2008 Trois-Rivieres - Canadian Touring Car Championship

The 2008 Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Toyo Tires offered racers an excellent opportunity to showcase their talents at some of eastern Canada’s most widely recognized and well-established race tracks. The series provided amateur competitors with professionally organized events that would attract sponsors and fans.

This 2008 schedule consists of eight race weekends. The format at each venue includes two races – generally, thirty-minutes in length. The season kicks off on the Victoria Day long weekend at Mosport International Raceway. This is followed by the series only stop at Shannonville Motorsports Park. In mid-June, the championship returns to Mosport as a support event for the NASCAR Canadian Tire series. In July, teams travel Quebec and compete at the new ICAR Mirabel Airport circuit. Then it is back to Ontario for a weekend at Calabogie Motorsports Park. The final visit to Quebec takes place on the street circuit at Trois-Rivieres. The final two weekends of the championship will be conducted at Mosport. The penultimate rounds with be held on the Labour Day weekend with the finale in mid-September.

Perhaps the most significant change in the off-season was the elimination of the Grand Touring category. In 2008, there would be two classes.

Touring – This is intended to be an entry-level category. Vehicles competing in this class are allowed a minimal amount of performance enhancements. Manufacturers represented in this group include the Mini Cooper S, Honda Civic, Mazda Protege, Nissan Sentra and Acura Integra.
Super Touring – Super Touring includes many of the same makes and models found in Touring. However, this category allows engine modifications and aerodynamic enhancements. Additional manufacturers competing in the group include BMW, Subaru and Audi.

Rounds eleven and twelve of the 2008 Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Toyo Tires was held at Trois-Rivieres. Drivers would compete in two thirty-minute contests around the eleven-turn 2.462-km temporary street circuit.

It is Saturday afternoon at the Circuit Trois-Rivieres and thirty-eight competitors head to turn one for the start of round eleven of the 2008 Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship. Leading the way is the No. 52 Subaru WRX STi, driven by the pole-sitter, Nigel Krikorian. Behind Krikorian are the second and third fastest qualifiers, Kuno Wittmer and Mathieu Audette, who failed to complete the first lap.

Nigel Krikorian, driving the No. 52 Versace Parfums sponsored Subaru WRX STi, scored the maximum points ‘up for grabs’ at Trois-Rivieres. Krikorian had difficulty mastering the four-wheel-drive Subaru earlier in the season, but in the second half of the year, he was finishing at or near the top of the result’s sheet. With two more victories to his credit, Krikorian left Trois-Rivieres with a total of five wins to date.

Local resident, Daniel Blanchette did not start his 2008 campaign until the Grand Prix de Mirabel at ICAR. There he recorded second and eighth-place finishes in the Touring category driving the No. 89 Equipe 89 Acura Integra Type R. In his hometown, Blanchette started race one in the nineteenth position and finished sixth overall and first in class. On Sunday, the Acura was driven by Rejean Vincent, who was sixth.

The Velocity Motorsport team entered two very quick Honda Civic Si-R in the Super Touring category. The No. 45 Honda was raced by Peter Lejbjuk. Lejbjuk had swept the two previous rounds at Calabogie Motorsport Park. He qualified ninth fastest for the weekend’s first contest at Trois-Rivieres and captured the final position on the rostrum. On Sunday, Lejbjuk started and finished third in class.

Former open-wheel racer, Greg Pootmans made his 2008 series debut in rounds nine and ten at Calabogie Motorsport Park. Pootmans filled the seat vacated by the defending Super Touring class champion, Charles-Andre Bilodeau. His results at Calabogie were less than spectacular, but he redeemed himself at Trois-Rivieres by capturing second and fifth place finishes driving the No. 1 GT Racing BMW 325i.

The round twelve Super Touring podium for the 2008 Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship. In the center is Nigel Krikorian, who swept the weekend’s races at Trois-Rivieres. On the left side of the rostrum is the runner-up, Etienne Borgeat. This was Borgeat’s sixth podium finish of the season. The final position is occupied by Velocity Motorsport’s, Peter Lejbjuk, who scored a pair of third-place finishes.

Round twelve at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres was conducted early Sunday morning. The first competitor into corner one is yesterday’s winner and the pole-sitter, Nigel Krikorian. Chasing Krikorian are the BMWs of Greg Pootmans and David Bensadoun, who started fourth. Also in the shot are the Honda Civics of Pascal Carre and Kenneth Lau. Twenty-nine competitors took the Starter’s flag for this race.

