It's race weekend on the streets of Toronto as we welcome back the Verizon Indycar Series for yet another double-header – 2inTO. Always a great event – especially with hometown boy James Hinchcliffe in the mix, the 2014 edition also brings a number of support series that will appeal to both open-wheel and sportscar fans on the 1.75 mile 11-turn temporary street course.
Now while we all love "Hinch" and hope he does well this weekend, there are plenty of other Canadians to keep our eyes on over three days of racing. Over the five support series there are 42 Canadian drivers entered – the biggest fields being in the two Ontario-based series with 22 (of 28) drivers in the Toyo Tires F100 Championship and 11 (of 19) in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. There are three entries in the USF2000 series plus two in Indy Lights. Pirelli World Challenge has an expanded Canadian presence this weekend with the addition of three drivers – one in GT and two in GT-A along with series regular Mark Wilkins (Palgrave, ON) in GTS. World Challenge features two Toronto-based teams – R. Ferri Motorsport with two Ferrari 458s (GT) and Compass 360 Racing with a Subaru WRX STi (GTS).
Now let's have a look at each series. (Complete weekend race schedule posted at the end)
Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires:
Zack Meyer (Toronto, ON) is a series regular driving the #2 Team Moore Racing entry. He has had a decent season scoring points in each race with the exception of Pocono. Sitting 10th in the championship, we expect Zack would like to reach the podium at his home race.
Joining him this weekend is Matthew Di Leo (Barrie, ON) in the #56 MDL Racing entry. Di Leo ran a number of Indy Lights races in 2013 but this is his first in 2014.
Indy Lights Timing & Scoring
http://indylights2014.com/live-timing/
Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda
Daniel Burkett (Winnipeg, MB) continues to fight his way forward in the series and currently sits eighth in the championship driving the #4 Belardi Auto racing entry.
Nathan Blok (Beachburg, ON) will compete in his second event in the series this year having run the Indy GP (road course) back in may. The series rookie would qualify third for race two on the weekend He would finish 13th in race one and 12th in race two. Blok is driving the #33 John Cummiskey Racing/Pabst racing entry.
While he is on the list, we have yet to confirm that James Dayson (Vancouver, BC) will be racing this weekend. The Masters Class driver has missed a number of events so far this year.
USF2000 Live Timing & Scoring:
http://www.usf2000.com/results/live-timing
Toyo Tires F1600
With a field of twenty-eight entries, we are expecting some great racing form this junior open-wheel series as drivers will be showcasing their skills in front of the major teams here this weekend. F1600 always provides close action – although the tight street circuit with its concrete walls should give these youngsters something to think about. There are twenty-two Canadians on hand – many hoping to give series points leader Tristan DeGrand (Eureka, MO, USA) a run for his money this weekend in front of the home crowd.
