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Race report

Canadian Weekly Notebook - Lessard takes 10th place in ARCA race

Teenager Raphaël Lessard claimed top-10 finish in the Winchester ARCA 200, round of the ARCA series held at Winchester Speedway.

Raphael Lessard

Raphael Lessard

Heath Lawson / HLP

Raphael Lessard
Raphael Lessard
Kami Laliberté, Van Amersfoort Racing
Kami Laliberté, Van Amersfoort Racing
#69 McLaren GT4: Jesse Lazare, Chris Green
#69 McLaren GT4: Jesse Lazare, Chris Green

Lessard qualified the No. 25 Musselman's BIG CUP Apple Sauce-Toyota-Camry prepared by Venturini Motorsports seventh for the 200-lap race staged on this oval with 31-degree banking turns.

“Everything was going great at the beginning of the race,” declared the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) driver. “I started the race seventh and climbed up to third place. The car was so good that I thought I could win the race. But then the car started pushing in the corners. The team asked me to run along the wall to avoid an accident if ever it was a flat, and sure enough, the next lap I hit the wall when my front right tire exploded!”

Raphaël earned a Lucky Dog on a subsequent yellow flag when he was two laps down and in 14th position. This helped him gain back some positions and secure the final Top-10 spot, one lap behind the leader, despite brake issues from the earlier incident. This was Lessard's third and final race in the ARCA series this season.

A weekend to forget for Kami Laliberté

The victim of a virus, Kami Laliberté endured a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring in the German Formula 4 Championship. The young Canadian was so sick and was feeling so unwell that he was forced to miss the two practice sessions. He managed to qualify 15th for the first race. However, he got hit from behind on Lap 2, and a flat tire ended his race.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver took the start of the second race on Row 8. He was running in 17th place when the race was stopped after Cedric Piro hit the barriers at high speed after he lost his brakes. Laliberté then found himself too sick to race and decided not to take the start of the third and final race of the meeting.

Lazare and Green on the podium

Jesse Lazare and Chris Green finished in third place in the race of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The two Canadians drove their Motorsports In Action (MIA) McLaren 570S GT4 to third place. The race, scheduled for two hours, was stopped after a sudden downpour.

Green took the start and ran with the leaders and made it to third when the team asked him to pit to service and the mandatory driver change. Lazare was ready for a great battle but the rain flooded the track, forcing the race to the stopped. It was not restarted eventually and the Canadians was awarded third place. The sister car, driven by Kenny Wilden and American Rod Randall, was classified 10th in the GS Class, on lap behind the winners.

Brandon Watson wins the Spira Beat the Heat 100

The great season for Brandon Watson continues as the APC Series points leader kicked off the second half of the season winning the The Spira Beat the Heat 100 at Sauble Speedway.

Eight drivers set qualifying times under the previous track record set in 2016, with Brandon Watson setting the fastest time at a 14.030 seconds. The time shattered the old record of 14.307 as drivers made use of their extra laps with the new qualifying format. Matt Pritiko qualified second fastest with Andy Kamrath laying down the third fastest time.

After the pill draw it would be Tim Ellis leading the field to the green flag in his APC Series debut with 2016 Rookie of the Year winner Shae Gemmell starting alongside and sharing a spot on the front row. Pole winner Brandon Watson would roll off from the third position with Pritiko alongside him.

After starting third after the pill draw to determine the starting lineup, Brandon Watson moved into second place by Lap 7 with a pass on Tim Ellis. Watson took the lead on Lap 12 and went on to score his fifth win in six races held this season in the Canadian Late Model series.

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Edition

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