Kenneth Lau was another driver that did not start his season until rounds nine and ten at Calabogie Motorsport Park. At Calabogie, he had sixth and seventh place finishes in the Touring category. At Trois-Rivieres, Lau proved to be much more competitive. Driving the No. 39 Durabond Products sponsored Honda Civic, he captured a runner-up finish on Saturday and the next day, Lau scored his first victory of 2008.

Andre Rapone, driver of the No. 73 Acura Integra Type R entered races eleven and twelve leading the Touring standings. But he was challenged at every event by his brother Anthony and the No. 04 Mazda Protege of Twofast Racing’s, Christian Raymond. Rapone increased his points lead when Raymond crashed in round eleven and he finished ahead of Anthony on Saturday and Sunday.

Super Touring title contender, Etienne Borgeat, drove the No. 2 GT Racing prepared BMW 325i. To date, Borgeat’s season did not include any victories, but he had a runner-up finish at Mosport and a total of five podium results entering Trois-Rivieres. In the first race of the weekend, Borgeat started fourth but finished seventh in class. On Sunday, he fared much better, earning his second runner-up result of 2008.

The second Velocity Motorsport entry was raced by Scott Nicol. Nicol’s season thus far had been quite frustrating, with his best result being a fourth place at Shannonville. Trois-Rivieres would be another character-building weekend. He qualified in a respectable fifth place for the weekend’s first race, but contact resulted in a nineteenth place finish. On Sunday, he gained twelve spots and finished seventh in Super Touring.

One the Touring class title contenders was Anthony Rapone, driver of the No. 72 Durabond Products Acura Integra Type R. Also, in the hunt for the championship was his brother Andre and Christian Raymond. On Saturday, he was gridded twenty-fifth overall but finished fourth in class. In the final race of the weekend, Rapone started in eleventh place but was third in the Touring category at the checkered flag.

The celebration begins for the top-three Touring class finishers on Sunday. In the center is the winner, Kenneth Lau. Lau is flanked by the second and third place finishers – the Rapone brothers, Andre who, finished second and Anthony who earned the final position on the podium. It is interesting to note that the three drivers were sponsored by Durabond Products.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR / SPONSOR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	Super Touring	Nigel Krikorian	Subaru WRX STi / Krikorian & Co.	20	-
2	Super Touring	Greg Pootmans	BMW 325i / GT Racing	20	-
3	Super Touring	Peter Lejbjuk	Honda Civic Si-R / Velocity Motorsport	20	-
4	Super Touring	David Bensadoun	BMW 328i / Aldo	20	-
5	Super Touring	Pascal Carre	Honda Civic / PCS Motorsports	20	-
6	Touring	Daniel Blanchette	Acura Integra Type R / Équipe 89	20	-
7	Super Touring	Kenneth Lau	Honda Civic / Durabond Products Ltd.	20	-
8	Super Touring	Etienne Borgeat	BMW 325i / GT Racing	20	-
9	Super Touring	Eric Hochgeschurz	BMW 328i / 8Legs Racing	20	-
10	Touring	Andre Rapone	Acura Integra Type R / Durabond Products Ltd.	20	-
11	Touring	Anthony Rapone	Acura Integra Type R / Durabond Products Ltd.	20	-
12	Touring	Nigel Heron	Acura Integra Type R / Heron Motorsports	20	-
13	Touring	P.J. Groenke	Honda Civic / Groenke	20	-
14	Touring	Brad Young	Honda Civic / Dow Racing	20	-
15	Touring	Andrew Bearss	Mercedes C230 Kompresseur / Star Motor	20	-
16	Super Touring	Paul Dargis	BMW M3 / Dargis Motorsports	20	-
17	Touring	Eric Leblanc	Mazda Protege / Twofast Racing	19	-
18	Touring	Frank Blanchet	Nissan Sentra / Blanchet	19	-
19	Super Touring	Scott Nicol	Honda Civic / Velocity Motorsport	19	-
20	Super Touring	Sylvain Laporte	Honda Civic / Lombardi Racing	19	Penalty
21	Touring	Thomas Bork	Mazda Protege / Doc B Racing	19	-
22	Touring	Roger Bowes	Nissan Sentra / Bowes	19	-
23	Super Touring	Marc-Antoine Camirand	BMW M Z3 Coupe / Production Le Carrossier	18	-
24	Touring	Stéphane Trahan	Honda Civic / Trac Racing	18	-
25	Touring	Alain Lauzière	Mini Cooper S / Mini Canada	18	-
26	Super Touring	Jocelyn Hebert	Honda Civic Si / 89 Racing Team	11	Bearing
27	Touring	Christian Raymond	Mazda Protege / Twofast Racing	11	Accident
28	Touring	John Lockhart	Saab 93 Sport / JL Racing	11	Accident
29	Super Touring	Jacques Deshaies	Audi A4 Turbo / Ingolstadt Compétition	3	Mechanical
30	Super Touring	Arek Wojciechowski	BMW 328i / 8Legs Racing	1	Accident
31	Super Touring	Jean-Luc Bergeron	BMW 328i / Fondation Mira	1	Did Not Finish
32	Super Touring	Kuno Wittmer	Honda Civic / Lombardi Racing	0	Accident
33	Super Touring	Mathieu Audette	Acura RSX Type-S / Audette Racing	0	Accident
-	Super Touring	Nicholas Krikorian	Subaru WRX STi / Krikorian & Co.	20	Excluded
-	Super Touring	Andrew Danyliw	Chevrolet Cobalt SS / Schmidt Racing	20	Excluded
-	Super Touring	Gary Kwok	Honda Civic / M&S Racing	17	Excluded

