Bowmanville (ON), September 1, 2013 – Teams were prepared for intense racing this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, as the season reaches the end with one more event to go. This weekend was the opportunity for them to either win positions in the points standing or strengthen their lead.
Early Saturday morning, drivers got on the track for the first qualifying session. Two new drivers joined the pack, Michael DelleDonne and Rocco Marciello, both driving a BMW 330i. The clouds were menacing, making everyone fear rain but the teams were prepared for all scenarios and it was all about strategic preparation.
Bob Attrell grabbed the pole in Super Class right in front of his teammate Jonathan Rashleigh who was 0.04 seconds faster than Scott Nicol who finished third. In Touring, first position went to Damon Sharpe, followed by his teammate Michael DiMeo, both driving a Honda Civic Si. In his Mini Cooper S JCW, Michel Sallenbach managed to get third position on the starting grid of Round 11. As for B-Spec Class, Karl Wittmer was faster than his rival Normand Boyer which allowed him to get his hands on pole position.
The place was packed with fans, thrilled to watch Round 11.
Around 3pm, the green flag was waved allowing the drivers to step on the gas and race! It was a tough race but the drivers had fun, especially Jonathan Rashleigh who won in Super Class for the first time followed by Bob Attrell and Scott Nicol in third position.
Damon Sharpe won the race in Touring Class.
”This is an emotional win for me as exactly 20 years ago I had a very bad crash here in Mosport,” Sharpe said at the podium ceremony.
His partner DiMeo, once again followed right behind and Michel Sallenbach completed the podium trio and commented, ” I’m going as fast as the car can go. My lap times are good but the car handling is not as good as it was at previous events.”
In B-Spec Class, two very happy drivers were on the podium. It probably was the most intense battling of all season. Karl Wittmer said he had so much fun exchanging positions all race long with Boyer. Karl won first position and Boyer second position.
On Sunday morning, all cars got on the track for the second qualifying session. In Super Class, the pole position was won by Scott Nicol, in Touring Class by Damon Sharpe and in B-Spec by Karl Wittmer.
On Sunday afternoon, Round 12 was very entertaining as several battles were happening at once. Scott Nicol had the pole position and finished first in Super Class. In second place was Alex Healy and in third Sergio Pasian.
In Touring Class, Damon Sharpe lost his pole position due to mechanical issues and finished third, allowing his teammate DiMeo to win with Michel Sallenbach in second place. Damon Sharpe hoped to finish in front of Sallenbach in order to reduce the point difference between them, but finishing third caused Sallenbach to increase his lead from nine points to 14. However, nothing is decided yet as the next event can still change everything.
In B-Spec Class, once again Wittmer and Boyer had a lot of fun, towards the end Boyer was leading but on the last lap Wittmer took back the lead and finished first and won the B-Spec Class Championship.
Rounds 13 and 14 will be held at Calabogie on September 6, 7 and 8 where the Super and Touring Class Championships will be decided.
About CTCC: The Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) presented by Continental Tire is the only truly Canadian professional road racing series and it showcases race cars based on their original stock street version. The entry-level B-Spec Class introduces a sub-compact car category with a stock engine and strictly controlled modifications; the Touring Class features cars with minimal modifications, while Super Class machines have powerful and heavily modified engines and advanced aerodynamics. All three classes compete at the same time on the track and challenge for supremacy in their class.
Experience the rush of touring car racing!
Information: Alexandra Paquin/ Communications Coordinator
Alexandra@touringcar.ca
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