• VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) is a historic, 3.2-mile motorsport venue in Alton, Virginia that has hosted a variety of series, including ChampCar, SCCA, and NASCAR.
• Two consecutive podiums for the #93 Pit+Paddock FL5 Civic Type R TCR were the perfect confidence builders for MMG and Honda Racing going into this race weekend.
• Calculated strategy, the perfect car setup, and keen race craft were valuable ingredients at VIR, helping put the #93 in contention for the win.
• Wittmer seized P1 with under five minutes to go in the race, sealing the first victory for the #93 Pit+Paddock FL5 Civic Type R TCR, MMG, and Honda Racing.

The IMSA broadcast announcers said it best: the fans were the real winners at VIR. Indeed, they had plenty to savor in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race—the top step would be left undecided until a few laps to go—and the battle for JDM supremacy between Hyundai and Honda remains an exciting prospect to follow well beyond the 2024 season. Although it seems like the #17 JDM-Miller Audi is still the favorite to win the overall TCR championship, Hyundai’s four-year run as the crowned manufacturer is another target to topple. Montreal Motorsport Group (MMG) and Pit+Paddock have been clawing ever closer to a race win in the lead Honda-supported outfit. We came to VIRginia International Raceway with every intent to take home our first win of the season and prove Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) is here to play at the front of the field.

AS IT HAPPENED

Dai Yoshihara qualified a well-earned P4 in the early Saturday morning hours. The Hyundais were undoubtedly strong here, but MMG felt like our race pace would allow us to climb through the field. By 1:48, Yoshihara’s name rose upward into P4. He’d continue to put pressure on the #52 Audi as time ticked past the 30-minute mark and eventually earned P3 once the Audi dove into the pits.

The first double yellow flags came out after the #44 Porsche in GS became stricken with a fuel delivery issue. After the pits opened, we saw a flurry of TCR combatants—three front-running Hyundais and Yoshihara—dive in for service. Yoshihara kept the #93 Pit+Paddock FL5 Civic Type R TCR in contention during his race-starting stint, but it’d be up to Wittmer to take the car home from there. Once the green flags waved again at 0:48 to go, Wittmer resumed race duties in P4.

More drama would be right around the corner. An Aston Marin tussle in GS brought out another full course caution with 46 minutes to go and allowed Porsche to assume the top 3 positions in the class. Meanwhile, when the green flag dropped, the top five in TCR were only separated by 1.2 seconds—Wittmer found himself in P3 chasing the Bryan Autosport #98 Hyundai and the Victor Gonzalez Racing #99 Hyundai ahead.

As time ticked down, Wittmer kept narrowing the gap to the front runners and seized P2 at the 23-minute mark. On the pit wall, you could see MMG leaning forward with anticipation, helping will Wittmer toward the front of the pack. Calculated strategy, the perfect car setup, keen race craft, and a healthy dose of Wittmer’s magic helped bring him within 0.3 seconds as we approached 10 minutes to go. The #99 and he would start trading places at the 8-minute mark before Wittmer ultimately seized P1 with under 5 minutes of racing action left. He’d use the remaining time to pull out a 1.5-second lead to seal victory for good.

Yoshihara, Wittmer, and the team’s effort marked the first win of the season for Honda, which became the 17th of the 18 IMSA manufacturers to earn a victory in 2024. It’s also the first win for the Civic FL5 model.

FROM THE DRIVERS

“There’s nothing like standing on the top step of the podium,” confessed Yoshihara. “[Watching Wittmer] was the longest 30 minutes for me. I knew he could pass, but didn’t know when.” Yoshihara was grateful to his co-driver for taking the #93 Pit+Paddock FL5 Civic Type R TCR to victory after the race concluded, but Wittmer was quick to comment that the result was a team effort; Yoshihara’s stint, Montreal Motorsport Group’s talent, and support from Honda Racing, JAS Motorsport, and all of our sponsors— ARP, ENEOS, Turn 14 Distribution, Mishimoto, Whiteline, and DBA—helped make this inaugural win possible.

“It was a chess game. I picked my battles and went for it,” Wittmer said. As IMSA noted, it was a case of the student becoming the teacher. He credited Matt Campbell—the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) driver for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship—for using the same tactics to beat Wittmer in the Bathurst 12 Hour race. “He did that and he taught me a lesson that day,” Wittmer revealed. “I was pumped to try it and it worked.”

MMG’s driver pairing continues to thrive together and it’s clear that Yoshihara and Wittmer have a bond that’s worth preserving for IMSA seasons to come.

FROM THE TEAM

It goes without saying that collecting its first win in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series was special. The MMG team is full of winners and sought to aggregate its experience into a North American series that would help put its native Canada on the motorsport map. A podium three-peat—including the victory here at VIR—certainly helps the team’s mission. With help from Honda Racing and JAS Motorsport, they’ve made immense strides to fully understand the FL5 platform and extract the most from it during every race weekend. Like every successful racing team, the joy from victory has only helped fuel them to work even harder to prepare for the last couple of rounds in the 2024 season.

The next Michelin Pilot Challenge race heads to Indy for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120 on Saturday, September 22.

Thank you to ARP, ENEOS, Turn 14 Distribution, Mishimoto, Whiteline, and DBA for supporting Pit+Paddock’s inaugural IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign with Montreal Motorsport Group.

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