Rookie David Ostella took the track at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for his first-ever qualifying session in a closed-cockpit car. The 21-year-old Maple, Ontario resident made the switch to the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin series this year after having run open-wheel cars his entire career.

"That was a great qualifying run. The guys worked hard all weekend. I had a little moment in Turn 4 in the morning practice, but luckily no damage and we bounced right back. I had great encouragement from the team, my driver coach, my engineer, and mechanic. It was a great car. The GT3 Cup car was really solid through every corner on the track. It was really well put together. We ended up second, so it was pretty good. We just have to battle now in the race," Ostella said.

Ostella and the SpeedMerchants take the track for Race 1 today at 3 p.m. ET as part of the Castrol Presents Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend.

Fans can follow the team on Facebook at SpeedMerchantsMotorsports and David Ostella on Twitter at @DavidOstella.

For live race updates and racing news regarding Ostella and the team, follow @OstellaCorsa.