Mirabel, Quebec - Canada's Best Drivers Racing Today's Hottest Touring Cars gave the fans what they paid to see & more during Round Four of the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Toyo Tires this past weekend at the Jacques Villeneuve Mirabel Grand Prix at Circuit ICAR just north of Montreal. On the Mirabel Airport facility’s technical 3km tarmac road course, 30 drivers put on a pair of ‘shows’ in front of the large contingent of race fans.
To open Saturday afternoons heat race, GT Racing’s BMW drivers Greg Pootmans and Etienne Borgeat led Auto Analyser Lexus IS 300 pilot Andrew Wojteczko and Lombardi Racing’s Nick Wittmer and the other 26 drivers to the green flag and down into tight turns one & two. As Pootmans was forced wide in turn one Wojteczko, Borgeat and Wittmer were able to jump out ahead of him forcing him back to 7th position that would take Pootmans another 7 laps to fight his way back to 3rd place. Another GT Racing driver, David Bensadoun ran his BMW hard and was able to put himself in the top 5 in the Super Touring class for the end of the race.
The typical yet extremely exciting Touring Class battles began early as class pole sitter Alain Lauziere put his MINI Cooper right where he needed to be just ahead of Acura driver Nigel Heron & class points leader Anthony Rapone in his Honda Civic SI. On lap 11 Silvain Laporte & Patrick Seguin battled each other in their Honda’s to round out the top 5.
Sunday’s feature race was held under beautiful sunny skies as 27 drivers made the call to start the 30-minute race. Starting from the front row, Super Touring class drivers Andrew Wojteczko and Etienne Borgeat led the tightly packed field to the green flag. Borgeat suffered a mechanical failure on the second lap forcing him to park his BMW. Greg Pootmans always ready to pounce on an opportunity put his NorthWest Value Partners sponsored BMW into the 2nd spot and battled Wojteczko and his Lexus IS 300 for the balance of 19-lap race. Pootmans teammate Paul Dalla Lana charged into the number three position on lap two and never looked back. Eight Legs Racing’s Eric Hochgeschurz and Arek Wojciechowski brought their pair of BMW’s from their 8th & 9th starting positions and battled not only each other but GT Racing’s David Bensadoun for the entire race.
The intense battle in the Touring class was between MINI Cooper driver Alain Lauziere, Honda driver Anthony Rapone & Nigel Heron in his Acura Integra had the crowd on their feet the entire race. Lauziere broke out into an early lead leaving Rapone & Heron to battle amongst themselves for the first 11 laps. Lauziere’s gamble to get an early lead cost him dearly when his tires started to “go away” allowing Rapone & Heron to make up valuable lost ground. The last eight laps saw some of the closest, cleanest racing as Rapone did everything he had to keep Heron at bay with Lauziere waiting to pounce on any mistakes the two class front runners might make.
Tom Kwok ran his Honda Civic SI hard from the 26th starting position to gain eight positions putting him just behind Bully Clutch sponsored Patrick Seguin to round out the top five for the day.
During the podium festivities everyone in attendance was extremely delighted to have Canadian racing icon Jacques Villeneuve on hand the present the trophies to the class winners. Drivers & the fans alike were treated to autographs and pictures with the racing superstar.
The drivers and crews now prepare for one of the championship’s premiere road course events, The Honda Indy Toronto, July 10-12 2009.
Round Two Results
Saturday June 27th Heat Race
Super Touring Class
1st Place Andrew Wojteczko Caledon ON Lexus
2nd Place Etienne Borgeat Montreal, QC BMW
3rd Place Greg Pootmans Toronto, ON BMW
4th Place Nick Wittmer Montreal, QC Honda
5th Place David Bensadoun Montreal, QC BMW
Touring Class
1st Place Alain Lauziere Vaudreuil, QC MINI
2nd Place Nigel Heron Verdun, QC Acura
3rd Place Anthony Rapone Thornhill, ON Honda
4th Place Silvain Laporte Montreal, QC Honda
5th Place Patrick Seguin Rockland, ON Honda
Sunday June 28th Feature Race
Super Touring Class
1st Place Andrew Wojteczko Caledon ON Lexus
2nd Place Greg Pootmans Toronto, ON BMW
3rd Place Paul Dalla Lana Toronto, ON BMW
4th Place Arek Wojciechowski Toronto, ON BMW
5th Place Eric Hochgeschurz Toronto, ON BMW
Touring Class
1st Place Anthony Rapone Thornhill, ON Honda
2nd Place Nigel Heron Verdun, QC Acura
3rd Place Alain Lauziere Vaudreuil, QC MINI
4th Place Patrick Seguin Rockland, ON Honda
5th Place Tom Kwok Markham, ON Honda
The Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship Presented By Toyo Tires is Canada's Premiere Touring Car Series and features Canada's Best Drivers Racing Today's Hottest Touring Cars. The Championship is showcased at eight event weekends in Quebec and Ontario will marquee events at Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres and Honda Indy Toronto.
For further information check out www.touringcar.ca for the latest championship news.
For more information on Toyo Tires, please visit www.toyotires.ca. Toyo manufactures and distributes a complete line of replacement tires for high performance cars, luxury vehicles, light trucks and SUVs as well as tires for commercial trucks, buses and off-road and construction applications.
From Perry Iannuzzi // Communications Director
Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship Presented By Toyo Tires
Canada's Best Racers Driving Today's Hottest Touring Cars
www.touringcar.ca
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