2014 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Toyo Tires F1600 Championship

The 2014 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship schedule consists of six weekends; for a total of twelve contests. The status of the championship was raised when the series participates as a support event for some of Ontario’s high-profile professional race weekends.

There was also an opportunity for teams to compete in the new F1600 Super Series. Ontario’s Jason Sharpe and Quebec’s Marcel Lafontaine developed a series that would see drivers race at the Castrol Victoria Day Speedfest, Honda Toronto Indy, Canadian Grand Prix and Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.

The season kicks off in May at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) during the BEMC Spring Trophy Races. The following two rounds are part of the Castrol Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend at CTMP. Then the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship makes its third of four stops to CTMP for the BARC Grand Prix of Ontario Races. In mid-July, competitors race on the temporary street circuit at Toronto’s Exhibition Place as a support event for Honda Toronto Indy. Then teams travel to Calabogie Motorsports Park for rounds nine and ten. The BEMC Indian Summer Races is the series’ final weekend of competition and determines class champions.

The single-seater, open-wheel race cars in the championship are powered by one of two engine options - a four-cylinder, 1600-cc Ford engine or the 1.5-liter HPD Honda L15A7. Both motors produce approximately 120-horsepower. A mixture of European and North American chassis is used by competitors. Minimum vehicle weight is determined by the suspension design and ranges from 1050 to 1125-lbs. Teams are required to use a spec tire – the Toyo Proxes R888.

Drivers collect championship points in one of two groups.

FFA – This category is for newer chassis’ built between 1995 and 2014.
FFB – This group is for cars constructed between 1994 and older.

The manufacture date for the individual car and not the model is used to determine the year split and if a vehicle is categorized as FFA or FFB. Based on their past performances and historical records, the Swift DB-1 and AERO II are excluded from the FFB class.

Rounds three and four would be the first of two professional weekends that the 2014 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship attended. Drivers would compete in two heats races around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s ten-turn 2.459-mile road course during the Castrol Victoria Day Speedfest event.

Tristan DeGrand dominated the opening weekend of the 2014 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship. Driving the No. 93 Exclusive Autosport Spectrum 014, DeGrand qualified on the pole, set the fastest race lap and grabbed a pair of victories. He almost repeated this feat at the Castrol Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend event. However, Chase Pelletier was the fastest qualifier for race two, but DeGrand added another two wins to his total.

Zacharie Robichon was the runner-up in last year’s Toyo Tires F1600 Championship. Robichon did not enter the opening weekend at the BEMC Spring Trophy Races. However, he was back in the familiar No. 3 Piper DF5 for rounds three and four. Robichon qualified fifth fastest for the weekend’s first contest and finished second by a margin of 0.389-seconds. In the finale, he started third but faded to a ninth-place result.

FFB competitor Conner Wagland was fresh off his first victory of the season two weeks earlier at the BEMC Spring Trophy Races. Like Tristan DeGrand, Wagland dominated the proceedings. He qualified on the class poles for Saturday and Sunday’s contests in the No. 10 Burloak Cycle Van Diemen RF91. Wagland was not challenged in either race and added wins two and three of the season secured the class points lead.

Britain West Motorsports’ Chase Pelletier opened the 2014 season with a runner-up result in the No. 14 Van Diemen RF01. Pelletier was gridded third for the start of Saturday’s race at the Victoria Day Speedfest. He was unable to hold off a hard-charging Zacharie Robichon and finished fourth. The next day, Pelletier qualified on the pole but lost three spots early in the contest. He fought back to grab a second-place finish.

Another driver to score a runner-up result in the season opener at CTMP was Max Hanratty. The driver of the No. 91 Spectrum 014 qualified on the outside of the front row for round three. During the race, he could not defend the position against Zacharie Robichon and finished third. Hanratty qualified fourth for Sunday’s race, but an incident on lap-7 with Robichon and Shane Jantzi forced him to retire.