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR / SPONSOR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	Super Touring	Nigel Krikorian	Subaru WRX STi / Krikorian & Co.	15	-
2	Super Touring	Etienne Borgeat	BMW 325i / GT Racing	15	-
3	Super Touring	Peter Lejbjuk	Honda Civic Si-R / Velocity Motorsport	15	-
4	Super Touring	David Bensadoun	BMW 328i / Aldo	15	-
5	Super Touring	Greg Pootmans	BMW 325i / GT Racing	15	-
6	Super Touring	Mathieu Audette	Acura RSX Type-S / Audette Racing	15	-
7	Super Touring	Scott Nicol	Honda Civic / Velocity Motorsport	15	-
8	Super Touring	Pascal Carre	Honda Civic / PCS Motorsports	15	-
9	Super Touring	Sylvain Laporte	Honda Civic / Lombardi Racing	15	-
10	Super Touring	Kenneth Lau	Honda Civic / Durabond Products Ltd.	15	-
11	Touring	Andre Rapone	Acura Integra Type R / Durabond Products Ltd.	15	-
12	Touring	Anthony Rapone	Acura Integra Type R / Durabond Products Ltd.	15	-
13	Super Touring	Eric Hochgeschurz	BMW 328i / 8Legs Racing	15	-
14	Super Touring	Jacques Deshaies	Audi A4 Turbo / Ingolstadt Compétition	15	-
15	Touring	Eric Leblanc	Mazda Protege / Twofast Racing	15	-
16	Touring	Nigel Heron	Acura Integra Type R / Heron Motorsports	15	-
17	Touring	Rejean Vincent	Acura Integra Type R / Équipe 89	15	-
18	Super Touring	Paul Dargis	BMW M3 / Dargis Motorsports	15	-
19	Touring	Stéphane Trahan	Honda Civic / Trac Racing	15	-
20	Touring	Alain Lauzière	Mini Cooper S / Mini Canada	15	-
21	Touring	Brad Young	Honda Civic / Dow Racing	14	-
22	Touring	Christian Raymond	Mazda Protege / Twofast Racing	14	-
23	Touring	P.J. Groenke	Honda Civic / Groenke Racing	14	-
24	Touring	Frank Blanchet	Nissan Sentra / Blanchet	14	-
25	Touring	Roger Bowes	Nissan Sentra / Bowes	13	-
26	Super Touring	Kuno Wittmer	Honda Civic / Lombardi Racing	12	Did Not Finish
27	Touring	Andrew Bearss	Mercedes C230 Kompresseur / Star Motor	7	Did Not Finish
28	Super Touring	Arek Wojciechowski	BMW 328i / 8Legs Racing	5	Did Not Finish
29	Super Touring	Jean-Luc Bergeron	BMW 328i / Fondation Mira	3	Did Not Finish
-	Touring	Thomas Bork	Mazda Protege / Doc B Racing	0	Did Not Start
-	Super Touring	Marc-Antoine Camirand	BMW M Z3 Coupe / Production Le Carrossier	0	Did Not Start
-	Super Touring	Jocelyn Hebert	Honda Civic Si / 89 Racing Team	0	Did Not Start
-	Touring	John Lockhart	Saab 93 Sport / JL Racing	0	Did Not Start

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