Bowmanville, ON, (August 26, 2018) – This weekend, CTCC presented by Pirelli was attending another major event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, the Chevrolet Silverado 250. The drivers’ lineup counted 18 contenders eager to take on the four-kilometre circuit and presented a remarkable performance for the spectators.
CTCC has welcomed many new race car drivers this season, and this weekend continued with the same trend. Two new entrants joined the field in the GT Cup class: Amir Farahmand from Toronto, ON with the No. 25 Outline Motorsports BMW M4 and Martin Harvey from Berthierville, QC with the No. 80 Wingho Racing Porsche GT3.
As the GT Cup class continues to grow with an exceptional diversity of exotic sports cars, both drivers had to adjust to the unique setup of the Championship and manage speed differential. In Friday’s qualifying session, it didn’t take long for Harvey to make an impression. This long-time participant in the Canadian Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup series snatched the overall and GT Cup pole position, besting the time set by the No. 72 Automobile Etcetera Ferrari 458 of Mario Guerin by a surprising 0.719 seconds.
In the weekend’s opening 40-minute contest, Harvey immediately launched into the race lead and pulled out a substantial advantage over the pursuing No. 72 Ferrari 458. Slowing down in the final laps, it was the Porsche leading the Ferrari to the checkered flag as Harvey recorded the GT Cup class win by 2.396 seconds in his CTCC debut.
“I started on the pole, and I stayed on course the whole time. The last two laps, I got off the gas. I was winning anyway, I didn’t want to make a mistake,” explained Harvey. He added, “This is very good racing. The guys are safe to race with, and very safe to pass. I like CTCC with its four classes. I get to race with Ferraris, Audis, BMWs. It’s all fun.”
In Saturday afternoon’s weekend finale, the overall and GT Cup finishing order was reversed with Guerin crossing the stripe 17.378 seconds in front of Harvey. The Porsche driver had been pressuring Guerin intensely throughout the middle portion of the race, but unfortunately pushed too hard, a spin in turn two on lap 21 costing his time, but not a position, in the running order.
Series rookie Ethan Simioni padded his lead atop the GT Sport class rankings with a victory in Friday’s opening round, but the driver of the No. 58 Policaro Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 was relegated to a runner-up result in the second contest, uninterruptedly fighting with both No. 66 and No. 55 M&S Racing Honda Civic Type R, often trapped between Gary and Tom Kwok. At the end of Round 10, Simioni got away, finally chasing the No. 8 Speedstar Audi R8 GT4 LMS of Malcolm Strachan to the checkered flag.
In the Super Touring class, Marc Raymond (No. 27 Policaro Motorsport Porsche Cayman) swept to back-to-back victories, with Scott Giannou at the controls of the No. 86 Blanchet Motorsport Toyota 86 earning a pair of second place results.
Claremont, ON’s Paul Joakim was the only driver to rival Touring Class point leader Shawn Little this weekend, the driver of the No. 12 Can-Saf Mazda narrowing his point deficit with twin wins in the penultimate CTCC event. Nevertheless, Little maintains a healthy advantage in the standings and will be looking to secure the championship for the Velocity Motorsports Club team in the season finale.
CTCC presented by Pirelli will conclude the 2018 campaign and crown their class champions in a one-day, doubleheader event (September 29) on the airport circuit of ICAR Mirabel.
RACE RESULTS:
Round 9:
GT Cup: 1. #80 Martin Harvey, 2. #72 Mario Guerin, 3. #54 Rob Metka.
GT Sport: 1. #58 Ethan Simioni, 2. #55 Tom Kwok, 3. #47 Alain Lauziere.
Super Touring: 1. #27 Marc Raymond, 2. #86 Scott Giannou.
Touring: 1. #12 Paul Joakim, 2. #57 Shawn Little.
Round 10:
GT Cup: 1. #72 Mario Guerin, 2. #80 Martin Harvey, 3. #54 Rob Metka.
GT Sport: 1. #8 Malcolm Strachan, 2. #58 Ethan Simioni, 3. #55 Tom Kwok.
Super Touring: 1. #27 Marc Raymond, 2. #86 Scott Giannou.
Touring: 1. #12 Paul Joakim, 2. #57 Shawn Little.
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About CTCC
CTCC presented by Pirelli is a Sports Car Racing Championship and a leader in Canadian motorsports. It provides race fans with close and exciting competition between some of Canada’s fastest race car drivers. CTCC takes pride in the fact that it is Canadian owned and operated, and that it is one of the longest-running professional sports car series in Canada. Notably, amongst the hundreds of drivers that have competed in the championship, CTCC has helped to further the career of some of the best international race car drivers.
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