Canadian Auto Racers

A few photos from Saturday, more from the weekend to follow.

TC – 2nd #91 Nick Wittmer ST Racing BMW M235iR

TC – 8th #99 Karl Wittmer Honda Ste-Rose Racing Honda Accord

TC – 21st #2 Jayson Clunie Classic BMW BMW M235iR

TC – N/C #38 Samantha Tan ST Racing BMW M235iR

TCB – 2nd #25 P.J. Groenke Tech Sport Racing Chevrolet Sonic

N/C* Not Classified

Preliminary lineup for this weekend’s races at the Utah Motorsport Campus, with a combined car count of 101 entries here are the Canadians participating :

Honda Indy 200
2017-07-29

Exclusive Autosport PR Release:

EXCLUSIVE AUTOSPORT ON TOP AGAIN WITH MID-OHIO USF2000 TRIUMPH

Parker Thompson continued second half surge with dominant race win

LEXINGTON, OHIO (July 29, 2017) – Exclusive Autosport is riding the wave of momentum from their successful weekend in Toronto just two weeks ago, where they won their first races in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Canadian Parker Thompson showed his tremendous skills in the sweep of the event, and he was ready to take on the next challenge when he arrived at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last Thursday. Thompson paced the opening practice session and would eventually post a pair of podium finishes, as a strong second in Race 1 on Friday was followed by a dominant race win on Saturday. The results have cemented his third-place position in the championship standings. Thompson’s teammates Dev Gore and Jayson Clunie both enjoyed strong outings as well, advancing forward in both races. Gore logged his second top-10 of the year in Race 1 while Clunie finished both races in the top-15, turning his fastest laps of the weekend in the second race. The team’s trio of drivers all advanced from their starting position in both races, with the successful exception of Thompson’s Race 2 win from the pole. It was Exclusive Autosports’ finest overall outing of the season.

“It was another strong weekend for my Exclusive Autosport team. I can’t say enough about my amazing crew, our drivers, their parents and our sponsors,” offered Michael Duncalfe, team owner, commending his entire operation. “This is truly a team effort and everyone has been continuing to up their game and it’s showing. Parker once again showed what an incredible talent he is and also how quick the Exclusive Autosport USF2000 cars are. Qualifying nearly seven-tenths ahead of the field and coming away with another win and a second – which makes it three wins and four podiums in the last 4 races – is awesome.”

Thompson led the USF2000 time sheets in the one and only official practice of the weekend, using his track experience to fully leverage the car set-up provided by the Exclusive Autosport engineering staff. Gore and Clunie were setting their own baselines, preparing for a weekend of constant improvement. Qualifying for Race 1 on Friday morning was a mess, halted on several occasions for drivers going off-course. The track was damp and extremely slick. Thompson ended the run in fourth overall, but a penalty on Rinus VeeKay moved him to the inside of row two for the start of the opening race of the doubleheader. Both Gore and Clunie improved their positions from practice, slotting in 16^th and 17^th.

The opening lap of Race 1 was hard-fought, as Thompson took control of third ahead of an aggressive VeeKay.  Parker then went to work on Lucas Kohl for second, taking the position quickly after reaching his gearbox on lap three.  Over the remainder of the run, he continued to push Askew through to a late-race caution, and then just wasn’t able to muster up enough front grip to get past the leader on the restart. Despite battling with aero push in his advances for the lead, Parker brought home an impressive second place finish. Gore was on the move throughout the race, advancing at the start to begin picking off positions. He also displayed calculated aggression during the restart to move further ahead. The rookie driver moved up eight positions to finish 10^th in the final tally. Clunie also enjoyed a strong run, as the Canadian ran clean through the entire race while others were losing their cool.  The final result was a 15^th place finish, and improved pace from qualifying.

The second race of the weekend was all Parker Thompson. The team had saved a set of sticker Cooper tires for the race, and after qualifying on pole, the Red Deer, Alberta phenom managed the race lead through a lap 16 restart to score a 1.171-second lead.  Parker took all 33 of the available points by sweeping the action, qualifying on pole, leading all the laps, and turning the fast lap in the process. The remainder of the driver squad was on their respective games as well. Gore made impressive advances at the start, and the restart as well, and would have finished even better than the 12^th he recorded had he not run over debris that damaged the performance of his right rear. Clunie’s speed development continued throughout the entire weekend, as he turned his fastest laps of the weekend in Race 2 on his way to a 15^th place finish.

