Dave Ciekiewicz took advantage of his pole position and avoided trouble on the opening lap to secure his first Super Touring win of the season on Saturday at the Grand Prix of Mosport.
Starting from the pole position, the Donington Motorsports driver survived a chaotic start that saw four cars drop out of the race on the first lap due to contact sustained as the field funnelled into turn one.
As a result of the number of cars damaged by contact, the field was red-flagged for about 20 minutes to allow for track clean-up. Because no laps were completed, the field was reset to the qualifying order minus the retired cars.
Once the race was restarted, Ciekiewicz took command of the race early and led all 13 laps of the shortened 20-minute event.
By the time the checkered flag fell, his Subaru WRX STi was 0.553 seconds ahead of the second-place Team Aldo/Northwest BMW 328 of Gregory Pootmans who started on the outside of the front row. Sasha Anis started and finished third in Super Touring in a G1 Racing Hyundai Genesis.
Ciekiewicz turned in the fastest lap of the race (1:30.772).
“It was a good race, it was a little frustrating because, while we do have the power and was duking it out with Pootmans the whole race, what I have in power over Greg he has double over me in braking and handling,” Ciekiewicz said of his race long battle for the victory.
“I could [gap] him on the straights, but when it comes down to braking, he’s gobbling me up on the brakes and [getting] back everything I’m able to pick up,” he said.
In the Touring class, Kurt Langeveldt won from the third spot on the grid after contact took out polesitter Michel Sallenbach on the opening lap.
Langeveldt’s Can-Saf Motorsports Mazda Protégé was pursued closely by the Durabond/Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si of Anthony Rapone throughout the race, but Langeveldt held him off to take the win by 0.597 seconds. Tom Kwok of M&S Racing completed the Touring Car podium in his Honda Civic.
“Actually I was pretty excited, I was having a blast. I was like, ‘come on tires, hold together, hold together’, but I was just happy that the car held together in one piece,” a relieved Langeveldt said when asked about his race-long dice with Rapone.
The action continues on Sunday, with a 30-minute feature race, scheduled to run from 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Follow all the action from the Honda Indy Toronto, including session reports, live timing and scoring and the latest championship news at www.touringcar.ca.
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 seven event weekends in Quebec and Ontario with marquee events at Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres and Honda Indy Toronto.
