Pit+Paddock Bags Final Podium at Road Atlanta To End the Michelin Pilot Challenge Season on a High

Photography: George Bucur

  • Yoshihara, Wittmer, and the Montreal Motorsport Group have made an outstanding debut in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, scoring multiple pole position honors, three podiums, and one win.
  • The #93 Pit+Paddock Civic Type R TCR has been the dominant Honda throughout the 2024 season, helping reiterate the marque’s strong motorsport history.
  • After starting the race in P5, Yoshihara and Wittmer seized every opportunity throughout the two-hour contest to cross the finish line in P3.
  • Montreal Motorsport Group and company finished its inaugural IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season P4 in the overall championship.

A myriad of quotes are fitting to describe Montreal Motorsport Group’s (MMG) inaugural year in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge. Still, perhaps the most fitting is: “It ain’t over til it’s over,” one of a few gems from American baseball legend Yogi Berra. He first spoke the phrase about baseball’s 1973 National League pennant race. His team—the New York Mets—appeared well out of contention but managed to win the division title at the end of the season. Sure, MMG didn’t copy this feat to the “T,” but consider that baseball has 162 games per season while the IMPC championship calendar only has ten. To compare apples to apples, the #93 Pit+Paddock Civic Type R TCR scored 1,500 points during the second half of the season—the second-highest tally in the class and a shocking 200 more than the series champion. The Fox Factory 120 at Road Atlanta was a fitting battleground to nab the remaining points on the table.

AS IT HAPPENED

Yoshihara qualified the #93 Pit+Paddock Civic Type R TCR P5 for the Friday race behind four Hyundais. As the green flag waved, Yoshihara immediately went to work and stole P4. He’d have to stall his momentum forward soon after; contact between the #59 and #57 in GS would bring out the race’s first full course caution. The front-runner fighting in GS continued after race action resumed at 1:43. A three-wide shuffle between the #28 Porsche, #46 Aston Martin, and #50 Supra was a clear sign that everyone was putting everything on the table for the season finale. Full course cautions at 1:17 (and again just before the race’s midpoint) triggered a flurry of pit stops, including Yoshihara, who swapped driver duties with Wittmer during service.

All-out racing resumed with 54 minutes to go, and Wittmer took back the P4 they’d lost during the pit stop race. He held P4 for most of his stint, keeping the front runners in striking distance should they get too friendly with each other in the closing stages. With under two minutes to go, the top five were separated by less than five seconds. It looked like that’s where we’d finish until the #99 Hyundai dove into the pits, devoid of fuel for the last lap. Wittmer’s persistence paid off, and he inherited podium privileges to finish the Michelin Pilot Challenge season on a high note.

FROM THE DRIVERS

Bouncing back was the goal once the team landed in Atlanta for the last race of the season, and Yoshihara and Wittmer made sure to use every minute—with the team and behind the wheel—to prepare accordingly. The P3 result was exactly what the team needed: a fitting “thank you” for all of the hard work throughout the season and the perfect bookmark before inking another chapter together going into 2025. As I mentioned earlier, MMG was one of the most successful teams during the second half of the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, and another full season with the team this dialed-in would surely make it a top contender.

“It’s hard to sum up this year in enough words; there’s so much that we have achieved together as a team. Even coming from drifting, I never expected to form a bond with another driver like I have with Karl. I think what we have, with this team especially, is really special. And I’m hoping we get to prove that on the track next year. Thank you so much to all of our sponsors for helping make this year happen.”

Indeed, special may be an understatement. Montreal Motorsport Group is no stranger to talent, and it’d be the first to corroborate Yoshihara’s assertments—both as individuals and as a deadly pair.

FROM THE TEAM

It’s often an oversimplification to say that teams win together and lose together because there’s a lot more that goes into it than just those outcomes. Although the MMG collective has an impressive resume to stand on, its learning curve to develop the #93 Pit+Paddock Civic Type R TCR was incredibly impressive. After a couple of really good results during the second half of the season, I distinctly remember asking about the “secret sauce” that was helping drive its success. Benjamin Distaulo, MMG’s co-owner and Team Manager, was quick to point out that there wasn’t any sauce, just good old-fashioned hard work, experience, and trust that has helped propel the team up the championship ladder this year.

MMG’s collective experience always made them a threat in the paddock, but until the season began, it was an unknown entity. At the end of the year, Montreal Motorsport has emphatically proven just how quickly it could contend at the top. To everyone who’s followed our IMSA journey so far—and to the masses who have cheered Dai on from his drifting days to his forays into professional wheel-to-wheel racing, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Indeed, the 2024 Michelin Pilot Challenge season should be considered the prologue in MMG’s future in IMSA, and we’re going to try our hardest to make sure that story lives on in 2025 and beyond.

Thank you to ARPENEOSTurn 14 DistributionMishimotoWhiteline, and DBA for supporting Pit+Paddock’s inaugural IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign with Montreal Motorsport Group.


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