In 2019, the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) was in its thirteenth year.

The championship is being contested over five race weekends at four different tracks in Ontario and Quebec. The series opens in May on the Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Following Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, teams will compete at Calabogie Motorsports Park and Shannonville Motorsport Park in June. The penultimate round will be the only event held in Quebec this season – the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. The final race weekend will see the championship return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Some of the bigger announcements in the off-season were the signing of Quaker State oil and Koni shock absorbers as series partners. Also, newsworthy was the introduction of a new class, TCR. Cars prepared to TCR rules have been competing in the series for a couple of years, but in the GT Sport category, now they had their own division. As a result, there were some changes made to the race groups.

The four categories competing in the Canadian Touring Car Championship are:

  • Touring - This is intended to be an entry-level category. Vehicles competing in this class are allowed minimal performance enhancements. Manufacturers represented in this group include the – Mini Cooper S, Honda Civic Si, Acura RSX and Mazda RX-8.
  • TCR - This is an international class which was first introduced in 2014 to address the expense of competing in the World Touring Car Championship. These production-based cars are powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged engines which produce approximately 300-horsepower. Examples of vehicles competing in this category include: Audi RS 3 LMS, Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, Honda Civic Type-R TCR, Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR and Hyundai i30 N TCR.
  • GT Sport – GT Sport includes many of the same makes and models found in Touring. However, this category allows engine modifications and aerodynamic body enhancements. Cars competing in this group include the - Porsche Cayman GT4, Toyota GT86, Ford Mustang, Audi R8 LMS GT4 and BMW M235iR.
  • GT Cup – Introduced last year, the GT Cup class is comprised of ultra-performance race cars. Vehicles in this category are typically powered by six or eight-cylinder engines. Of the four groups, these cars produce the most horsepower. This division is home to cars such as the Porsche GT3 Cup and Ferrari 458 Challenge.

The Victoria Day race weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park included the NASCAR Canadian Tire and Pirelli World Challenge series. This event would be the Canadian Touring Car Championship’s season opener. Drivers would be competing in two forty-minute races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The start of round one for the 2019 Canadian Touring Car Championship and sixteen entrants funnel into Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s very quick turn one. Getting a jump on the field is the pole-sitter, Parker Thompson in the No. 1 Audi R8 LMS GT4. Trailing Thompson is the other front row starter, Matthew Taskinen driving an Audi RS3 LMS. Behind Taskinen and second in the GT Sport class is the BMW M235iR of Rocco Marciello.
Road to Indy standout, Parker Thompson made his Canadian Touring Car Championship debut. The 2017 Formula 1600 Super Series champion was entered in the GT Sport category and drove the Speedstar Motorsport prepared Audi R8 LMS GT4. The weekend was a clean sweep for Thompson - starting from the pole in rounds one and two, he led both contests flag-to-flag and in the process recorded the fastest race laps.
The former Formula 1600 standout, Matthew Taskinen gave notice early that he was going to be a threat for the TCR title. Driving an Audi RS3 LMS prepared by M1GT Racing, Taskinen appeared at the top of the timesheet in the first practice session. Like GT Sport competitor, Parker Thompson, he dominated the remainder of the weekend. Taskinen started both races on the class pole and captured a pair of wins.
The Kwok brothers, Tom and Gary of M&S Racing were the first competitors to introduce a TCR class car to the Canadian Touring Car Championship. They entered their first Honda Civic Type-R TCR in 2017 and it proved to be competitive in the GT Sport category. This weekend, Gary was entered in the No. 66 Honda and started round one fifth in TCR and finished second in class. The following day, he was fourth in his category.
While the GT Sport and TCR classes had healthy entry lists the same could not be said for the GT Cup and Touring categories. The only driver participating in GT Cup was Porsche GT3 Cup competitor, Martin Harvey. Unfortunately, Harvey, who was also entered in the Porsche GT3 Cup Canada event, crashed his car beyond repair and failed to start any races. In the Touring class, the lone contestant was Paul Joakim driving a Mazda RX-8.
There were four GT Sport entries with Parker Thompson dominating the category. The ‘best of the rest’ was Michael Delle Donne driving a BMW M235iR prepared by RMP Competizione. A series veteran, Delle Donne started the weekend’s first event thirteenth overall and last in GT Sport but at the finish, he was the category runner-up. On Sunday, he repeated his performance, albeit over a minute behind the class winner, Thompson.
TWOth Autosport entered three Audi RS3 LMS in the TCR category for drivers – Travis Hill, Edward Killeen and Ron Tomlinson. Quickest of the three was performance driving instructor, Hill in the No. 26 car. He was at a disadvantage as the newer Audis are equipped with a sequential transmission whereas Hill was competing with a direct shift gearbox. Despite not having this upgrade, he grabbed second and third place finishes.
The introduction of the TCR class to the Canadian Touring Car Championship is proving to be very popular. Rounds one and two witnessed ten drivers participating in this category with the Audi RS3 LMS being the dominant brand – eight Audis were entered. Driving the second M1GT prepared Audi in the TCR group was Jean-Francois Hevey. Hevey encountered issues in Saturday’s race but in round two he finished third.

FINISHCLASSDRIVERSPONSOR / CARLAPSRETIREMENTS
1GT SportParker ThompsonSpeedstar Motorsport / Audi R8 LMS GT429-
2TCRMatthew TaskinenM1GT Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR29-
3TCRGary KwokM&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR29-
4TCRTravis HillTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR29-
5TCRTom KwokM&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR29-
6GT SportMichael Delle DonneRMP Competizione / BMW M235iR29-
7TCRAlain LauziereAlphasonic Motorsport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR29-
8TCRNelson ChanAlphasonic Motorsport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR29-
9GT SportRocco MarcielloRMP Competizione / BMW M235iR29-
10TCRJean-Francois HeveyM1GT Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
11TCREd KilleenTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
12TCRRon TomlinsonTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
13TCRLindsay RiceRice Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
14TouringPaul JoakimCan-Saf Motorsports / Mazda RX-826-
DNFGT SportDamon SharpeBlanchet Motorsports / Toyota GT8618-
DNFTCRBob AttrellHyundai Racing Canada / Hyundai i30N7-
DNSGT CupMartin HarveyWingho Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup0-

FINISHCLASSDRIVERSPONSOR / CARLAPSRETIREMENTS
1GT SportParker ThompsonSpeedstar Motorsport / Audi R8 LMS GT428-
2TCRMatthew TaskinenM1GT Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
3TCRTravis HillTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
4TCRJean-Francois HeveyTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
5TCRGary KwokM&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR28-
6TCRBob AttrellHyundai Racing Canada / Hyundai i30N28-
7TCRRon TomlinsonTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
8TCRNelson ChanAlphasonic Motorsport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
9GT SportMichael Delle DonneRMP Competizione / BMW M235iR28-
10TCREd KilleenTWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR28-
11GT SportRocco MarcielloRMP Competizione / BMW M235iR27-
12TCRLindsay RiceRice Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR26-
13TCRAlain LauziereAlphasonic Motorsport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR29-
14TouringPaul JoakimCan-Saf Motorsports / Mazda RX-824-
DNFTCRTom KwokM&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR5-
DNSGT SportDamon SharpeBlanchet Motorsports / Toyota GT860-
DNSGT CupMartin HarveyWingho Racing / Porsche GT3 Cup0-

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