Bowmanville, Ontario – Michael Adams and Connor Wagland opened their Toyo Tires F1600 Championship seasons in spectacular fashion at this weekend’s Victoria Day SpeedFest at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Both drivers posted perfect weekend sweeps – two poles and two wins each – with Adams taking the honours in A Class and Wagland doing the same in B Class.

Adams, who is returning to the series after the two-year hiatus that followed his 2012 series championship – led Race 2 from flag to flag in his No. 59 Flagship Racing Services Van Diemen, fending off an early challenge from 2nd-place finisher Reid Arnold.

“We were waiting for the tires to come in -- that’s the reason we weren’t pulling out the gap we wanted to at the beginning,” Adams said. “But that was all right. We knew what we needed to do.

“We laid down consistent lap times after the tires came in and we started to pull out a lead. Lapped traffic sort of worked out in our favour. Really pleased with the overall weekend. Can’t complain at all.”

Though he wasn’t able to beat Adams to the top step in his No. 11 DPGI Print Solutions Brian Graham Racing Piper, Arnold was pleased with a weekend that he considered a learning experience.

“I did a lot better on the start (today) and I’m quite proud,” he said. “Learning from your mistakes is what this is all about.

“I’ve got to remember that Michael has been racing here for years and years. I probably have a ways to go before I can match him. Hoping I can do a better job in the next race. The team did an amazing job on the car.”

Jean-Philippe Jodoin made a last-corner pass to come home 3rd over fellow Quebec-based racer Michel Bonnet, which allowed Jodoin and his No. 38 Britain West Motorsport Mygale to score more points toward the F1600 Super Series, a combined Ontario-Quebec championship that shared its season-opening round with the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship this weekend.

“I was just being patient,” Jodoin said. “I learned his line the whole race. My crew told me it was the last lap, so I knew that was my chance.”

In B Class, Wagland also swept the weekend by claiming two poles and two wins in his No. 23 Burloak Cycle/Jones Tool car. But in today’s Race 2, Steve Bodrug refused to make it easy for him. The pair dueled hard and made multiple passes back and forth through much of the 18-lap event before Wagland was able to cross the line first.

“At the start of the race I didn’t really have a good handle on the car – sliding everywhere, falling back to slow lap times,” Wagland said. “I picked it up and had a great battle with Steve Bodrug and ended up with the win. It was a great weekend.”

The next two rounds of the F1600 Super Series form part of the Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal from June 5 to 7.

The third and fourth rounds of the 2015 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship bring the series back to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Canadian Historic Grand Prix weekend where the feature will be all eras of Formula Fords, taking place June 19 to 21.

The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series is the premiere open wheel series in Ontario, sanctioned by CASC Ontario Region and proudly supported by Toyo Tires, Honda HPD, Heather’s Heros, Cove Dentistry, Stäubli, Lincoln Electric and MK Technologies. The series is comprised of a six event, double-header format and competes at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Shannonville Motorsport Park and Calabogie Motorsports Park.

The Formula 1600 Super Series is the combined premiere events of the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series from Ontario and the Toyo Tires Formula Tour 1600 Series from Quebec. The series is comprised of a four event, double-header format and competes at CTMP’s Victoria Day SpeedFest, Formula One Grand Prix of Montreal, the Canadian Historic Grand Prix at CTMP (featuring Formula Fords in 2015) and the Grand Prix of Trois Rivières.