HMCS: Mosport Saturday summary

SECOND CONSECUTIVE HONDA/MICHELIN POLE FOR NICK WITTMER

Bowmanville, ON, June 18, 2005 - Nick Wittmer of Hudson (QC) won his second consecutive Honda/Michelin Series pole on Saturday when he lapped the 3.957-kilometre Mosport International Raceway He posted a lap time in 1 minute 42.550 seconds at an average speed of 139.910 km/h. He edged out points leader Didier Schraenen of Mont-Saint-Hilaire (QC) by only 0.088 seconds. Schraenen drove his Energie/NAPA/RDS Honda around the road course in 1 minute 42.638 seconds (139.791 km/h). Third place went to Steven Laporte of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs with a lap time of 1:42.710, only 0.160 seconds back of Wittmer's pole time.

''The car was great,'' said Nick Wittmer who won from the pole in Round 2 in Montreal last week. ''The Honda de Sigi Autosport crew made some minor adjustments at mid-session because the rear was sliding. When I went out again, I was able to go full out into all the corners. At one point, I knew I was on a hot lap. I radioed in and told them to check out the times 'cause I knew it was pole material. It was. If we run the same constant laps in the race tomorrow, we will be hard to catch.''

A for Schraenen, one of the things that upset him was the point for the pole that he didn't get. He currently leads the standings by one point over Laporte (65-64). ''I didn't get the pole, but I still own the track record (1:42.447 set last May),'' said Didier. ''It's the second race in a row that I missed getting the pole by less than one hundred of a second. It's so tight up front. Starting on the front row is always a good thing. If all the drivers behave on the track, we should have an exciting race.''

Third-place Laporte also thought that he had a good chance to win the pole. ''We put on a new set of Michelin tires for qualifying and the car ran great,'' said the Lombardi Racing Honda driver. ''I gave it all I could, but Nick (Wittmer) was slightly better. Starting behind the polesitter, I will have the best seat in the house when the lights go green for the race. Any slight mistake by anyone on the front row will be costly to them. I will take advantage of any opportunity they give me.''

Alex Penfold of Georgetown (ON) brought his Pfaff Leasing Honda in fourth place ahead of Robert Boyer of Sainte-Anne-des-Lacs and Emmanuel Boivin-Moreau of Longueuil. Kuno Wittmer will share row four with Frederick Lelièvre of Mont-Joli (QC). Sunday's 16-lap race, Round 3 of the Honda/Michelin Challenge Series, is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.

-hmcs-