One of the beneficiaries of the incident on Sunday between Max Hanratty, Zacharie Robichon and Shane Jantzi was Jeffery Kingsley. Kingsley, who qualified seventh fastest for the finale driving the No. 92 Exclusive Autosport Spectrum 014, captured the final position on the class podium. The previous day, he was gridded seventh for the start of the eighteen lap contest and finished in the sixth spot.

POS.	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	A-1	Tristan DeGrand	Spectrum 014	19	-
2	5	A-2	Zacharie Robichon	Piper DF5	19	-
3	2	A-3	Maxwell Hanratty	Spectrum 014	19	-
4	3	A-4	Chase Pelletier	Van Diemen RF01	19	-
5	6	A-5	Craig Willis	AERO II	19	-
6	7	A-6	Jeffery Kingsley	Spectrum 014	19	-
7	10	A-7	Olivier Bedard	Spectrum 013	19	-
8	11	A-8	Reid Arnold	Piper Piper DF5	19	-
9	4	A-9	Jayson Clunie	Spectrum 014	19	-
10	-	A-10	Caitlin Johnston	Van Diemen RF97	19	-
11	8	B-1	Connor Wagland	Van Diemen RF91	19	-
12	14	A-11	Bruno Chapinotti	Van Diemen RF99	19	-
13	13	B-2	Amy Castell	Reynard 90SF	19	-
14	12	B-3	Mike Lee	Lola T-540E	19	-
15	15	B-4	Kieran Murphy	Van Diemen RF91	18	-
16	21	A-12	Andre du Preez Jr.	Piper DF5	18	-
17	19	A-13	Michel Legrand	Spectrum 014	18	-
18	22	B-5	Lew Mackenzie	Van Diemen RF91	18	-
19	20	B-6	Andrew Celovsky	Reynard 82SF	18	-
20	17	A-14	Yves Beaudoin	Van Diemen RF99	18	-
21	22	B-7	Ghislain Theriault	Van Diemen RF94	18	-
22	-	B-8	Ted Michalos	Crossle 40F	17	-
23	9	A-15	Shane Jantzi	Van Diemen RF02	15	-
24	18	B-9	Bruce Kitchen	Van Diemen RF92	5	Did Not Finish
25	16	B-10	David Graham	Van Diemen RF92	0	Did Not Finish

POS.	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	2	A-1	Tristan DeGrand	Spectrum 014	18	-
2	1	A-2	Chase Pelletier	Van Diemen RF01	18	-
3	7	A-3	Jeffery Kingsley	Spectrum 014	18	-
4	5	A-4	Olivier Bedard	Spectrum 013	18	-
5	10	A-5	Jayson Clunie	Spectrum 014	18	-
6	9	A-6	Caitlin Johnston	Van Diemen RF97	18	-
7	6	A-7	Craig Willis	AERO II	18	-
8	11	A-8	Reid Arnold	Piper Piper DF5	18	-
9	3	A-9	Zacharie Robichon	Piper DF5	18	-
10	12	B-1	Connor Wagland	Van Diemen RF91	18	-
11	18	A-10	Michel Legrand	Spectrum 014	18	-
12	14	B-2	Amy Castell	Reynard 90SF	18	-
13	13	A-11	Bruno Chapinotti	Van Diemen RF99	18	-
14	17	B-3	Mike Lee	Lola T-540E	18	-
15	15	B-4	David Graham	Van Diemen RF92	18	-
16	16	A-12	Andre du Preez Jr.	Piper DF5	18	-
17	19	B-5	Kieran Murphy	Van Diemen RF91	18	-
18	23	B-6	Bruce Kitchen	Van Diemen RF92	18	-
19	21	B-7	Andrew Celovsky	Reynard 82SF	18	-
20	24	B-8	Ghislain Theriault	Van Diemen RF94	18	-
21	25	B-9	Ted Michalos	Crossle 40F	17	-
22	20	A-13	Yves Beaudoin	Van Diemen RF99	14	-
23	22	B-10	Lew Mackenzie	Van Diemen RF91	12	-
24	8	A-14	Shane Jantzi	Van Diemen RF02	8	-
25	4	A-15	Maxwell Hanratty	Spectrum 014	7	-

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.