2017 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - World Challenge

The 2017 Pirelli World Challenge season is the twenty-eighth consecutive year for the championship. There are eleven race weekends. The Grand Touring Sport category title chase kicks-off in March at Saint Petersburg. This event is followed by races at Virginia International Raceway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock Park, Road America, Mid-Ohio and Utah Motorsport Complex. The penultimate rounds are held a Circuit of the Americas with the finale taking place at Sonoma Raceway in mid-September.

An additional class was added to the Grand Touring Sport category in 2017:

Grand Touring Sport (GTS) – The cars in this group are similar to the Grand Touring vehicles but have more preparation restrictions. Drivetrain layouts include all-wheel-drive and front and rear-wheel drive. These cars may be powered by forced induction or normally aspirated motors. In previous years, the Grand Touring Sport class was mainly comprised of Ford, Chevrolet and Porsche products. In 2016, this category witnessed an influx of FIA GT4 vehicles which proved to be very competitive – Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport, KTM Xbow GT4, Ginetta G55 GT4 and SIN R1 GT4.

Grand Touring Sport Amateur (GTSA) – This class was introduced in 2017 and is created to accommodate drivers that are not considered professionals. However, competitors in this group are evaluated after each event and based on their performance may be elevated to the Grand Touring Sport category.

Rounds five and six of the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Grand Touring Sport (GTS) season took place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Twenty Grand Touring Sport drivers competed in the two fifty-minute races around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The round five pole-sitter, Martin Barkey driving a KTM Xbow GT4 leads the twenty car GTS field into turn three on the first lap. Behind Barkey is the second fastest qualifier driver, Jade Buford in the SIN R1 GT4 and third place starter, Ernie Francis, Jr. in the new Ford Mustang GT4.

Jade Buford swept both rounds at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Buford driving the SIN R1 GT4 prepared by Racers Edge Motorsports qualified second for the weekend’s first event but on lap-15 of the fifty-minute race he passed the leader, Ernie Francis, Jr. and won by a margin of 8.490-seconds. In the Sunday contest, Buford led flag-to-flag.

Local racer, Martin Barkey grabbed the pole for round five. Driving the Mantella Autosport KTM Xbow GT4, Barkey led the contest until he was passed early in the event by second and third place qualifiers, Jade Buford and Ernie Francis, Jr. He finished fifth, losing positions to his Lawson Aschenbach and his teammate, Anthony Mantella. On Sunday, Barkey he was eighth.

After four rounds, two-time GTS champion, Lawson Aschenbach was yet to win a race. However, consistency was paying off as he led the point standings on the basis of two second and third place finishes. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this trend continued – Aschenbach could not keep pace with Jade Buford or Ernie Francis, Jr. but was able to score a second and third.

Always quick, Anthony Mantella had difficulty scoring points in the first for events. In the second race of the season at St. Petersburg, he did not collect any points. The situation improved for Mantella at his home track, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. He qualified fifth for round five and finished fourth. In the final event of the weekend, the driver of the No. 8 KTM Xbow GT4 captured the final spot on the podium.

The No. 04 McLaren 570S GT4 was prepared by GMG Racing and driven in the Amateur division by George Kurtz. Kurtz failed to score points in round three and four at Virginia International Raceway but his results turned around at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. In the weekend’s first event, Kurtz started and finished second in class. On Sunday, he scored his first of the season.

Former Pirelli World Challenge ‘Rookie of the Year’ and current Trans Am competitor, Ernie Francis, Jr. returned to the series driving a new Ford Mustang prepared to GT4 specifications. Francis qualified third Saturday and led for eight laps but was passed by the eventual winner, Jade Buford and finished second. The following day, he was set to start from the second position of the grid but a mechanical failure ended a promising debut.

The start of Sunday’s Grand Touring Sport race and pole-sitter, Jade Buford leads the field through turn one. Second fastest qualifier, Ernie Francis, Jr. had a mechanical failure on the starting line and did make it to the first corner. Slotting into second is the KTM Xbow GT4 of local competitor, Anthony Mantella.

