2021 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Toyo Tires F1600 Championship

The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series was scheduled to start its 2021 season in early June at Shannonville Motorsport Park. However, the pandemic prevented race events from starting until provincial restrictions were lifted. The revised calendar kicked off in June at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as part of the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix. A month later, the series returns to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in conjunction with the BARC Canadian Touring Trophy Races. This event was followed by the championship’s only visit to Calabogie Motorsport Park. Teams are in action again on the Labour Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The penultimate event occurs during mid-September at the BEMC Late Summer Trophy Races. The Celebration of Motorsports at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is the replacement for the weekend cancelled early in the season and acts as the series finale. A total of eighteen contests will be conducted during 2021 to determine category champions.

The single-seater, open-wheel race cars in the championship are powered by one of two engine options - a four-cylinder, 1600-cc Ford engine or the 1.5-liter HPD Honda L15A7. Both motors produce approximately 120-horsepower. A mixture of European and North American chassis is used by competitors. Minimum vehicle weight is determined by the suspension design and ranges from 1050 to 1125-lbs. Teams are required to use a spec tire – the Toyo Proxes R888.

Drivers collect championship points in one of two groups.

F1600A – This category is for newer chassis’ built between 1995 and 2021. Or, any car with a Honda Fit engine
F1600B – This group is for cars constructed before 1995. They are powered by the Ford motor.

The manufacture date for the individual car and not the model is used to determine the year split and whether a vehicle is categorized as F1600A or F1600B.

The CASC Celebration of Motorsports was the final weekend on the 2021 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship calendar. The F1600B title had already been wrapped up by Connor Clubine at the BEMC Late Summer Trophy Races. Mathematically, the F1600A category was yet to be decided. Drivers would compete in three races around the ten turn 2.459-mile road course.

Twenty-five Toyo Tires F1600 Championship competitors enter a very foggy corner one at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the penultimate race of the 2021 season. Leading the field is the No. 66 Britain West Motorsport Mygale SJ13 of Jake Cowden. On the inside of Cowden is the No. 64 Mygale SJ14 of his teammate, Nick Gilkes. Behind the leaders is Jonathan Woolridge in a Piper and the Spectrum of Sam Baker.

The new 2021 Toyo Tires F1600 class A champion, Nick Gilkes, collected the title in style. Gilkes, driving the No. 64 Britain West Motorsport Mygale SJ14, qualified second for Saturday’s contest. He never fell below third place and moved into the lead for the victory on lap-14. The win was enough for Gilkes to claim the crown. Not content to rest on his laurels, he went on to finish first in both of Sunday’s events.

Having an equally dominating weekend was F1600B competitor Steve Bodrug driving the No. 41 Van Diemen RF93. The series veteran qualified fourteenth overall and third in class for the weekend’s first race. Bodrug moved past Andrew Mason and Dylan McPherson during the contest to claim the victory. The next day, he was challenged by the rookie McPherson but held him off for a sweep of the B class.

The first lap through corner two for the final race of the 2021 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship. Leading the field of twenty-three starters is the new F1600A champion, Nick Gilkes, in the No. 64 Mygale SJ14. Behind Gilkes is his teammate, Jake Cowden, the Piper DL7 of Brian Graham Racing’s Johnathan Woolridge, Sam Baker driving the No. 51 Spectrum 012b and the new F1600B titleholder, Connor Clubine.

Jonathan Woolridge performed double duty at the BEMC Late Summer Trophy Races. In addition to the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, Woolridge also competed in the Two-Hour Endurance event with Rick Franczak. The pair captured the overall victory. This weekend, he also drove in the Emzone Radical Cup. Unfortunately, issues prevented him from being competitive. In the F1600 category, he collected two runner-up results.

Before the final CASC race weekend, Connor Clubine secured the F1600B category championship with an impressive record of fourteen victories and just one DNF. For the Celebration of Motorsports event, his Van Diemen RF91 was parked in favour of the class A No. 6 Britain West Motorsport Mygale SJ15. Clubine had no problem adapting to the new car and collected a podium result in race one.

The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship points leader early in the season was Sam Baker. Baker entered the final weekend second in the standings – seventy-six markers behind Nick Gilkes. He had a chance of securing the title, but it would be difficult to overcome the deficit. Over the course of the weekend, the driver of the No. 51 Spectrum 012b collected ninth, fourth and third-place finishes – not enough to take the title.