Here is the complete F1600 entry list:
Car # Driver Class
11 Arnold, Reid A 2012 Piper DF5\Honda Keswick, ON
7 Bamford, Steve A 2011 Mygale SJ-11\Honda Toronto, ON
24 Beaudoin, Yves A 1999 Van Diemen RF99\Honda Ste-Anne-des-Lacs, QC
96 Bedard, Olivier A 2001 Van Diemen RF01\Honda Terrebonne, QC
62 Bonnet, Michel A 1995 Vector VF952\Ford St-Bruno, QC
2 Chapinotti, Bruno A 2010 Piper DF5\Honda Milton, ON
27 Chastain, Sam A 2013 Mygale SJ-13\Honda Noblesville, IN
90 Clunie, Jayson A 2014 Spectrum 014\Honda Prince Albert, SK
93 DeGrand, Tristan A 2014 Spectrum 014\Honda Eureka, MO
65 Fowler, Brian A 2001 Van Diemen RF01\Honda Brantford, ON
91 Hanratty, Max A 2014 Spectrum 014\Honda Hartland, WI
68 Johnston, Caitlin A 1997 Van Diemen RF97\Honda Minnetonka, MN
92 Kingsley, Jeffrey A 2013 Spectrum 014\Honda Port Hope, ON
38 Lafontaine, Marcel A 1998 Van Diemen RF98\Ford Victoriaville, QC
1 Mitchell, Jack A 2013 Spectrum 014\Honda Clarendon Hills, IL
29 Newey, Brandon A 2012 Mygale SJ-12\Honda Carmel, IN
14 Pelletier, Chase A 2014 Mygale SJ14\Honda Brampton, ON
3 Robichon, Zacharie A 2010 Piper DF5\Honda Ottawa, ON
99 Willis, Craig A 1990 Aero 2\Ford Georgetown, ON
20 du Preez, Andre (jnr) A 2012 Piper DF5\Honda Minesing, ON
41 Bodrug, Steve B 1993 Van Diemen RF93\Ford Mississauga, ON
95 Castell, Amy B 1990 Reynard 90SF\Ford Waterloo, ON
124 Celovsky, Andrew B 1982 Reynard RF82\Ford Deep River, ON
8 Graham, David B 1992 Van Diemen RF92\Ford Barrie, ON
69 Kitchen, Bruce B 1992 Van Diemen RF92\Ford Brantford, ON
25 Lee, Mike B 1980 Lola T540E\Ford East York, ON
81 Michalos, Ted B 1981 Crossle 40F\Ford Guelph, ON
10 Wagland, Connor B 1991 Van Diemen RF91\Ford Dundas, ON
Toyo Tires F1600 Timing & Scoring: TBA
Ultra 94 GT3 Cup Challenge by Michelin
With the ProMazda Championship having the weekend off, Spencer Pigot and Scott Hargrove (Vancouver, BC) – championship rivals in the open wheel series, will continue to do battle in the Canadian GT3 Cup Challenge. Hargrove was slated to run just one or two races in the sportscar series this year but has had incredible success and will now run as many as possible. He has won three of four races so far this season – he finished second in the other – and leads the Platinum Class championship. Pigot has not fared quite as well going third in three (he finished one race in 10th). The dua have not gone unchallenged as series regular Chris Green (Montreal, QC) has been battling hard. Green finished second on three occasions and is the only driver to beat Hargrove this season (race #1 at Calabogie)>
Fans should really enjoy seeing the Porsche GT3 Cup cars on this very tight circuit and we expect the racing to be both close and very intense. There are a total of 16 entries (Platinum-9; Gold-5; Silver-2). Following is the complete entry list:
PLATINUM
2 Etienne Borgeat, Montreal, Quebec GT Racing
9 Chris Green, Montreal, Quebec Pfaff Motorsports
21 Spencer Pigot, Orlando, FL Alegra Motorsports
22 Carlos De Quesada, Odessa, FL (M) Alegra Motorsports
60 Santiago Creel, Mexico City, Mexico Wright Motorsports
69 Scott Hargrove, Surrey, British Columbia OpenRoad Racing
84 Perry Bortolotti, Kanata, Ontario (M) Mark Motors Racing
88 Marco Cirone, Toronto, Ontario (M) Mark Motors Racing
93 Andre Belzile, Drummondville, Quebec (M) GT Racing
GOLD
34 Shaun McKaigue, Gilford, Ontario (M) Fiorano Racing
48 Ilker Starck, Toronto, Ontario (M) SCB Racing/ Downtown Porsche Downtown Porsche
75 Jerimy Daniel, Candiac, Quebec TRC Fix Auto
07 Tim Sanderson, Pickering, Ontario (M) Alegra Motorsports/Northwest Atlantic
08 Martin Harvey, Berthierville, Quebec (M) Wingho Racing Inc
SILVER
49 Keith Bass, Tampa, FL (M) Alegra Motorsports
50 Chuck Harris, Tampa, FL (M) Alegra Motorsports
Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Timing & Scoring:
http://scoring.imsa.com/gt3-challenge-canada/
Pirelli World Challenge Championship
With 43 entries this is going to be awesome racing (it always is in my opinion) and for the fans, they will get to see the cars they can buy (or dream about buying) every day. That is what I like most about sportscar racing – GT racing in particular, that the fans recognize the cars they see on track.
