A pair of wins was at Calabogie Motorsports Park for Tristan DeGrand was a great bounce back after GP3R. (Photo-Mike Sullivan/RaceCanada.ca)
Hanratty, driver of the #91 Juniper Networks / Spectrum / Honda was the only EA driver who had seen the 20-turn technical road course previously. As per normal weekend formats, the trio suited up Friday where they had seven opportunities to get behind the wheel for practice sessions. The trio quickly came up to speed and found themselves comfortably near the top of the time charts all day Friday.
Race day excitement began early saturday with a thrilling qualifying session. Exclusive Autosport would ultimately occupy the front row of the 26-car field to start the race with DeGrand leading the charge from the Pole position. Hanratty would start Saturday's race from P2 next to his teammate. Schutte, in his first weekend with the team, also put himself in great position to start the race
qualifying in P5.
On track excitement would continue into Race 1. DeGrand and Hanratty were able to hold their positions through the first few corners. A competitor made a daring move to overtake Hanratty in second position, made contact and forced Hanratty off track. Hanratty fell back in the running order, however was able to continue on for the time being. Schutte watched the drama unfold before him as he had dropped back to sixth off the start. Near the end of the race a full-course caution was issued for
an on-track incident. There was little time remaining in the race and once the field went back to green there was only time for one green flag lap. DeGrand got a great re-start and kept his #93 Exclusive Autosport / Spectrum / Sparco / Exclusive Management Inc. / Pro Am Golf / Honda Racing HPD out in front to take the checkered flag. Schutte in the #92 Exclusive Autosport / Tranco / Spectrum / Sparco / Honda made up some ground and finished the race in fifth place. Hanratty on the other hand, suffered ultimate disappointment Saturday as he endured additional damage after another on track incident and had to retire after four laps.
Sunday was a chance for redemption for Hanratty. He put his #91 Juniper Networks / Spectrum / Sparco / Honda in seventh to start the second race of the weekend. He was able to gain a couple of spots throughout the duration of the 30 minute race to finish in P5 and gain valuable points in the championship. Schutte started beside Hanratty in P8. He too moved up a couple of spots to finish just outside the top five in P6. DeGrand once again paced the field through both qualifying and the race on Sunday. He took the green flag from the pole position and continued on to lead each lap of the ten-lap race extending his championship points lead.
The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship will wrap up September 12-14 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
Tristan DeGrand, #93 Exclusive Management Inc. / Spectrum / Sparco / Exclusive Autosport / Pro Am Golf USA / Honda Racing HPD
"The weekend was great! Two poles and two wins was the perfect way to rebound after what happened at GP3R. The track (Calabogie) has become one of my favourites now. The long layout combinations of turns brought me back to my days in karts. I am looking forward to closing out the season and returning to CTMP next month."
Bryson Schutte, #92 Exclusive Autosport / Tranco / Spectrum / Sparco / Honda
"I felt the weekend went quite well for me. It had been almost a year since I had been in the Spectrum and two years since I had raced a car. I had good pace on Friday and kept the #92 Spectrum within a few tenths of Max (Hanratty) and Tristan (DeGrand). The positive momentum rolled on to Saturday morning's practice and into qualifying where I managed a P5 starting spot. I was a bit nervous for the start of the race Saturday. Once I saw the green flag though, the nervous disappeared and adrenaline took over.
Overall my weekend at Calabogie was awesome! I learned so much in such a short time and I owe a lot of success this weekend to the team for ensuring I had a great car and great people around me to learn from. Without the team's guidance I think it would have been very difficult to be within the top five this weekend."