Kurt Wittmer returned to full-time Super Production Challenge competition this season, winning his third career championship. Wittmer started the year by sweeping the opening three races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), where the weather helped give him an advantage. He says that he enjoys the feeling of being on the edge and using unorthodox racing lines to find grip.
“Any time it rains, I’m the happiest guy in the world,” said Wittmer. “A lot of people get scared of the rain; I absolutely love it. Especially in the front-wheel-drive turbo car, at CTMP. I had all the odds on my side and I knew that, if I didn’t win, I would’ve been mad at myself.”
Wittmer then recorded a win and two runner-up finishes at Shannonville Motorsport Park, despite some damage to his car; he says that every title contender seemed to have issues that weekend. The next two events provided a bigger challenge for Wittmer, where he had just one podium at both the CTMP sports car weekend and the GP3R.
“These big weekends, especially IMSA, you have my brothers there and my family; it wasn’t pressure, but I wanted to do good and I think I just started pushing way too hard and I lost all my tires,” said Wittmer. “GP3R, it’s known to have brake issues and I knew this car would have brake issues. Every single race, by the 15-minute mark, I had no more brakes, so I had to tone down to 60-70 percent of my pace.”
Wittmer entered the finale, at Circuit ICAR, knowing that he only needed solid results; he finished second and fourth to clinch the Super Production class title. In his first season with Lombardi Racing, he says that this championship is more rewarding than the other two.
PRODUCTION
Scott Nicol, Shawn Little and rookie Blake Kelley combined to win the Production class championship in the Super Production Challenge.
Kelley took the wheel for the opener at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), where he stalled the car under poor weather conditions, being hit from behind during the standing start. Repairs were made and he rebounded for a third-place in race two, before picking up the class win in his third series start.
Kelley had two wins and a runner-up at Shannonville Motorsport Park, where he says the competition was close all weekend. He split the car with Nicol at CTMP, before Little made the start in GP3R race one. It was then time for Kelley to make his street course debut, with prior experience limited to just two laps on a bicycle.
“I think that race was the hardest race of the entire year for me,” said Kelley. “There were a couple of times where I had the car in a four-wheel drift, just because I was trying to push it as hard as I could to keep up with everyone else, all while learning the layout.”
Kelley says that he had more confidence in race three, but he made a mistake and had to take a runoff; he finished third and seventh at GP3R. The team entered the finale trailing Sylvain Laporte by 25 points; Kelley was unable to attend, but followed the live timing closely from his brother’s wedding. Nicol won both races at Circuit ICAR to claim the championship by a mere three points.
The Velocity Motorsports Club team split the ride to give more drivers an opportunity. Kelley won three races in 10 starts, Nicol won all three of his starts and Little made one appearance.
COMPACT
Cameron Nabert had a dominant rookie season, finishing on the class podium in 11 of 14 races to win the Compact championship in the Super Production Challenge.
With some past road racing experience under his belt, Nabert started the season by winning seven of the first nine races between Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Shannonville Motorsport Park. He says that his karting experience helped him adjust to the smaller cars in the Compact class, including his Nissan Micra.
“I was able to push the limits of the car, it was an easy car to drive, and just being super confident with my abilities behind-the-wheel and carrying as much speed as possible was massive to my success,” said Nabert. “Just being able to drive the car deeper into the corners, carrying my momentum…being very efficient with the car made a huge difference.”
Next up was the GP3R, where Nabert says the track is hard on brakes, creating the challenge to get the braking points right. He focused on championship conservation, trying to stay out of trouble and bring home a clean car; he finished fifth, third and sixth in the races.
The season then concluded at Circuit ICAR, where Nabert was able to get some information from his Fawn Group Motorsports teammate Shelby Mills, who was running in the Super Production class, to help him secure the pole and clinch the championship during qualifying. Nabert won the first race and finished fourth in the finale.
