Bowmanville, ON – The FEL Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin (SCCC) and Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin (RCC) visited Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) for two races each on Labour Day weekend. Six different drivers reached the top step of the podium and champions were crowned in SCCC action, while Kenny Riedmann extended his points lead with two RCC wins.
SCCC Race One
Jack Polito (GT4), Anthony Martella (TCR) and Robert Cipriani-Detres (TCA) started on the pole in their respective classes, with Martella in the closest championship battle entering finale weekend, trailing Richard Boake by 24 points and needing both a strong result and issues for Boake.
On the opening lap, Cayden Goodridge passed Polito on the outside, in turn one, to take the lead. Polito then used the power of his Ford Mustang to pass Goodridge’s Porsche 718 Cayman on the Andretti straightaway. In TCR, Martella went a little wide in turn one, on the start, allowing Boake to take the top spot. Martella would drop to third behind Ruben Volt, who was making his series debut.
Cipriani-Detres took the advantage in TCA, as points leader Eric Kunz worked to save fuel in his Honda Civic, which can’t make it to the end at CTMP at full speed. Cipriani-Detres held the top spot until Lap 19, when he pulled beside the tire wall in turn two after smoke started coming from the back of his Subaru. Kunz took the lead and went on to the TCA win, clinching the class championship.
“It was a little bit of a roller coaster, I was saving fuel for most of it…I managed to stay with (Cipriani-Detres), then he started having technical issues and had to sadly pull off,” said Kunz. “We managed to pull off the victory, keeping Felix (Kwok) behind us. It’s a very emotional day; this is my first championship, so I don’t really think I have words to describe exactly how it feels but it feels pretty good.”
Martella took second in TCR on Lap 5, setting his sights on Boake. Boake went on to win by four tenths of a second over Martella in the caution-free race, which went 28 laps over its 40-minute time window.
“We got lucky Anthony had a little bit of a bobble into turn one, so we were able to grab the lead right away,” said Boake. “Then at that point, it was just managing the gap, Anthony was really quick but we always had a couple tenths in us when we needed. So, if we caught traffic and he would catch up, I was able to then pull enough of a gap. But the key here is always just managing tires, so we did that really well.”
Polito pulled away to take the GT4 win by 15 seconds, having already secured the class title entering the weekend. He also sported a different paint scheme at CTMP, honouring Comstock Racing Team, which ran Ford Mustangs and GTs in the 1960s.
“The start definitely wasn’t what I wanted, I reached the RPMs a little bit quicker than I thought and stuck in first there,” said Polito. “Other than that, the race went exactly how I wanted it to; it was a great race.”
SCCC Race Two
Polito (GT4), Martella (TCR) and Cipriani-Detres (TCA) led their classes to the green flag for the 2024 finale. The 40-minute timed race mirrored the weekend opener, going for 28 caution-free laps. Unlike the opener, a different trio of drivers took the top step of the podium.
In GT4, Polito pulled away to the lead before a fuel pressure issue sidelined him on Lap 23, ending his perfect CTMP record at 11 straight wins. Goodridge took over the top spot and went on to score his first career SCCC victory.
In TCR, Martella had a better start and held off Boake to win by a mere 0.192 seconds; Volt finished third, also within a second. Martella finished runner-up to Boake in the points standings, with his first career SCCC road course victory also representing the overall race win.
“I made a mistake yesterday on the first corner…I made sure to not make that mistake again,” said Martella. “Tried to save the tires throughout the race. Richard put me under pressure for most of the race…unfortunate to not come away with the championship, but overall, a second place in our first year in sports cars and my first time racing in this series and ever racing a car is a really good season.”
Cipriani-Detres claimed the TCA class victory, his first road course win in the series, finishing runner-up in points as well.
“At the start, I missed my shift, which caused me to drop back about three positions,” said Cipriani-Detres. “From then on, I just had to go heads down and focus on my marks…I managed to nurse my tires a little bit more (than Felix Kwok) and push a lot more towards the end, then I got past him once some TCR traffic came through and from then on I just managed my pace and brought home the win.”
Radical Cup Canada
Kenny Riedmann completed the weekend sweep in the Emzone Radical Cup Canada, winning both 40-minute contests; Owen Clarke and Chris Styles joined him on the race one podium, while Styles and Brady Clapham finished on the race two podium. Clapham was later penalized for avoidable contact, putting Clarke on the podium.
The wins helped Riedmann extend his lead in the points standings, while adding to his success at CTMP.
“It was a fantastic weekend, car had pace all weekend,” said Riedmann. “Kept managing the gap to second place and brought her home…I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid, with my dad, to watch races, and it’s a very special place for me.”
Daniel Earle scored the RCC Masters class victory in race one, while Robert Burgess took the race two win after an intense battle with Earle and Tim Sanderson. Burgess leads the points standings in the first season of the Masters class.
“We were battling for the lead the whole time, great respect amongst all the competitors,” said Burgess. “Tremendous battles on track; three-wide down the back straightaway, three-wide in turn ten. I’m just super happy that I came out on top.”
The RCC season concludes September 27-29 at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant.
