Montréal (Québec), October 2, 2016.- On Sunday at Mirabel’s Circuit ICAR, drivers in the Super Production Challenge (SPC) series, presented by BFGoodrich® Tires Canada, were in action for their final outing of the 2016 season. Twenty drivers were all eager to end the season on a high note, and in the end, Guillaume Labbé and Jacques Gravel claimed the victories, with the latter also being crowned champion. In Compact Class, Gabriel Lacombe won the first race and Éric Bellemare the second but after an emotionally intense day, the duo composed of Kevin and Pascal Bastien went home with the championship title.
Qualifying in pole position, with more than three-tenths of a second on his closest competitor, Alexandre Lapierre (Honda Accord) performed a brilliant return to the series after having missed the previous races at the Autodrome St-Eustache in August. Behind him, the Top 5 consisted of Guillaume Labbé (VW Jetta GLI), Maxime Paquet (Hyundai Tiburon), Éric Laporte (Honda Civic) and Sébastien Lamontagne (Acura RSX), who only needed to start the race in order to solidify his Rookie of the Year title. His only rival for this title was Kurt Wittmer, who was entered with a Honda Fit in Compact Class,but the young driver did not partake in qualifying nor the ensuing races after heavily damaging his car during the practice session when oil on the track caused him to crash.
Starting under rainy skies, the first race saw Guillaume Labbé quickly take the lead, with Jacques Gravel on his heels.Slowed down after a spin, Gravel gave up the lead to Guillaume Labbé. After the regulation forty-five minutes, Labbécrossed the finish line more than 45 seconds ahead of the trio of Vincent Duchesne-Millette (Honda Civic), Éric LaporteandJacques Gravel (BMW 330i). Rounding out the top five were Sébastien Lamontagne and Alexandre Lapierre.
In Compact Class, Gabriel Lacombe (Honda Civic) returned with the victory following a battle with Yves Legris (Nissan Micra), who finished in second place ahead of Kevin Bastien (Mini Cooper), Mathieu Legris (Toyota Écho) and Paul Morin (Toyota Écho).
The second race marked the grand finale of the 2016 season and was probably one of the most spectacular ever seen in the SPC series. Multiple position changes took place among the quartet of drivers battling for the victory, including Gravel, Labbé, Marc Héroux (Toyota GT86) and Lapierre. Suffering from a slow leak after having made slight contact with Labbé,Lapierre had to relinquish his fight for the victory, leaving the other three to lead the pack. At the finish, Jacques Gravelhad earned the victory, and was subsequently crowned 2016 champion. Second and third in this particular race, Hérouxand Labbé’s final championship positions ended up being the reverse. Alexandre Lapierre finished fourth, ahead ofSylvain Laporte (Mini Cooper).
Teammates but rivals on the track, Éric Bellemare and Gabriel Lacombe did not take it easy in their quest for the Compact Class victory. This was once again a magnificent race, which was eventually won by Bellemare after passing Lacombe on the very last turn. Mathieu Legris completed the podium, ahead of Pascal Bastien (Mini Cooper) and Bobby Hamel (Nissan Micra). In the championship, the father/son duo of Pascal and Kevin Bastien were crowned victorious in front of Gabriel Lacombe, Mathieu and Julien Legris, and Éric Bellemare and Kurt Wittmer, who fell to fifth after forfeiting the last two races.
Jacques Gravel, Kevin and Pascal Bastien, and also Chambly Honda in the Dealers’ Championship and BMW in the Manufacturers’ Championship were the big winners of the 2016 season of the Super Production Challenge (SPC) series, presented by BFGoodrich® Tires Canada.
This season, the Super Production Challenge is supported by BFGoodrich® Tires Canada, Dimensions Doors and Windows, Fix Auto, NAPA C-Max, SportRadio.ca, Ste-Rose Honda, Auto Sport Québec, Pole-Position Magazine, DaDuf Médias, Ray Production, Autocourse.ca, Flagworld Communications, Perry Performance Compétition, Racing Radios International, Kart-O-Mania, Optik Design and Mixcom Communications.
For more information, visit the official series site at : superproductionchallenge.com.
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