BOWMANVILLE, Ont., Canada – Karol Pasiewicz proved to be a dominant force today for Olivia Racing as the Continental Tire Grand Prix of Canada kicked off with a pair of races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. After a promising start to his rookie campaign to open the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida in February, the rapid Pole suffered a disappointing weekend last time out at Carolina Motorsports Park. But today proved to be the perfect tonic. Pasiewicz earned 65 points out of a maximum 66 to vault from sixth in the standings to the lead heading into the final race of the weekend tomorrow.
Zanella Racing also enjoyed a strong day as Florida-based Brazilian Victor Couto edged Ottawa, Canada’s Olivier Mrak for second place in both races.
Pasiewicz paved the groundwork for today on Friday when he laid down two exceptional laps during the tripleheader event’s solitary qualifying session. The fastest of them ensured his maiden Continental Tire Pole Award which meant that it was he who led the 21-car field toward the green flag in sunny cool conditions this morning.
Pasiewicz maintained his position for the opening few laps before the first of two full-course cautions after points leader Ivan Machado Perez, from Madrid, Spain, made the second of two errors at Turn Eight and crashed his VRD Racing entry into retirement.
Shortly after the restart, Brenden Cooley, from Mokena, Ill., lost control on the entry to Turn Three and collided heavily with the tire barriers to ensure another caution. On this occasion, Pasiewicz received a call on his radio a few moments before the yellow flags actually flashed on, which allowed Couto to make a legitimate pass for the lead.
Frustrating as it must have been for Pasiewicz, he kept his cool magnificently and pounced on the exit of Turn Five soon after the final restart to reassert himself at the front of the field with seven laps still remaining. He then turned a series of fastest laps to ensure all 33 points and take the checkered flag ahead of Couto as yet another incident, this time involving Jared Oselka (Zanella Racing), from Long Beach, Ind., caused the race to finish under yellow.
Locally based Canadians Cole Medeiros (Exclusive Autosport), from Ayr, Ont., and Leonardo Serravalle (Zanella Racing), from Thorold, Ont., finished fourth and fifth ahead of England’s Max Cuthbert (JHDD powered by ECR), Exclusive Autosport’s Bex Cranston, from Greenwich, Conn., and VRD Racing’s Dean Hoogendoorn, from Woubrugge, Netherlands. The European karting champion had been too young to contest the opening six races of the season, but after celebrating his 14th birthday on Tuesday Hoogendoorn was able to display his promise by rising from 14th on the grid to eighth, which earned him the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
The grid for this afternoon’s race was determined by each driver’s second fastest lap from qualifying, and thus it was Pasiewicz who once again earned the Continental Tire Pole Award.
This time there was no looking back as he led all 20 laps to complete a dominant day on the ultra-fast and supremely challenging 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course.
Pasiewicz was untroubled by a pair of mid-race cautions and controlled the pace perfectly to win once again from Couto and Mrak.
The top nine cars remained pretty much in a train until the end, all finishing within three seconds of each other, but it was another debutant, VRD Racing’s Edward Kennedy, from Mont-Tremblant, Que., Canada who arguably shone the brightest. Kennedy, who also celebrated his 14th birthday only a few days ago, made some bold moves at the start to climb from 10th to fourth, which he maintained ahead of Cranston, Serravalle, Denmark’s Casper Nissen (JHDD powered by ECR), Medeiros and Hoogendoorn. The young Dutchman once again impressed by pinching the bonus point after posting the fastest lap of the race.
This time the Tilton Hard Charger Award was claimed by early season points leader Max Mokarem. The Fairfax, Va.-based Lebanese racer blotted his copybook by crashing early in qualifying which consigned him to lowly starting positions for both races. This afternoon, however, he managed to move from 19th to 11th and keep himself in the championship reckoning.
Both PFC Awards were scooped by Olivia Racing Team Principal Dana Delgado as the winning car co-owner.
Tomorrow’s third and final race of the weekend will see a green flag at 10:00 a.m. EDT.
Provisional championship points after eight of 16 races:
1. Karol Pasiewicz, 154
2. Ivan Machado Perez, 145
3. Max Mokarem, 145
4. Cole Medeiros, 134
5. Olivier Mrak, 134
6. Victor Couto, 124
7. Vilho Aatola, 120
8. Casper Nissen, 104
9. Leonardo Serravalle, 103
10. Bex Cranston, 95
Race 1 quotes:
Karol Pasiewicz (#25 Olivia Racing Tatuus JR-23): “This win feels incredible. I have to thank the whole Olivia Racing team for doing an amazing job and allowing me to be here and win this race. The race was really tough. I was trying to maintain my pace, and the gap between me and Victor. It was really tough with the conditions as well. I didn't think it would be that slippery on the first laps. I managed to fit the conditions of the track and managed to pull away a little bit. There were a few safety cars as well, so I had a little time to breathe. Then after the restart, I just pulled away and kept the gap.”
Victor Couto (#88 Braziliionaires-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “We were able to hold P2 off of the start, so that was really the goal to stay in the front because around here you can definitely get kind of trained if you get a little bit off the line. I think we were a little bit slower on the starting lap, so I'm going to have to work on that. The cold tire pace was not too great, but I think it's just a confidence thing. Once we got up to temp and into the rhythm, I think we were just as quick as Karol. Around here it's really tough to pass, so we were closed up on his wing for a lot of the race, but eventually nothing really came of it. But P2 is not a bad result. It helps us in the championship, so just keep moving and keep plugging at it because I know the win's coming.”
Olivier Mrak (#23 Holden Leasing/BASF Canada/Mamma Teresa Restaurant/Colonade Developments/Stinson Fuels-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “I started fourth and managed to get into third in the first corner. Then I had to manage my tires throughout the race and I finished third. Turn Eight was a little bit slippery but, other than that, the track was pretty good.”
Race 2 quotes:
Karol Pasiewicz (#25 Olivia Racing Tatuus JR-23): “I feel very good about the win. I pulled away on the first lap like in Race 1, maintained the pace and tried to stay calm. I knew that we were driving after NASCAR so we had very low grip. It was really tough into Turn Eight because one lap was okay and then the other lap my car was moving around. It was really hard to keep the pace like that. A few safety car restarts didn't bother me a lot. I just maintained first place and kept going.”
Victor Couto (#88 Braziliionaires-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “We started P2. I think in this race we ran quite a bit closer than the last race but, again, the dirty air just makes it pretty hard to make a move around here. There's a couple things that I know I can improve tomorrow so I think definitely a win is in the cards and that's what I'll be going for.”
Olivier Mrak (#23 Holden Leasing/BASF Canada/Mamma Teresa Restaurant/Colonade Developments/Stinson Fuels-Zanella Racing Tatuus JR-23): “I fell back a bit at the start but managed to get back in the third. I stayed there for most of the race. The safety cars were pretty helpful, considering the people from behind were catching up. Getting to the people ahead was nice. I finished off the race trying to go for the last corner, last lap send but didn't work. Maybe next race.”