CTCC: Heat wave and great battles at ICAR Sundown

MIRABEL, QC – The weather was clear and sunny for the ICAR Sundown in Mirabel, QC. Rounds 5 and 6 of the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC), presented by Continental Tire were fought hard on the unique airport layout at Circuit ICAR.

Practice: All drivers took to the track early Saturday morning to get some heat in their cars and find the best lines around the track. Paul Dargis had an unfortunate engine failure in his #35 Honda Civic which ended his weekend. Sasha led the times in Super Class in his Hyundai Genesis Coupe #14 while Adam Isman surprised all with the top times in Touring Class with the MINI Cooper S JCW #47. Isman was competing in his first CTCC event. Nick Wittmer was fastest in his Honda Fit #91 in B-Spec Class.

Qualifying: The qualifying session took place just before lunch but a problem with the timing line meant that all of the times could not be validated. The grid for Round 5 would be set by the current points standings. John Bondar, President of CTCC, noted that, “this was the first time ever that we have had to grid based on points.”

Round 5 (Saturday, June 23): Sasha Anis lead the field at the green flag followed by Benjamin Distaulo in his Honda Civic #6, Philip Fayer in the #3 Solstice and Remy Audette in the #12 Acura RSX-S. Each set fastest laps throughout the race. Anis finished in first with Distaulo in second and Fayer in third. Michel Sallenbach in his MINI Cooper #46 and Damon Sharpe behind the wheel of the Honda Civic Si #84 drove away from the other Touring Class competitors and raced hard to the finish. Sallenbach’s fastest lap was only six thousandths of a second ahead of Sharpe. Jacques Belanger finished in third in his Honda Civic # 29. Nick Wittmer and Simon Dion-Viens in their Honda Fits traded places with Wittmer finishing in front following by Dion-Viens and James Bergeron. Bergeron’s third place was Mazda’s first podium in B-Spec in.

Round 6 (Sunday, June 24): Round 6 brought and epic battle in Super Class. Sasha Anis lead Benjamin Distaulo from the start but Distaulo pressured Anis at every moment. Distaulo got a run on Anis a few times but just couldn’t get by. Anis stated, “I just kept my head down and focused on the track and job at hand.” Ironically Distaulo’s fastest lap was two second quicker than Sasha’s and it was his best finish of the season. Fayer kept Anis and Distaulo in sight but couldn’t move up to challenge them. There was also an incredible fight in Touring Class between Jacques Belanger, Michel Sallenbach and Adman Isman. Belanger lead from the beginning as Sallenbach and Isman traded places in an effort to get by him. Isman said, “I had a chance to get by Jacques but decided to wait until the next lap. I should have went for it when I had the first chance.” At the checkered it was Belanger followed by Sallenbach and Isman. Bélanger commented, “It was a clean and hard race and I had to be clear about the job at hand.” Sallenbach noted, “Adam is a fantastic driver and I can’t wait to see him in CTCC again.” Nick Wittmer lead the B-Spec Class from the start and finished in first. Simon Dion-Viens was second with James Bergeron in third.

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