BOWMANVILLE, Ont. (1 July 2019) – Mustang Sampling Racing will be looking to get back to the top of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium in Sunday’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the seventh race of the 2019 season.
Filipe Albuquerque and Joao Barbosa will share the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R for the first time on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit. They are coming off a sixth-place finish in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, and are looking to regain the magic that saw them win on the streets of Long Beach in April.
“Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is an old-fashioned track with old tarmac and fast corners,” said Albuquerque, who finished fourth in last year’s event, his lone race at the circuit formerly known as Mosport Park.
“I think it’s going to be very interesting this year with the new Michelin tire, and we’ll be going even faster through those corners,” Albuquerque said. “Last year, we were lacking a little in top speed. This year, we have a little more balance. It’s a hard track to pass, and with the traffic, it’s kind of wild. Hopefully, we can do a little bit better than last year, and I’m looking forward to it.”
Albuquerque co-drove with Christian Fittipaldi in the 2018 race, with Barbosa sidelined from the Watkins Glen International and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park events due to an injury suffered in training on his bicycle.
“Definitely, it was tough to watch the Watkins Glen and Mosport races from pit road last year,” Barbosa said. “I’m looking forward to going back to Mosport. I think our Cadillac is going to be quick there. It’s a very fast track. It’s one of those real old-school tracks that demands a lot from the team and the driver.”
Mustang Sampling Racing’s best finish at CTMP was in 2016, when Barbosa and Fittipaldi finished second after starting fourth. The two drivers took fourth in 2014 – when a left-rear puncture 20 laps into the race hurt their chances. They led 17 laps and finished fifth in 2015, and started and finished sixth in 2017.
“It’s a track that’s been good to us, but we’ve never been able to capitalize on the final result,” said Barbosa. “Hopefully, this year we will be able to put everything together and come back with a great finish.”
Sunday’s race will be televised live on NBC, starting at 1 p.m. ET.