Bowmanville, ON – The FEL Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin (RCC) opened its season with two races during the Victoria Day SpeedFest weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). Owen Clarke and Kenny Riedmann split overall wins, while Tim Sanderson swept both races in the new Masters class.
Race One
Riedmann appeared to be the driver to beat in Saturday’s race one, leading the first 23 laps of the 40-minute timed race. But trouble struck on Lap 24, when Alana Carter spun in front of him, in turn five; Riedmann moved to the outside, but Carter’s No. 16 rolled into the right-rear of Riedmann’s No. 42, sending him spinning.
The damaged car couldn’t stay straight and Riedmann limped it back to pit road, finishing 12th and visibly frustrated.
Clarke took the lead and went on to grab the overall win by 39 seconds over a hard-charging Travis Hill, who gained five positions from early in the race.
“I was able to stay pretty consistent and me and Kenny were trading fast laps the whole time, so it was a really good race,” said Clarke. “The car was fantastic and unfortunately Kenny had a bit of an incident, so I was able to come home with the win.”
Clarke took over for the injured Jon Sobol for the final nine races last season, finishing fourth in the standings, despite missing the first three events. This year, Clarke is running full-time for Sobol’s JMJS Motorsports.
“I think we put on a good show last year and Jon bought a second car for me to run this year,” said Clarke. “I’m looking forward to racing a little closer to the front. I think we’re in good shape for that this year, our car is very fast.”
Sanderson finished on the podium, while recording the first ever win in the new Masters class, which is for drivers older than 40-years-old.
“It was a barrel of fun, I had a ride out there,” said Sanderson. “It was great competition, very clean driving, everybody was respecting each other’s position on the track. I enjoy driving with these guys…we were able to pull out a couple of moves there at the end and it was rewarding.”
Race Two
Riedmann recorded the fastest lap in race one, which allowed him to start on pole for Sunday’s race, with the damage fixed on his Radical SR3.
Riedmann took the lead entering turn one, while Clarke gained a couple of positions early on to move into second. The drivers stayed in that order for the remainder of the race, with Riedmann winning by just under six seconds. His first series victories came at CTMP last season, where he finished second in points to Jake Cowden.
“Really happy with that one, I needed this win; it feels good to come away from round one with at least one win,” said Riedmann. “I want to win the championship. Obviously, with the DNF yesterday, it’s going to be a little bit more difficult, but all I’ve got to do is go out and try to be at the front in every session and hopefully we can bring it home.”
Sanderson finished fifth overall, but was able to complete the sweep in the Masters class.
“(Today was) completely successful due to the fact that my lovely wife was here today and she wasn’t here yesterday,” said Sanderson, who’s wife was standing nearby. “A little harder driving today, the track was much slicker; difficulty turning the car in and getting on the throttle and had a little bit of a train of cars behind me, which I never like to be the guy causing that. But kept them all at bay and ended up finishing where we wanted to.”
Next up for the RCC is a pair of races at Calabogie Motorsports Park on June 21-23.
