Victory for Team Octane at Mosport

PJ Groenke crossed the finish line in first position, to take victory in the first CCTCC event of the weekend at Mosport, driving the Original MINI Parts MINI Cooper S, from Team Octane in the Touring class. The race was disputed under difficult damp conditions. After starting in third position, Groenke followed leader Nigel Heron’s Acura, the two of them managing to pull ahead of the rest of their competitors. Groenke took advantage of traffic to pass Heron on lap 12 and fought back constant challenges from the Acura driver to bring back the Castrol MINI Cooper S in first position at the finish line.

“I am ecstaticâ€, commented Groenke “I would like to thank Team Octane for their assistance. My new car not being ready, Alain Lauzière, owner of Team Octane allowed me to drive the car he was scheduled to race this weekend, during the first race.â€

In the #46, Michel Sallenbach drove a superb race, staying out of trouble all race long to capture a great 6th place finish, also his starting position, helping bring home more valuable championship points. “We are very proud of Michel’s performance today; it was his first wet-race at Mosport and he managed to drive a trouble-free race†commented team-owner Lauzière.

During the second race of the weekend, Sallenbach finished in 4th position, narrowly missing a podium finish. Lauzière was back behind the wheel of the #47 Castrol MINI Cooper S for the second race. After having to start from the very back of the pack, due to the driver change, Lauzière managed to pass 8 competitors to finish in 5th position, just behind his teammate. “The car was difficult to drive today. so we are happy with our finishing positionâ€, commented Lauzière.

Team Octane is proud to partner with MINI Original Parts, Castrol, Simone Performance Imports, Birchmount Collision, Trimo, Cruisecanada.com and BULLY clutches.

Team Octane’s next event will be the Grand Prix de Mirabel at Icar on July 3-4. Sylvain Laporte will make his debut with team Octane, driving the #47 car alongside regular driver Michel Sallenbach.

Photos by Sylvain Lachapelle (slachapellephoto.com)