HMCS: Mont-Tremblant Friday practice notes

SYLVAIN OUELLET SETS BEST TIME IN HONDA/MICHELIN PRACTICE SESSIONS

Mont-Tremblant, QC, September 23 2005 - Sylvain Ouellet from Louiseville, Quebec posted the quickest time in Friday's two Honda/Michelin Challenge Series practice sessions at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. Ouellet paced the picturesque 4.270-kilometre road course in a time of 2 minutes 1.197 seconds for an average speed of 126.835 km/h. Series defending champion and 2005 points leader Steven Laporte was second fastest with a time of 2:01.268, ahead of Kuno Wittmer of the Honda de Sigi AutoSport team, who toured the race course in 2:01.272. Laporte was only 0.071 of a second back of Ouellet, while Kuno Wittmer was four thousandths of second behind second place Laporte.

Fourth place went to Robert Boyer, Laporte's teammate on the Lombardi Honda Racing team, followed by Didier Schraenen and Frederick Lelièvre. Nick Wittmer, younger brother of Kuno Wittmer, drove his Ste. Rose Honda to seventh place ahead of rookie Tyler Givogue of Ottawa. Kris Rams of Toronto and 16-year old rookie Philip Major, also of Ottawa, round out the top-10.

On Tap This Weekend...
Drivers return to the track on Saturday for two qualifying sessions. The best result from each driver during qualifying will set the grid for Sunday's 16-lap race scheduled to start at 1:25 p.m.

In the points standing after seven rounds, Steven Laporte is on top with 208 points, two more than Kuno Wittmer. Nick Wittmer sits in third place with a total of 205, still within striking distance of Laporte with two races to go. Didier Schraenen is still fourth with 192 points, followed by Lelièvre who has moved up one position to fifth with 179 points.

The Series
The Honda Michelin Challenge Series is sanctioned by ASN Canada FIA, sponsored by Honda Canada Inc. Supporting partners include: Michelin North America (Canada) Inc, Dynamic Suspensions, Bosal, CSC Racing Products, Goodridge, NGK Spark Plugs, Hawk Performance, Mechanix Wear and Racing Radios.

Honda is the world's preeminent maker of engines for automobiles, motorcycles and power equipment. With more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries worldwide, Honda now attracts nearly 20 million customers annually. Honda Canada manufactures the Honda Ridgeline, Civic, Pilot, and the Acura EL and MDX at its two plants in Alliston, Ontario.

-HMCS 2005-