IMPC: Maddie Aust finishes P9 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
- RACERS
- Jul 14
- 4 min read
Maddie Aust's run of top-six finishes in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR championship came to an end at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where fuel strategy ultimately prevented the Bryan Herta Autosport duo from extending their streak despite another clean and competitive race.
Maddie Aust's remarkable run of top-six finishes in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR championship came to an end at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where a fuel strategy gamble ultimately prevented the Bryan Herta Autosport duo from extending their streak despite another clean and competitive race.
Maddie Aust arrived at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park among the leading contenders in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR championship after an exceptionally consistent opening half of the season.
In her second campaign with Bryan Herta Autosport, Aust continued to impress alongside teammate Mark Wilkins in the #98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR, becoming one of the category's most reliable pairings. After narrowly missing the podium with fourth-place finishes at both Daytona and Sebring, the duo secured their maiden podium of the season at Mid-Ohio before adding another solid top-six finish at Watkins Glen.
Having finished inside the top six in every race after five rounds, Aust headed to the fast and flowing Canadian circuit sitting third in the championship standings and looking to maintain that consistency while continuing to challenge for podium finishes.
The sixth round of the season took the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge across the Canadian border to the historic Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Formerly known as Mosport, the iconic venue is one of North America's fastest road courses and a former Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit, with a flowing sequence of high-speed corners.
Aust took qualifying duties in the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai. She steadily improved throughout the short session, lowering her benchmark by almost a full second to record a best lap of 1:24.0, securing ninth place in the TCR class and providing a solid starting position for the two-hour contest.
When the race got underway on Sunday afternoon, Aust made a clean launch from ninth in class and safely negotiated the opening corners. Chaos erupted almost immediately in the GS field when Chaves' Toyota Supra made contact with the pole-sitting Aston Martin of Hannah Greenemeier, spinning the Heart of Racing machine and triggering an early Full Course Yellow as the field took avoiding action.
Aust kept out of trouble throughout the incident and retained ninth place before the race was neutralized.
Racing resumed at the end of lap two, and Aust settled into her rhythm. Running between two fellow Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundais, she held ninth place while Bergstein ran just ahead in the #18 Hyundai and teammate Brown followed behind in the #76 machine. Victor Gonzalez Racing's Tally soon joined the battle, creating an intense four-car fight in the heart of the TCR field.
Although Tally eventually worked his way past, dropping Aust to tenth, the young American remained calm and continued to deliver consistent lap times in the 1:26 range while preserving the car for the longer race ahead.
Another Full Course Yellow arrived on lap 11 after a major accident involving Scott Thomson and Tally's Cupra at Turn 4. The lengthy neutralization, required for barrier repairs and debris cleanup, opened the strategic window for the race.
When pit lane opened on lap 21, Bryan Herta Autosport executed a clean stop from seventh place in class. Aust handed over the Hyundai to Canadian Mark Wilkins, who emerged fifth in class as differing pit strategies shuffled the order.
The race briefly returned to green before another caution was required after the #37 CarBahn BMW became stranded on circuit.
Aust's clean and mistake-free opening stint had kept the Hyundai inside the top ten and positioned Wilkins to attack during the second half of the race.
Following the restart with just over an hour remaining, Wilkins was running fourth in class as one of the sister Bryan Herta Autosport entries completed an additional pit stop.
Approaching the final fuel window, the #98 team elected to make one of the earlier pit stops among the TCR contenders. Wilkins returned to the circuit tenth in class, hoping to reach the finish while several rivals attempted to stretch their strategy.
As the closing stages unfolded, Tyler Gonzalez moved ahead before Wilkins reclaimed a position over Pegram, continuing to circulate in tenth while monitoring the fuel strategies of those ahead.
Ultimately, however, the alternative strategy employed by many of the front-running TCR teams proved successful, with the leading group managing to reach the finish without requiring another stop.
Wilkins continued to push to the flag and inherited one final position when Tyler Gonzalez's Cupra slowed with fuel issues on the final lap, allowing the #98 Hyundai to take the chequered flag in ninth place.
Although the result marked the first race of the season in which Aust and Wilkins failed to finish inside the top six, it nevertheless represented another cleanly executed weekend. Aust once again completed a composed opening stint without mistakes, handing over a competitive car that remained in contention throughout the race, while the strategy simply fell on the wrong side of a closely contested race.
Following six rounds, Aust and Wilkins now sit fourth in the TCR championship standings with 1,580 points as the series heads next to another classic North American circuit, Road America, on 1-2 August, where they will look to return to the front of the field and resume their podium challenge.
