Bowmanville, Ontario - Whether in the United States or Canada, the winning beat goes on for Kenton Koch.

Koch earned his sixth victory in seven starts this season, capturing Round 7 of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Series rookie Koch, from Glendora, California, expanded his lead in the Lites 1 championship to 32 points over second place Clark Toppe.

It was Koch's fifth consecutive victory in the No. 60 JDC Motorsports entry. Koch is closing in on the Lites 1 series record of eight consecutive victories set by Adam Pecorari in his 2006 championship season with Cape Motorsports.

The incident-strewn race ended under caution. Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, completed a 1-2 finish for Lites 1 Team Championship leader JDC Motorsports by finishing second in the team's No. 10 Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine.

Robert Alon, from Encino, California, finished third in the No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports car. Austin Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, placed fourth in the No. 16 Performance Tech Motorsports entry.

John Falb, from Las Vegas, rounded out the top five and was the top Lites 1 Masters finisher in the No. 77 ONE Motorsports car.

Ludovico Manfredi, from Key Biscayne, Florida, won the Lites 2 class in the No. 30 ANSA Motorsports entry.

Pole sitter Matt McMurry, from Phoenix, led through the first eight turns of the 10-turn, 2.459-mile (3.957 km) circuit on Lap 1. But he and Koch made light contact while running side by side in Turn 9. McMurry spun and dropped to second-to-last in the field on the next lap but rallied to finish 12th.

"In the first lap, I had a little bit of pace on Matt, so I knew I had to get him on the first lap or he would get away from me," Koch said. "I made a pass on the outside. We had a little bit of contact, nothing major, just a little bit of quarter-panel. Nothing massive. I gained the lead, and it was Clark behind me."

Koch took the lead after McMurry's spin and never trailed thereafter. He led Toppe by .764 of a second when the first of two full-course cautions started after Tony Bullock spun into the tire wall in Turn 1 with 19 minutes, 30 seconds left in the 30-minute race.

The ensuing restart didn't last long. As Koch, Toppe and the front of the field charged into Turn 1, Michal Chlumecky, Max de Angelis and John Salmon made contact in Turn 10 on the restart and nosed into the tire barrier.

That triggered the second full-course caution, and the race finished under that yellow.

Masters

Reigning Lites 1 Masters champion Falb started from pole and earned his sixth class win in seven starts this season. Falb has won four consecutive rounds.

"I had a couple of close calls around Lap 3," Falb said. "I had a moment in Turn 2 that let a guy get a run on me and then was tapped in Turn 3. And then there was some oil laid down in Turn 1 and 3, in particular, and I caught that just as the full course (caution) came out. I saw myself heading in the wrong direction, but I was able to hold it together. It was a good race. So far we've had a really good weekend."

Falb extended his championship lead over second place Joel Janco to 134-104.

Janco, from Key Largo, Florida, continued his strong season in the No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports entry by finishing second. It was his fifth runner-up finish of 2015.

Don Yount, from Dallas, rounded out the class podium in third in the No. 28 Yount Motorsports car. It was his third consecutive podium finish and fourth podium this season.

Lites 2

Manfredi started last in just his third race of the season, but he made decisive passes early and avoided incidents that afflicted series leaders Todd Slusher and Brian Alder to earn his first Lites 2 victory since June 2014 at Watkins Glen International.

"I made a couple of passes on the first lap, which I thought was important for me to do because, let's face it, Todd and Brian are much faster than us," Manfredi said. "I figured if I had any chance at a podium, I had to be third and pass the two (other) guys (John Salmon and Max de Angelis). Then it was a matter of keeping them behind me for the rest of the race. At one point, I saw Brian and Todd slowing down. I thought I might be first, but I wasn't really sure."

Alder, from Dublin, Ohio, ended up second in the No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports car despite contact with Slusher early in the race that caused both to spin and ended Slusher's race in the No. 62 ONE Motorsports entry.

"The car started to get really loose," Alder said. "I went up into Turn 5, trying to get around an L1 car. We ended up spinning, and Todd and I got into contact with one another. Unfortunately, it ended his day.

"So I feel bad for Todd; I apologize to him. It's never the way you want to finish the day, but we're looking forward to tomorrow and another good showing."

Slusher's points lead over Alder was reduced to 128-122 after his first result off the podium this season.

Salmon, from Lynchburg, Virginia, placed third in the No. 46 ODU Engineering Race Team despite being involved in the race-ending incident.

Up Next

Round 8, a 45-minute race, will start at 3:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday, July 12.

For live timing, visit scoring.imsa.com or the new IMSA mobile app for iOS, Android or Windows. For live updates on all the action, follow @IMSALive on Twitter.