Canadian fans will have both teams and drivers to cheer on during the weekend double-header. First we have two teams – R. Ferri Motorosport will have the #16 and #61 Ferrari 458 GT3 Italias for Nick Mancuso (16) and Anthony Lazzaro (61). Lazzaro is fifth in the GT Championship having started the season with four podiums including one victory (Alabama) but has suffered setbacks in the final two rounds. Mancuso is sixth.
The big news for the Toronto race came on Monday when SRT Motorsports announced they were entering a Dodge Viper GT3 for Montreal's Kuno Wittmer. A regular in the TUDOR Championship, Wittmer comes to this race hot off a strong weekend at the race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where he put his GTLM class SRT Viper on pole and finished the race in second place.
There are two more Dodge Vipers added to the mix in GT this weekend with entries from Louis-Philippe Montour (Saint-Donat, QC) and Fred Roberts (Toronto, ON)
On the GS side, Mark Wilkins (Palgrave, ON) will be looking to take back the championship lead in his KIA Racing/Kinetic Motorsports #38 KIA Optima. With four podiums (including one race victory) on the season, Wilkins sits just one point back of his KIA Racing team mate Nic Jonsson (747-746). Wilkins will be looking to give the home town crowd something to cheer about as he goes for the race win. Ray Mason will be piloting the Compass 360 Racing Subaru #70 WRX STi
World Challenge races will be available via live streaming at
www.world-challengetv.com
World Challenge Timing & Scoring:
http://www.world-challenge.com/liverace/index.html
RaceCanada will keep you updated throughout the weekend via Facebook ( www.facebook.com/RaceCanada.ca ) Twitter ( www.twitter.com/RaceCanada_ca)and on our web site www.racecanada.ca
Complete weekend schedule:
Friday, July 18, 2014
8:05 AM - F1600 Practice
8:30 AM - USF2000 Practice # 1
9:15 AM - Pirelli World Challenge Practice # 1
10:00 AM - Verizon IndyCar Practice #1
11:00 AM - Porsche GT Practice
11:50 AM - SST Practice and Qualifying
12:30 PM - Pirelli World Challenge Practice # 2
1:15 PM - USF2000 Practice # 2
1:55 PM - Verizon IndyCar Practice # 2
3:00 PM - Firestone Indy Lights Practice # 1
3:50 PM - Porsche GT-3 Practice # 2
4:35 PM - Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying
5:25 PM - F1600 Qualifying
5:50 PM - USF2000 Qualifying
Saturday, July 19, 2014
7:30 AM - Porsche GT-3 Qualifying
8:15 AM - Firestone Indy Lights Practice # 2
9:15 AM - F1600 Race # 1
10:00 AM - Verizon IndyCar Qualifying for Race #1
11:25 AM - Pirelli World Challenge GT-GTA- GTS Race # 1
12:30 PM - Porsche GT-3 Race # 1 – 45 min
1:30 PM - Firestone Indy Lights Qualifying
2:20 PM - SST Race # 1
3:48 PM - Verizon IndyCar Series Race # 1
6:15 PM - USF2000 Race # 1
Sunday, July 20, 2014
9:05 AM - USF2000 Race # 2
10:00 AM - Verizon IndyCar Qualifying Race # 2
10:45 - Firestone Indy Lights Race
12:15 PM - Pirelli World Challenge GT-GTA-GTS Race # 2
1:20 PM - Porsche GT-3 Race # 2
2:20 PM - SST Race # 2
3:30 PM - Verizon IndyCar Series Race # 2
6:15 PM - F 1600 Race #2