The third member of the Britain West Motorsport team was Jake Cowden. Cowden had a great season with seven podiums, of which one was a victory. However, he could not match the performance of his teammate, Nick Gilkes. Cowden started the final weekend by qualifying on the pole, but a late-race crash result in a twenty-first place finish. Cowden redeemed himself on Sunday when he earned second and third-place finishes.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	F1600A	Nick Gilkes	Mygale SJ14 / Honda	15	-
2	F1600A	Jonathan Woolridge	Piper DL7 / Honda	15	-
3	F1600A	Connor Clubine	Mygale SJ15 / Honda	15	-
4	F1600A	James Lindsay	Van Diemen RF01 / Honda	15	-
5	F1600A	Dean Baker	Spectrum 015 / Honda	15	-
6	F1600A	Connor Wagland	Piper DL7 / Honda	15	-
7	F1600A	Kai Dalziel	Piper DL7 / Honda	15	-
8	F1600A	Graham Lobban	Van Diemen RF94 / Honda	15	-
9	F1600A	Sam Baker	Spectrum 012b / Honda	15	-
10	F1600A	Brent McPhail	Van Diemen RF03 / Ford	15	-
11	F1600A	Keith Lobban	Van Diemen RF98 / Honda	15	-
12	F1600B	Steve Bodrug	Van Diemen RF93 / Ford	15	-
13	F1600A	Callum Baxter	Mygale SJ12 / Honda	15	-
14	F1600B	Dylan McPherson	Van Diemen RF93 / Ford	15	-
15	F1600A	Jonathan Brooks	Van Diemen RF00 / Ford	15	-
16	F1600B	Andrew Mason	Van Diemen RF90 / Ford	15	-
17	F1600B	Mike Dodd	Van Diemen RF94 / Ford	15	-
18	F1600B	Sean Johnston	Van Diemen RF92 / Ford	15	-
19	F1600A	Avery Baker	Spectrum 015 / Honda	15	-
20	F1600B	Kieran Murphy	Van Diemen RF91 / Ford	15	-
21	F1600A	Jake Cowden	Mygale SJ13 / Honda	14	-
22	F1600B	Kari Salo	Van Diemen RF90 / Ford	14	-
23	F1600B	Mike Lee	Van Diemen RF92 / Ford	14	-
24	F1600B	Jeff Bateman	Citation 84F / Ford	14	-
25	F1600A	Conner Janeteas	Spectrum 015 / Honda	4	Did Not Finish

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	F1600A	Nick Gilkes	Mygale SJ14 / Honda	7	-
2	F1600A	Jonathan Woolridge	Piper DL7 / Honda	7	-
3	F1600A	Jake Cowden	Mygale SJ13 / Honda	7	-
4	F1600A	Sam Baker	Spectrum 012b / Honda	7	-
5	F1600A	Connor Clubine	Mygale SJ15 / Honda	7	-
6	F1600A	Dean Baker	Spectrum 015 / Honda	7	-
7	F1600A	Connor Wagland	Piper DL7 / Honda	7	-
8	F1600A	James Lindsay	Van Diemen RF01 / Honda	7	-
9	F1600A	Graham Lobban	Van Diemen RF94 / Honda	7	-
10	F1600A	Kai Dalziel	Piper DL7 / Honda	7	-
11	F1600B	Steve Bodrug	Van Diemen RF93 / Ford	7	-
12	F1600B	Dylan McPherson	Van Diemen RF93 / Ford	7	-
13	F1600A	Keith Lobban	Van Diemen RF98 / Honda	7	-
14	F1600A	Conner Janeteas	Spectrum 015 / Honda	7	-
15	F1600B	Andrew Mason	Van Diemen RF90 / Ford	7	-
16	F1600B	Mike Lee	Van Diemen RF92 / Ford	7	-
17	F1600A	Brent McPhail	Van Diemen RF03 / Ford	7	-
18	F1600B	Mike Dodd	Van Diemen RF94 / Ford	7	-
19	F1600B	Kieran Murphy	Van Diemen RF91 / Ford	6	-
20	F1600B	Sean Johnston	Van Diemen RF92 / Ford	6	-
21	F1600A	Callum Baxter	Mygale SJ12 / Honda	6	-
22	F1600B	Kari Salo	Van Diemen RF90 / Ford	6	-
23	F1600A	Jonathan Brooks	Van Diemen RF00 / Ford	6	-
24	F1600A	Avery Baker	Spectrum 015 / Honda	6	-
25	F1600B	Jeff Bateman	Citation 84F / Ford	2	Did Not Finish

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	F1600A	Nick Gilkes	Mygale SJ14 / Honda	13	-
2	F1600A	Jake Cowden	Mygale SJ13 / Honda	13	-
3	F1600A	Sam Baker	Spectrum 012b / Honda	13	-
4	F1600A	Connor Clubine	Mygale SJ15 / Honda	13	-
5	F1600A	Dean Baker	Spectrum 015 / Honda	13	-
6	F1600A	Jonathan Woolridge	Piper DL7 / Honda	13	-
7	F1600A	Connor Wagland	Piper DL7 / Honda	13	-
8	F1600A	Kai Dalziel	Piper DL7 / Honda	13	-
9	F1600A	Graham Lobban	Van Diemen RF94 / Honda	13	-
10	F1600A	Brent McPhail	Van Diemen RF03 / Ford	13	-
11	F1600B	Steve Bodrug	Van Diemen RF93 / Ford	13	-
12	F1600B	Dylan McPherson	Van Diemen RF93 / Ford	13	-
13	F1600A	Conner Janeteas	Spectrum 015 / Honda	13	-
14	F1600A	Keith Lobban	Van Diemen RF98 / Honda	13	-
15	F1600B	Mike Lee	Van Diemen RF92 / Ford	13	-
16	F1600A	Jonathan Brooks	Van Diemen RF00 / Ford	13	-
17	F1600B	Mike Dodd	Van Diemen RF94 / Ford	13	-
18	F1600A	Callum Baxter	Mygale SJ12 / Honda	13	-
19	F1600B	Sean Johnston	Van Diemen RF92 / Ford	13	-
20	F1600B	Kieran Murphy	Van Diemen RF91 / Ford	13	-
21	F1600B	Kari Salo	Van Diemen RF90 / Ford	13	-
22	F1600A	Avery Baker	Spectrum 015 / Honda	12	-
23	F1600B	Andrew Mason	Van Diemen RF90 / Ford	12	Did Not Finish
-	F1600A	James Lindsay	Van Diemen RF01 / Honda	0	Did Not Start
-	F1600B	Jeff Bateman	Citation 84F / Ford	0	Did Not Start

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