way to the back of the order while a full-course caution was immediately deployed.
When racing resumed at the end of lap two, Greenemeier found herself 26th in class with a monumental recovery ahead. She immediately set about carving through the field; within a single green-flag lap she had already climbed to 19th, passing five competitors. She continued slicing through the midfield, gaining another place on lap five before dispatching the Circle H Racing Aston Martin, Samantha Tan's BMW and Scully's CSM Porsche in quick succession.
By lap eight Greenemeier had already climbed to 14th.
She then caught McAlister's CarBahn BMW, while recording the fastest second sector overall.
As Bob Michaelian's Mustang began slowing with technical issues, the team anticipated a caution and elected to pit Greenemeier under green-flag conditions, refuelling while keeping her behind the wheel.
Initially the gamble appeared risky when the race remained green, dropping the Aston Martin back to 25th. One lap later, however, a major incident at Turn 4 involving Scott Thomson and Tally's TCR Cupra brought out another lengthy full-course caution while barriers were repaired and debris cleared.
Pit lane opened on lap 21, allowing the remainder of the GS field to make their scheduled stops.
Heart of Racing called Greenemeier back for a short fuel top-off, executing a quicker service while again keeping the American behind the wheel. The strategy vaulted the Aston Martin into eighth place in GS, with several rivals still needing to complete their full pit sequence.
Following the restart with just over 71 minutes remaining, Greenemeier resumed her recovery from seventh position. Another caution interrupted proceedings after the #37 CarBahn BMW of Shields stopped on track, but once racing resumed Greenemeier continued moving forward.
Capitalising on the alternative strategy as competitors made their first scheduled stops, she overtook Merrill for sixth place before climbing into the top five by lap 33 as more frontrunners cycled through pit lane. Having started the race from the back after the opening-lap spin, the #26 Aston Martin had now fought its way back into podium contention.
The final round of pit stops would ultimately be crucial. Greenemeier brought the Aston Martin to pit lane and handed the car over to Hannah Grisham, who rejoined 13th as the final pit sequence unfolded.
Grisham immediately continued the recovery, climbing into tenth place by lap 41 and looking poised to secure another top-ten finish. Unfortunately, another setback struck: race control displayed the mechanical black flag for bodywork damage, forcing Grisham to pit again so the issue could be assessed. The unscheduled stop dropped the Aston Martin back to 18th and effectively ended any realistic hopes of salvaging the top-ten result the team had fought so hard to recover.
Undeterred, Grisham resumed her charge. Making efficient progress through the remaining TCR traffic, she consistently lapped faster than much of the GS field while steadily reducing the gap to the cars ahead. She closed to within a second of Jaxon Bell before another incident ahead involving Bill Auberlen and Murillo resulted in a drive-through penalty for Auberlen, allowing Grisham to gain further ground.
Avoiding the incident, she climbed to 15th by lap 66 and continued closing on the next group of competitors. However, with the race remaining green to the finish, there was insufficient time to erase the remaining gap.
Grisham took the chequered flag in 15th place, a result that failed to reflect the speed displayed throughout the race. After securing a second consecutive overall pole position and recovering from last place into the top five before the final stops, the Heart of Racing duo demonstrated once again that they possess genuine front-running pace capable of fighting for podiums.
Following six rounds, the all-female Heart of Racing crew sits eighth in the GS championship standings on 1,180 points as the season heads to another iconic North American circuit.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge returns on 1-2 August at Road America, where Greenemeier and Grisham will look to convert their increasingly consistent front-running speed into the podium finish that has repeatedly been within reach.