Castrol Touring Car Series - Wittmer & Rapone Crowned 2010 Champions

October 5, 2010 - Toronto, Ontario Canada - With the seven event championship now in the record books, the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Toyo Tires celebrated a fantastic fourth year of competition. It all came down to the last event at the famed Circuit ICAR at Mirabel, just north of Montreal. 35 of Canada’s best race drivers were on hand racing in two extremely competitive car classes for the final time in 2010. As in past years, both Super and Touring Class championship titles were decided on the last weekend of the year.

For a second year in a row, Lombardi Honda driver Nick Wittmer took the top spot in Super Class in his Honda Civic with a total of 1522 points, just 111 points of his second place rival Dave Ciekiewicz in his Donington Motorsports Subaru WRX STi and 300 points ahead of Audette Racing’s Mathieu Audette in his Acura RSX. For 2010 there was a total of 33 drivers vying for the the top spot in Super Class.

A record number of two and three car teams were on hand this year as everyone stepped up their game. G1 Racing fielded two Hyundai Genesis Coupes with drivers Bob Attrell and Sasha Anis. Team Aldo/Northwest campaigned three BMWs driven by Greg Pootmans, David Bensadoun and Paul Dalla Lana. There were an average of 37 cars competing each Championship weekend.

GT Racing’s Etienne Borgeat and Jacques Gravel debuted their new Pontiac Solstice coupes but struggled early in the year to get them dialed in. Lombardi Racing brought out their three extremely potent Honda Civics with the driving duties being shared among regular driver Nick Wittmer, Benjamin Distaulo, Andre Rapone, Nigel Heron and last years rookie of the year Alex Healy.

In Touring Class, Anthony Rapone had a significant points lead going into the final event but the fight for second and third place was among at five drivers going into event seven at Mirabel. Michel Sallenbach driving a MINI Cooper for Octane Motorsports, Karl Thomson, Rapone’s Durabond/Compass360 Racing team mate, M&S Racing’s Tom Kwok, Pfaff Tuning’s P.J. Groenke and Jacques Belanger battled all year long taking turns on the podium and keeping them all within the top spot in the championship. A total of 30 different Touring Class drivers competed this season and put on some of the best racing in Canada.

For 2010 the Manufacturers Championship went back and forth between Honda, BMW, MINI, Subaru and Acura. In the end, BMW took home the Super Class Championship and Honda was able to hold off MINI for top honours in Touring Class. No less than twelve different manufacturers were represented this season.

New for 2010 was the introduction of the Championship Webisodes. Produced by Phanta Media, Mark Drager and his team put together seven event Webisodes and corresponding video race reports that put fans in the car and in the paddock with the teams. The Webisodes were a huge hit with the fans and the media. Look for these to continue for 2011 as it seems the audience just can’t get enough. http://www.youtube.com/user/CanadianTouringCar.

The 2011 Championship schedule and event planning is well underway. New cars are being added to the roster and the rules are being updated and refined. Discussions are ongoing with current and new sponsors with many wanting to increase their involvement for the future.

The championship would like to acknowledge its partners for their support for another exciting season; Castrol (Wakefield Canada Inc.), Toyo Tires Canada, Holiday Canopies, NOS Energy Drink, Hawk Performance Brakes, Pit Uniforms.com, MK Technologies, Toronto Tirecraft, Pure Design Marketing, Garagescapes, Racing Radios International, Forge Motorsport, dba(Disc Brakes Australia), Anze Suspension and Traqmate Data Acquisition.