2019 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Canadian Touring Car Championship

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.

Rounds nine and ten of the 2019 Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Pirelli were conducted at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. During this final weekend, drivers would compete in two forty-minute races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The opening lap for the final round of the Canadian Touring Car Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Leading the field of fifteen starters through Moss Corner is Gary Kwok in the M&S Racing Honda Civic TCR. In pursuit of Kwok are the top two GT Sport competitors. Driving the No. 33 Team Speedstar Audi R8 LMS GT4 is Friday’s winner, Nathan Blok. Following Blok is George Staikos in a Mercedes AMG GT4.

George Staikos joined the Canadian Touring Car series for the final two rounds of the season. Staikos was sixth fastest in qualifying, driving the No. 6 GRS Autosport Mercedes AMG GT4. In the penultimate round, he recorded the quickest race lap and finished in the runner-up position. During Saturday’s contest, Staikos chased down the race leader, Nathan Blok and passed him halfway through the event for the win.

M&S Racing’s Tom Kwok delivered some impressive results during the final weekend of the 2019 Canadian Touring Car Championship season. For round nine, Kwok was the ninth fastest overall and fifth in the TCR category. During the race, he improved his position and finished second in class, driving the No. 55 M&S Racing Honda Civic TCR. The following day, Kwok went one better and captured the TCR victory.

Gary Kwok drove the No. 66 M&S Racing Honda Civic TCR. Kwok led the TCR points entering the final weekend. He qualified second overall and in class for Friday’s race, but grabbed the lead early and scored a victory in his category. In the finale, Kwok started on the front row but opted for a conservative pace. He finished eighth overall/sixth in his group and earned enough points to win the championship.

During the 2019 season, Parker Thompson campaigned the No. 33 Team Speed Audi R8 LMS GT4 and secured the GT Sport title before the final two races. With the championship in hand and an Indy Pro 2000 date conflict, Thompson was replaced by Nathan Blok. Blok, who last competed in the series during 2017, adapted quickly to the Audi. He won Friday’s event by a margin of 7.894-seconds and finished second in the finale.

RMP Competizione teammates Rocco Marciello and Michael DelleDonne participated in the final weekend driving a pair of BMW M235iR. They each earned a GT Sport podium finish. In the weekends, first race, DelleDonne inherited a third in class when Marciello retired with a flat tire. The next day, a tire issue took DelleDonne out of contention and gave Marciello the final spot on the rostrum.

Jean-Francois Hevey won the round nine pole-position by just 0.014-seconds. The driver of the No. 21 TRC/M1GT Audi RS3 LMS TCR recorded a 1:24.338, which was quicker than the lap record set earlier in the year. Unfortunately, Hevey was unable to hold off the Hondas of Gary and Tom Kwok and finished third in class. On Saturday, he fell out of contention early and finished seventh overall and fifth in TCR.

The second TRC/M1GT entry was driven by Matthew Taskinen. Taskinen, driving the No. 23 Audi RS3 LMS TCR won the first two-rounds at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the May Victoria Day Speedfest weekend. In the qualifying session for round nine, he recorded the third-fastest time in TCR but finished fourth in class. In the finale, Taskinen was the category runner-up by a margin of 0.694-seconds.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	SPONSOR / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GT Sport	Nathan Blok	Team Speedstar / Audi R8 LMS GT4	26	-
2	GT Sport	George Staikos	GRS Autosport / Mercedes AMG GT4	26	-
3	TCR	Gary Kwok	M&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR	26	-
4	TCR	Tom Kwok	M&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR	26	-
5	TCR	Jean-Francois Hevey	M1GT Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	26	-
6	TCR	Matthew Taskinen	TRC/M1GT / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	26	-
7	TCR	Bob Attrell	Hyundai Racing Canada / Hyundai i30N	26	-
8	GT Sport	Michael Delle Donne	RMP Competizione / BMW M235iR	26	-
9	TCR	Travis Hill	TWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	26	-
10	TCR	Eddie Killeen	TWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	26	-
11	TCR	Ron Tomlinson	TWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	26	-
12	GT Sport	Damon Sharpe	Blanchet Motorsports / Audi RS3 LMS	26	-
13	GT Sport	Fareed Ali	TWOth Autosport / Porsche 997.2 C2S	21	-
14	GT Sport	Rocco Marciello	RMP Competizione / BMW M235iR	20	-
-	TCR	Lindsay Rice	Rice Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	-	DNS

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	SPONSOR / CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GT Sport	George Staikos	GRS Autosport / Mercedes AMG GT4	28	-
2	GT Sport	Nathan Blok	Team Speedstar / Audi R8 LMS GT4	28	-
3	TCR	Tom Kwok	M&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR	28	-
4	TCR	Matthew Taskinen	TRC/M1GT / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	28	-
5	TCR	Travis Hill	TWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	28	-
6	TCR	Bob Attrell	Hyundai Racing Canada / Hyundai i30N	28	-
7	TCR	Jean-Francois Hevey	M1GT Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	28	-
8	TCR	Gary Kwok	M&S Racing / Honda Civic TCR	28	-
9	TCR	Ron Tomlinson	TWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	28	-
10	TCR	Eddie Killeen	TWOth Autosport / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	28	-
11	GT Sport	Damon Sharpe	Blanchet Motorsports / Audi RS3 LMS	28	-
12	GT Sport	Rocco Marciello	RMP Competizione / BMW M235iR	28	-
13	TCR	Lindsay Rice	Rice Racing / Audi RS3 LMS TCR	27	-
14	GT Sport	Michael Delle Donne	RMP Competizione / BMW M235iR	26	-
15	GT Sport	Fareed Ali	TWOth Autosport / Porsche 997.2 C2S	22	-

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