For more information on Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, visit www.imsa.com, follow the hashtags #CTPL and #MRT24 on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

ROUND 7 POST-RACE QUOTES

KENTON KOCH (No. 60 JDC Motorsports, winner): "In the first lap, I had a little bit of pace on Matt (McMurry), so I knew I had to get him on the first lap or he would get away from me. I made a pass on the outside. We had a little bit of contact, nothing major, just a little bit of quarter-panel. Nothing massive. I gained the lead, and it was Clark (Toppe) behind me. We're great friends, so it was great to have the tall buds for the win."

CLARK TOPPE (No. 10 JDC Motorsports, second): "It was very good. Wish we could have got him (Koch) there at the end, but we got a little messed up with the yellow flags. We had a great car. JDC Motorsports gave me a great car, and the Cooper Tires really held up. It was good race, and hopefully we can get the win tomorrow."

ROBERT ALON (No. 00 Performance Tech Motorsports, third): "It was greasy out there. The start was pretty interesting, with people weaving and swerving. I was right with the top guys until I ran into (Matt) McMurry spinning. He almost hit me, and I had to avoid him. I lost the gap and lost the draft, and that three-second gap held for the rest of the race. But overall it was fun. I just wish there would have been less yellow."

JOHN FALB (No. 77 ONE Motorsports, first Lites Masters): "I had a couple of close calls around Lap 3. I had a moment in Turn 2 that let a guy get a run on me and then was tapped in Turn 3. And then there was some oil laid down in Turn 1 and 3, in particular, and I caught that just as the full course (caution) came out. I saw myself heading in the wrong direction, but I was able to hold it together. It was a good race. So far we've had a really good weekend. We had a really good qualifying time, so I'm happy with that. It was a short race today, but everything came together for us."

JOEL JANCO (No. 25 Performance Tech Motorsports, second Lites Masters): "I saw a lot of crazy things out there. But it's great after Watkins Glen, where I didn't complete a single lap in two races, to being back on the podium. I was second in Masters and sixth overall, so we're pleased with everything. Thanks to Performance Tech for doing a great job."

DON YOUNT (No. 28 Yount Motorsports, third Lites Masters): "It was really greasy. I wish we would have gotten a couple of greens at the end. There was a car in front of me that looked like it was getting a little loose, so that's why I wish we would have gotten a few more laps. Our car was still good. It was a good race, a fun race."

LUDOVICO MANFREDI (No. 30 ANSA Motorsports, winner Lites 2): "I made a couple of passes on the first lap, which I thought was important for me to do because, let's face it, Todd (Slusher) and Brian (Alder) are much faster than us. I figured if I had any chance at a podium, I had to be third and pass the two guys. Then it was a matter of keeping them behind me for the rest of the race. At one point, I saw Brian and Todd slowing down. I thought I might be first, but I wasn't really sure. Then all of a sudden on the same lap, there were two or three incidents, and we ended up with yellow for most of the rest of the race. On the restart, I knew I had the two guys behind me and after one of them spun, I knew I was safe."

BRIAN ALDER (No. 22 BAR1 Motorsports, second Lites 2): "Our car was really good, and we had a good start. Todd (Slusher) and I had a good battle going. The track conditions kept getting worse and worse. I'm not sure if oil was laid down or what. The car started to get really loose. I went up into Turn 5, trying to get around an L1 car. We ended up spinning, and Todd and I got into contact with one another. Unfortunately, it ended his day. So I feel bad for Todd; I apologize to him. It's never the way you want to finish the day, but we're looking forward to tomorrow and another good showing."

JOHN SALMON (No. 46 ODU Engineering Race Team, third Lites 2): "The first bit of the race was a very good race for me. I had a bad start, but I was putting things together and trying to work up through the field, looking for a podium finish. When I saw both Brian (Alder) and Todd (Slusher), I knew I was moving up the ladder a little bit. I had Ludovico (Manfredi) in front of me, and I knew I could chase him down. I certainly wanted to give it the college try. But then on the restart, Max (de Angelis) and I both got punted, and that was the end of that."

MATT McMURRY (No. 20 JDC Motorsports, pole winner): "The car was just great (in qualifying). It has been all weekend. It wasn't as much in this race, but it's been really easy to drive. There's no oversteer, just really neutral. It made it easy to push it as hard as I could. I'm getting really comfortable with the car after a season and a half."

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Development Series, enters its 10th season in 2015. The series provides thrilling action and grooms drivers for future TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition in the Prototype and Prototype Challenge classes.

The two classes of competition in the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series take drivers and teams down unique, exciting roads of prototype sports car racing. Nimble, high-tech, purpose-built Lites 1 machines pack in the power with a 230-horsepower, 2-liter Mazda engine designed to prepare aspiring professionals for prototype competition in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and offer a challenging environment for mature semi-professional drivers, including competition in a Masters Championship. Equally capable and cost-effective Lites 2 machines offer new competitors a perfect introduction to the world-class competition offered by IMSA.

ABOUT IMSA

The International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 with a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, as well as four single-make series: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama; Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin; Ferrari Challenge North America; and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. IMSA - a company within the NASCAR Holdings group - is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected TUDOR Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.