CAN: Series Trois-Rivieres round five preview

CCTCC Local Drivers Set To Impress At Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres

With only two rounds left on the 2010 calendar for the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Toyo Tires, Canada's best drivers racing today's hottest touring cars will compete during the 41st Edition of the Grand Prix Trois Rivieres. The schedule will bring the two classes to the track for a 20-minute practice Friday morning where drivers will sort out their machines and prepare the final adjustments required to do battle this weekend. On Saturday afternoon the fans will be treated to a 30-minute heat race where 40 cars will take to the track to determine where the competitors will start the Sunday feature race when the green flag drops at 9:40 am.

2009 was a banner year for the championship and 2010 looks to top last years attendance numbers for both the fans and competitors. This weekends contest will have no less than 10 local Trois Rivieres drivers in attendance and you can be assured they'll be pulling out all they can to impress the hometown crowd.

The local favourites to watch out for are Paul Dargis (BMW 328), Marc Antoine-Camirand (BMW M-Coupe), Luc Pelletier (Audi A4) and Pascal Carr0x00e9 (BMW 328) in the Super Touring class. Touring Class drivers include Denis Rouseau (Mazda Protype), Danielle Blanchette (Honda Civic), Luc Richard ((VW GTI) and Jacques Deshaies (Mazda 3). The large number of drivers from out-of-town will ensure that the local teams will have to fight for every inch of track they need.

The Super Touring Class championship points leading Lombardi Honda Racing driver Nick Wittmer (951 pts) and Touring Class leader Durabond/Compass360 Racing's Anthony Rapone (923 pts) will do what ever they can to defend their current positions atop the standings in what appears to be some of the fiercest competition you'll see all weekend long.

Going into this weekend the championship is far from decided in either class. Wittmer will have his work cut out for him with drivers such as Dave Ciekiewicz (804 pts) in his potent Subaru WRX STi, Team Aldo/Northwest BMW driver David Bensadoun (661 pts) and Montreal's own Etienne Borgeat (644 pts) in his Pontiac Solstice all vying for the top spot in the Super Touring class.

The hotly contested Touring Class battle continues with Tom Kwok (817 pts) currently 2nd place in the points standings piloting his #55 Honda Civic will be back and Michel Sallenbach (804 pts) in his Octane Promotions MINI Cooper S will have to use every trick up his sleeve to fend off fourth place driver Durabond/Compass360 Racing's Karl Thomson and his Honda Civic Si at bay while attempting to get a top the podium in the Touring Class.

Less than 325 points separate the top five drivers in the Super & Touring classes, as the level of competition is extremely high. Watch for impressive drives to the front from Super Touring drivers Eric Hochgeschurz (BMW), Matthieu Audette (Acura), Gary Kwok (Acura), Greg Pootmans (BMW).

Touring Class also offers thrilling excitement deep into the pack. Watch for Pfaff VW driver P.J. Groenke (VW Golf), Bully Clutch sponsored Patrick Seguin (Honda), Jocelyn Fecteau (Toyota), Paul Dargis (Honda) and the rest of the field battle it out for 30 minutes on Saturday & 30 Minutes on Sunday.

-source: www.touringcar.ca