Probably the busiest 2017 Pirelli World Challenge competitor was Aristotle Balogh. Balogh had driven three different cars (BMW M235iR, Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and BMW M3) in three different classes (Touring Car, Grand Touring Sport Amateur and SprintX). At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, he made his first appearance in a new BMW M3 and posted a first and third in Grand Touring Sport Amateur.

Series veteran, Tony Gaples was the fastest Amateur category qualifier – he started tenth overall in the Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro GT4. In round five, Gaples was passed by fellow Amateur competitors Aristotle Balogh and George Kurtz – he was third in class at the checkered flag. On Sunday, he started and finished in the runner-up position.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	SPONSOR / CAR	LAPS
1	GTS	Jade Buford	Racers Edge Motorsports / SIN R1 GT4	36
2	GTS	Ernie Francis Jr.	PF Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	36
3	GTS	Lawson Aschenbach	Blackdog Speed Shop / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	36
4	GTS	Anthony Mantella	Mantella Autosport / KTM Xbow GT4	36
5	GTS	Martin Barkey	Mantella Autosport / KTM Xbow GT4	36
6	GTS	Jeff Courtney	JCR Motorsports / Maserati GT4	36
7	GTSA	Aristotle Balogh	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M3 E46	36
8	GTSA	George Kurtz	GMG Racing / McLaren 570S GT4	36
9	GTS	Nate Stacy	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	36
10	GTSA	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	36
11	GTS	Alan Brynjolfsson	VOLT Racing / McLaren 570S GT4	36
12	GTSA	Cameron Cassels	Case-it Racing / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	36
13	GTSA	Fred Roberts	JCR Motorsports / Maserati GT4	35
14	GTSA	Adam Merzon	Case-it Racing / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	35
15	GTSA	Bill Ziegler	ANSA Motorsports / KTM Xbow GT4	35
16	GTSA	Roman De Angelis	ANSA Motorsports / KTM Xbow GT4	34
17	GTSA	Craig Lyons	TRG-AMR / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	34
18	GTSA	Jason Bell	Racers Edge Motorsports / KTM Xbow GT4	34
19	GTSA	Mark Klenin	KPR / McLaren 570S GT4	32
20	GTS	Rodrigo Baptista	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	31
21	GTS	Ian James	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT	30

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	SPONSOR / CAR	LAPS
1	GTS	Jade Buford	Racers Edge Motorsports / SIN R1 GT4	33
2	GTS	Lawson Aschenbach	Blackdog Speed Shop / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	33
3	GTS	Anthony Mantella	Mantella Autosport / KTM Xbow GT4	33
4	GTS	Ian James	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT	33
5	GTS	Jeff Courtney	JCR Motorsports / Maserati GT4	33
6	GTS	Rodrigo Baptista	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	33
7	GTS	Nate Stacy	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	33
8	GTS	Martin Barkey	Mantella Autosport / KTM Xbow GT4	33
9	GTSA	George Kurtz	GMG Racing / McLaren 570S GT4	33
10	GTSA	Tony Gaples	Blackdog Speed Shop / Chevrolet Camaro GT4	33
11	GTSA	Aristotle Balogh	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M3 E46	33
12	GTSA	Fred Roberts	JCR Motorsports / Maserati GT4	33
13	GTSA	Jason Bell	Racers Edge Motorsports / KTM Xbow GT4	33
14	GTSA	Bill Ziegler	ANSA Motorsports / KTM Xbow GT4	32
15	GTSA	Craig Lyons	TRG-AMR / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	32
16	GTSA	Adam Merzon	Case-it Racing / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	28
17	GTSA	Cameron Cassels	Case-it Racing / Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport	28
18	GTSA	Mark Klenin	KPR / McLaren 570S GT4	17
NC	GTS	Ernie Francis Jr.	PF Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	0

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