2002 Mosport International Raceway - Canadian Formula Ford Championship

The 2002 Canadian Formula Ford Championship kicks off on the Victoria Day weekend at Mosport International Raceway. This event is followed by the biggest race on the series calendar - the Canadian Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Montreal round will take place in front of over 100,000 spectators and the winner will receive a cheque for $7,000. Round three is on the Canada Day weekend at Autodrome St-Eustache, followed by the series second high-profile event, the Molson Indy at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. Next teams travel to Quebec for the series only doubleheader weekend at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. Trois-Rivieres is followed by the series second visit to Mosport, which is the penultimate round. The championship concludes in late September with a visit to Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant.

To attract participants and spectators, there are high-profile venues and a TV package. Presenting sponsor, A.N. Deringer, is in its second year of a two-year contract. Returning supporters include Autosport Basi Racing School, Team Players, Ford Canada, Hankook Tires and Cardinal Watches.

The television coverage will be provided by CTV Sportsnet and RDS. They will broadcast five magazine-type shows starting in the Fall. Sportsnet will televise thirty-minute programs that will feature race coverage, interviews with drivers and team owners, behind the scenes segments and technical reviews. The RDS network will provide similar content, but its shows will be sixty-minutes in length.

The single-seater, open-wheel race cars in the Canadian Formula Ford Championship are powered by a four-cylinder, 1600-cc Ford engine, which produces120-horsepower. A mixture of European and North American chassis is used by competitors. Two of the most successful cars are constructed in Canada – the Aero and CMV. Minimum vehicle weight is determined by the suspension design and ranges from 1050 to 1125-lbs., with the driver. Teams are required to use fuel from Imperial Oil (Esso) and a spec tire (Hankook Z2000).

The penultimate round of the 2002 Canadian Formula Ford Championship was held at Mosport International Raceway during the American Le Mans Series weekend. Drivers would compete for fifteen laps around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The start of round seven for the 2002 Canadian Formula Ford Championship at Mosport International Raceway. Leading the pack of sixteen entrants is the series points leader and pole-sitter, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, in the No. 99 AIM Motorsports Aero II. Behind Dumoulin is the CMVs of Jean-Philippe Papineau and Didier Schraenen. Papineau made a tremendous start moving from fifth on the grid.

With one race left in the series, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin clinched the 2002 Canadian Formula Ford Championship at Mosport International Raceway. Despite pressure from his teammate, Ashley Taws, he claimed first place. In doing so, Dumoulin established a new record of five victories in a single season. The previous mark was four wins established by Jason McCann in 1990 and Stephen Adams in 1991 and 1992.

AIM Motorsports driver Ashley Taws delivered her best performance of the season in round seven at Mosport International Raceway. Taws qualified sixth fastest in the No. 72 AIM Motorsports prepared Aero II. She was baulked at the start but would catch and pass Frederick Lelievre and Jean-Philippe Papineau. On lap-9, Taws inherited second-place when there was an incident between Didier Schraenen and Chris Guerrieri.

On a couple of occasions rookie, Frederick Lelievre came close to finishing on the podium, but, he would ‘seal the deal’ in the penultimate round. Lelievre drove the No. 4 Scuderia LM Vector MG-93 and qualified eighth fastest at Mosport International Raceway. He moved up the race order as the leaders fell by the wayside. Contact between Didier Schraenen and Chris Guerrieri allowed him to finish in the third position.

Another driver delivering his best result of the season was Jean-Philippe Papineau. In the season opener at Mosport International Raceway, Papineau finished fifth. The driver of the No. 7 Transport Mahoney sponsored CMV qualified in the fifth position. He was another beneficiary of contact between Didier Schraenen and Chris Guerrieri and the retirement of Ryan Floer. At the checkered flag, Papineau was in fourth-place.

The 2002 Canadian Formula Ford Championship could be best described as a character-building season for Quebec racer Kuno Wittmer. Wittmer opened the season with a sixth-place finish in the No. 82 DeSigi Autosport Van Diemen RF98. However, after that event, the car was plagued with engine issues. By round seven, the problems were resolved. Wittmer started twelfth but moved through the field for a fifth-place finish.

POS	START	DRIVER	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Louis-Philippe Dumoulin	AERO II	AIM Motorsports	15	-
2	6	Ashley Taws	AERO II	AIM Motorsports	15	-
3	8	Frederick Lelievre	Vector MG-93	Scuderia LM	15	-
4	5	Jean-Philippe Papineau	CMV	Equipe de Course Mahoney	15	-
5	12	Kuno Wittmer	Van Diemen RF98	DeSigi Autosport	15	-
6	4	Steve Pickering	Van Diemen RF90	Transmission Unlimited	15	-
7	10	John Restemeyer	Vector MG-93	Knorr/Pennzoil	15	-
8	13	Brian Nielson	Van Diemen RF92	-	15	-
9	7	Chris Guerrieri	Vector MG-93	Scuderia LM	15	-
10	15	John Wagner	Van Diemen RF97	Adams Racing	15	-
11	15	Francois Bellemare	Van Diemen RF93	Thomas Bellemare	15	-
12	5	Didier Schraenen	CMV	Dynatec	9	Did Not Finish
13	4	Ryan Floer	Van Diemen RF01	Britain West	6	Did Not Finish
14	13	Tim Hauraney	Van Diemen RF01	Britain West	0	Did Not Finish
15	12	Dan Denison	Van Diemen RF98	Danison Consulting	0	Did Not Finish
16	16	Robert Gelles	Van Diemen RF01	Gelles Racing	0	Did Not Finish

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