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8Star readies itself for IMSA Lites podium push at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

8Star Motorsports' Lamont Harris and Christian Potolicchio will push for the podium places, as the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship readies itself for the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix Presented by Hawk Performance at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario (11-13 July).

Christian Potolicchio

Christian Potolicchio

Eric Gilbert

The 3.95km Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport International Raceway, is situated near Toronto and it is widely recognised as the Home of Canadian Motorsport, with an illustrious history stretching back to 1961 that includes Formula 1 and IndyCar, as well as an array of other sportscar, open-wheeled and motorcycle contests.

8Star Motorsports’ Harris heads north of the border into Canada off the back of a well-deserved Masters class victory in the most recent round of the IMSA-sanctioned Prototype Lites Championship at Watkins Glen International (27-29 June).

The 49-year old from Palm Beach, Florida finished in a remarkable fourth place overall at the end of an incident-packed race, punctuated by several incidents and a long, drawn-out yellow flag period, and his confidence is sky-high moving forwards to a circuit that he has an natural affinity for.

“I didn’t go as fast as I did in the pre-event test at The Glen as it took forever to get going, so finishing fourth overall and first in the Masters category was a great way to end what had been a frustrating weekend,” said Harris. “I was really happy with the result and I’m feeling great ahead of this weekend’s racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, which currently stands as my favourite circuit, with super-fast corners, good elevation changes and a short lap making for ultra-competitive racing.

“Free practice has been good so far, the car felt great and my teammate Christian (Potolicchio) is going quickly, even though the track hasn’t come in yet. All considered, I certainly feel I have the ability to replicate what I achieved at Watkins Glen, but the overall podium has to be my target this time.”

Potolicchio, on the other hand, vied for victory at The Glen two weeks ago, but became caught up in incidents to achieve a best seventh place result, but hopes to fulfill his full potential this time around at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where he memorably broke his podium finishes duck in 2013.

"8Star comes into the weekend from a very good performance at Watkins Glen, where the car performed really well and we accomplished some good results in qualifying. We may have had some problems in the races, but Canadian Tire Motorsport Park brings back good memories for me, as it's one of my favorite tracks of the championship where I got my first podium finish last year. I will be trying to repeat that this weekend, without a doubt!"

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship free practice takes place from 9.45, while qualifying begins at 15.00 on Friday (11 July).

Race one will be held at 17.45 on Saturday (12 July), with race two the following morning from 9.40 (Sunday 13 July).

8Star Motorsports

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