SPC - New race winners and championship leaders

Non-stop action under intense summer heat saw Marc Heroux win two of the three races, enabling him to take over the lead of the championship standings. In the third race, victory went to Sylvain Laporte while in the Compact Class, the Bastien family’s clean sweep with three victories did not prevent Kurt Wittmer (of the famed Wittmer family) from taking over the top spot in the class championship.

Two distinct races, one of an hour long, separated into two round, and another of thirty minutes at night, were on the program for the competitors in the SPC series presented by BFGoodrich Tire Canada. Held on Circuit ICAR’s short track, these races offered an uninterrupted show for the fans but also required the drivers to put their traffic management skills to use.

After qualifying in pole position for the first race, rookie Sebastien Lamontagne (Acura RSX) found himself in eighth spot on the starting grid once the inversing of the top eight qualifiers’ placements was finalized. This turned out to be a lucky break for championship leader Jacques Gravel (BMW 330i), who then found himself in second place behind Maxime Paquet (Hyundai Tiburon). As soon as the race started, Gravel claimed the lead and many expected him to dominate the race.

However, two-time series’ champion Marc Heroux (Toyota GT-86) had other ideas, taking over the lead just before the half-way mark and not looking back. Lamontagne and Gravel rounded out the podium.
Thirty minutes later, by the end of the second round, Heroux had maintained first place ahead of Lamontagne while Sylvain Laporte (Mini Cooper Challenge) was able to overtake Gravel for third.

In the Compact Class, Kevin Bastien (Mini Cooper) dominated the entire hour, earning the victory in both races. Each time was ahead of Kurt Wittmer (Honda Fit), Eric Bellemare (Honda Civic), Paul Morin (Toyota Echo), Mathieu Legris (Toyota Echo) and Gabriel Lacombe (Honda Civic).

Race 2

Contested at night, the second race, which was effectively the season’s seventh event of the SPC series presented by BFGoodrich Tire Canada, was exciting from start to finish. A thirty-minute sprint race saw Sylvain Laporte earn the win, his second outright victory after claiming one in Calabogie last month. Starting third on the grid, he chipped away at it lap after lap while Heroux and Lamontagne were in a tight battle behind him. Second place went to Heroux, which, with Gravel finishing sixth, was enough to send him into the top spot of the drivers’ championship standings.

Sebastien Lamontagne completed the podium in third with another magnificent performance that allowed him to overtake Alexandre Lapierre (Honda Accord) and Eric Durand (Chevrolet Cobalt SS).
The battle in Compact Class ended once again with a Bastien claiming victory but this time it was Pascal Bastien who completed his son Kevin’s work towards a family trifecta. He won just ahead of Gabriel Lacombe, of Trois-Rivieres. The Top 6 was completed by Kurt Wittmer, Eric Bellemare, Paul Morin and Julien Legris.

In the championship, Kurt Wittmer’s consistency has paid off as his one victory, combined with podium finishes in every other race, now puts him in his class’ top spot.

The SPC’s next event will again be at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel on July 2nd and 3rd, as part of the complex’s NASCAR Grand Prix and this time, the drivers will be using the long track, which presents completely different challenges for the drivers than what they experienced this past Saturday.

SPC