(Montréal, Québec) –After 3 consecutive podium finishes, Michel Sallenbach, driving the Team Octane Castrol EDGE MINI Cooper JCW, has managed to further increase his championship lead atop the Touring class standings after the Montreal and Icar events. Michel finished in fourth position in race #1 in Montreal and managed a third position in the second race, after a race-long battle with Jacques Belanger. The fight with Belanger continued at Circuit Icar as Sallenbach bested him in race #1 with a runaway victory to the finish but Belanger took his revenge in race #2 as his rear-view mirrors were filled with Orange from the Octane teammates, Sallenbach leading rookie Adam Isman from Vancouver driving the MINI GENUINE PARTS #47. The Montreal race brought different fortune to the Octane teammates. Rookie Paul Gravel Qualified 11th and managed 9th and 8th place finishes. Carlos Tesler-Mabe from Vancouver, B.C. driving the #47 for the Montreal race, qualified 8th but managed to improve every session he was on-track, with 7th and 6th place finishes. Alain Lauzière driving the #45 showed great pace all weekend and qualified second but had to make a pit-stop during race #1 due to high engine temperatures. After starting from the back of the pack in race #2, he was in the middle of the fight for second position with Belanger and teammate Sallenbach when his clutch let go in the last lap but he still managed a fifth place finish. The trek to Icar 2 weeks later brought great results to the Octane team, but not without some competition as the Honda products showed great pace at what is normally known as a MINI-friendly track due to the go-kart layout favoring the MINIs in the past. 22 year-old Karting veteran Adam Isman brought his skills to the Team as he piloted the MINI GENUINE PARTS Cooper S JCW#47 for the weekend. With only a few sedan races under his belt, the rookie sensation showed his enormous talent by leading veteran Michel Sallenbach in qualifying. Unfortunately, Isman’s CTCC debuts would be delayed as the team had to perform an engine change to fix an issue that popped-up during qualifying; Isman would have to sit the first race. That did not stop veteran Michel Sallenbach from leading from start to finish as his Clinique du Pneu Cooper S JCW would finish on top of the podium in race #1. Paul Gravel driving the #48 LDS Dyno MINI showed great pace throughout practice and would finish right behind veteran Jocelyn Hebert in fifth position in the same race. Race #2 would show what Touring car racing is about with a fantastic nose to tail 3-way battle between Belanger, Sallenbach and Isman. Belanger took the early lead while Sallenbach applied constant pressure in the early part of the race. Fast-rookie Isman managed to turn the fastest laps of the race on his way from a start at the back to catch the leading pack after only a few laps. Sallenbach and Isman would swap second and third position a couple of times but Belanger showed great power coming out of the corners as he was able to maintain the lead for the entire race. Isman could have finished second but allowed teammate Sallenbach to regain the runner-up position in the last corner. Paul Gravel would equal his previous day result with another fifth place finish. Team partners include MINI GENUINE PARTS, LDS Dyno, Castrol, Durabond, MINI.ca, Bully Clutch, Revolution MINI Works, Perry Auto, Carrosserie Touchette, La Clinique du Pneu Granby, Lettrage Raoul, ASG Accessoire de Soudure Granby and Carbotech Brakes. The 2012 season of the Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental tire will compete for the first time at Circuit Mont Tremblant on June 6-7-8. The Championship competes throughout 8 weekends of racing. Details are available at CTCC: Canadian Touring Car Championship.