MINIs 1st and 2nd in Toronto

Steve · Jul 9, 2011

Round 7: MINI teammates win 1st and 2nd in Touring, Boake still 1st in Super (touringcar.ca)

Pictures by Radu Repanovici

Toronto, July 9th 2011 – A very intense race was battled today at Honda Indy Toronto with a tight race from start to finish. The race started late because cleanup was required due to track damages from an earlier race.

It was a clean and fast start but Carleton Place driver, Eric Hochgeschurz, pulled into pit lane on the second pace lap and immediately retired from the race with an engine problem. Hochgeschurz’s teammate, Arek Wojciechowski, spun and was stopped in the middle of corner eight which brought out the first full course yellow. Both were unfortunate incidents for the teammates.

At the restart, King City driver Richard Boake lead the field but his teammate, Dave Ciekievicz suffered a brake problem and pulled his Subaru STI into the runoff area and retired. Challenging track conditions also resulted in three different cars getting flat tires. Furthermore, three cars lost their rear bumpers from contacts with the walls.

There was another full course yellow on lap 12 when Ryan Blanchet suffered a mechanical breakdown with his Honda Civic Si and was stuck in a bad spot on the track. The race ended early under full course yellow due to schedule constraints and the time it would take to retrieve Blanchet’s car.

At the checkered, Richard Boake was in first place in Super Class, followed by Brampton driver Sasha Anis and Quebec driver Mathieu Audette. Quebec driver Alain LauziÃ¨re won in Touring Class driving his MINI Cooper S JCW, his teammate, Michel Sallenbach, also in a MINI Cooper S JCW was second followed by Honda Civic driver Tom Kwok.

Notable drives include Bob Attrell in a Hyundai Genesis Coupe who went from the 29th spot to 18th overall and Jeff Pabst who drove his Audi A5 from 30th to 16th position. That was a very strong race for the Pfaff Automotive Partner’s Audi A5.

Fans can keep track of live CTCC competition with their smartphone or computer by connecting to Live Timing - Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire. CTCC live timing is available whenever and wherever the racecars are on the track. For more details about CTCC, visit CTCC: Canadian Touring Car Championship. You can also follow CTCC on Facebook and Twitter.

About CTCC
The Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire is Canada’s only professional road racing series. Now in its fifth year, CTCC showcases race cars based on their stock street version. In 2011, CTCC will be featured at Circuit ICAR, Mosport International Raceway, Honda Indy Toronto, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Grand Prix de Trois-RiviÃ¨res.
Experience the rush of touring car racing!

-30-
Information: Dominique Longval
Director of Marketing
(647) 460-0141
[email protected]
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Click to expand...

Jan · Jul 9, 2011

congrats .........woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason Montague · Jul 10, 2011

:cornut: Yeah Buddy Boy Howdy.............Go MINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jason

Crashton · Jul 10, 2011

Way to go!!!

Having a small fast car like a MINI must be an advantage on a street circuit.

minimark · Jul 10, 2011

Great race guys, congratulations!!!!

Steve · Jul 12, 2011

More good news from the next day at Toronto (Round 8): the MINIs took 2nd & 3rd!

Fantastic Race Weekend for CTCC at Honda Indy Toronto

Picture by Radu Repanovici

Toronto, July 10th 2011 â€“ Racing in the streets of Toronto is always a special event, but this year, it was one of the bests overall for the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire (CTCC). Great weather and even greater action was on the weekend agenda. Most importantly, fans were there to cheer for their favourite driver and get closer for a picture or an autograph!

Round 8 of this wonderful weekend was a close and competitive race. The much cleaner track helped CTCC competitors to put on a great show however the race started with an incident on the first lap. Dean Fantin from the Amico Racing Team did not complete a lap due to a broken driveshaft and pulled off into the runoff at corner three. P.J. Groenke retired early after an on-track incident. Arek Wojciechowski from 8Legs Racing, Michael DellaDonne from the RMP Competizione Team and Dave Ciekiewicz from Donnington Motorsports also did not complete the race.

Super Class
Despite the incidents that occurred during the first half of this 30 minute race, the pace was kept at hand and the fastest lap was achieved by the Super Class leader, Richard Boake in his Subaru STI. His best lap time was 1:19.870 and it allowed him to stay far in front of the field during the whole race. Boake won for the second time on the weekend and he was followed by the Quebec driver Mathieu Audette in his Acura RSX, and Alex Healy for the third position, also driving an Acura RSX. This was a dream weekend for Audette as he also had a double podium during the Honda Indy Toronto weekend, which was his first appearance with CTCC this year. â€œIf I had one more lap I could have gotten Boakeâ€, he said.

On his part, Healy was very happy to have gotten on the podium and make the points. He humorously declared â€œI am a little disappointed, I was not the fastest Acura on the track todayâ€, referring to Audette.

Fourth and fifth positions were earned by Sasha Anis from the G1 Racing Team and Nick Wittmer from the Lombardi Honda.

Touring Class
In the Touring Class battle, it was Groundhog Day as the three top drivers from the Saturday race were back on the podium. This time, Tom Kwok managed to pass both MINIs with his Honda Civic and earned the first place. Both Quebec drivers Alain LauziÃ¨re and his teammate Michel Sallenbach got second and third place, respectively.

â€œI just wanted to keep going and going and get faster to pass Alainâ€, said Kwok.

â€œWe knew it would be a fast race today, but Tom passed us fair and squareâ€, declared LauziÃ¨re. â€œWhat helps us to stay in front is that the MINIs are very stable and the original parts make those cars reliable. I am happy of this weekendâ€™s performanceâ€

Fourth and fifth positions were earned by Anthony Rapone from the Durabond Racing Team and his teammate, Andre Rapone.

Worthy of mention
Again today, the BMW 328i Super Class driver from the 8Legs Racing, Eric Hochgeschurz gained 15 positions after starting in 31st place and finishing in 16th. Fastco Motorsports Super Class driver Lee Chaplin was 1.5 seconds faster per lap today compared to Round 7 and declared : â€œI am convinced that I gained speed because of my braking stability, everybody is jealous of my StopTech Brakesâ€, said Chaplin. â€œI am so happy about this position and I owe this to my crew who are doing a great job.â€

To get the complete result of Round Seven and Eight, visit CTCC: Canadian Touring Car Championship. You can also follow CTCC on Facebook and Twitter.

The Championshipâ€™s 9th and 10th Rounds will take place on July 22 to 24 at Grand Prix of Mosport at Mosport International Raceway.

About CTCC
The Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire is Canadaâ€™s only professional road racing series. Now in its fifth year, CTCC showcases race cars based on their stock street version. In 2011, CTCC will be featured at Circuit ICAR, Mosport International Raceway, Honda Indy Toronto, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and Grand Prix de Trois-RiviÃ¨res.
Experience the rush of touring car racing!

-30-
Information: Dominique Longval
Director of Marketing
(647) 460-0141
[email protected]
********************************************************************************************
Click to expand...

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