“Dev has done an unbelievable job making the transition from karts to cars this year,” Duncalfe added. “Not only has he had to learn and adapt to the new Tatuus USF-17, he has also had to learn eight new tracks along the way. Dev has a strong work ethic both on and off the track, which has allowed him to make major strides in his development every weekend and his results are reflecting that. Due to Jayson’s commitments off track as a business owner, he hasn’t had the time to test with us throughout the season. However, he works hard with our engineering staff throughout the race weekend and continues to showcase his raw talent in challenging for top-10’s the past two weekends. His on-track performance improves session after session with him posting his fastest times of the weekend towards the end of Race 2.”

The season finale for the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda is now a month away, set for Labor Day weekend (September 1-3) at Watkins Glen International in New York.  Thompson has secured the third position in the point standings, so he and the team will be aiming to make yet another statement by capping the season with a win, which would be their fourth victory in the last five races.

Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with great companies, such as AERO™ Advanced Paint Technology (www.rethinkpaint.com), which is used on all their race cars.

DRIVER PERFORMANCE / QUOTES

COOPER TIRES USF2000 CHAMPIONSHIP POWERED BY MAZDA

EVENT #7 – JULY 27-29, 2017

MID-OHIO INDY – LEXINGTON, OH

PARKER THOMPSON – USF2000 #90

Qualifying 1: 4^th – 1:25.115

Qualifying 2: 1^st – 1:22.611

Race 1: Start – 3^rd / Finish – 2^nd

Race 2: Start – 1^st / Finish – 1^st

Driver Quote: “”There’s no better feeling in motorsports than coming to the checkered flag with your whole team on the pit wall celebrating with you! It’s a term not used much in racing, but for Race 2, I had the ‘perfect racecar’. It felt great to showcase to the field what Exclusive Autosport and I are capable of. We were pole by seven tenths of a second, and delivered a dominant race victory. All the blood, sweat and tears every member of this team has given was demonstrated by this weekend’s performance. I couldn’t be prouder of the #90 Openhwy team in Ohio.”

DEV GORE – USF2000 #92

Qualifying 1: 16^th – 1:27.670

Qualifying 2: 19^th – 1:26.625

Race 1: Start – 16^th / Finish – 10^th

Race 2: Start – 18^th / Finish – 12^th

Driver Quote: “This weekend was a positive one, as the team seems to have hit a stride and sorted out the issues with the cars. It was the first time this year that I was able to really race and show what we could do and although we didn’t make it as high up on the running order as I would have liked, I feel that we did a good job given the starting positions of the races and the difficulty of passing around Mid-Ohio. I had two of my weaker qualifying performances this year and I apologize to the team for that, but would like to thank them for the hard work on giving us a great car to race with.”

JAYSON CLUNIE – USF2000 #93

Qualifying 1: 17^th – 1:28.491

Qualifying 2: 19^th – 1:27.069

Race 1: Start – 17^th / Finish – 14^th

Race 2: Start – 19^th / Finish – 15^th

Driver Quote: “The weekend started out really good, and having a bit more track time than Toronto was great.  I was pretty quick off the trailer, but we were looking for a bit more and ended up making the car a bit nervous. Q1 was real slick. It was shortened by cars going off and I only ended up with about four quick laps. I was still pretty happy where we started R1, which was good fun. I raced hard and clean with my fellow competitors and came home with a pretty strong 14^th place finish. In Q2, I just struggled with the session. The second race of the weekend was good fun again and had some good racing. The restart went well and I was picking up spots, but contact in Turn 4 near the end of the race put me off track, but I was able to return to the track and continue. All in all, Mid-Ohio was challenging but rewarding. I set my quick laps of the weekend late in Race 2, so again I continued to improve right until the end. Mid-Ohio has been, and still is, my favourite track!!! Thanks Michael, Kimberly, my teammates Dev and Parker, as well as the entire crew for a great weekend. Congrats to them and Parker for another win!”

Parker Thompson

July 25, 2017|
Team News

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Canada – Saskatoon, SK’s Exclusive Autosport has confirmed its intentions of continued expansion within the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder system. The Canadian team, which just won its first USF2000 races in Toronto, has become the first operation to purchase a new Tatuus PM-18 car for the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.

Team owner Michael Duncalfe remains focused on the growth and development of his team and is planning to run a two-car effort in Pro Mazda next year, further expanding his foundation that already include winning programs in F1600 and USF2000 competition.

“We are thrilled to announce that with the addition of the new Tatuus PM-18, Exclusive Autosport will be expanding our program in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires with our entry into the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship,” Duncalfe confirmed. “I have been very happy with the quality of the Tatuus USF-17, and have no doubt that the PM-18 will be equally as solid. With the additional aero package and the added horsepower in the 275hp Elite Engines-prepared Mazda powerplant, the Pro Mazda series is the perfect next step for drivers on the MRTI. Adding this next step to the Exclusive Autosport lineup will mean that drivers who enter our program can progress, in house, from our F1600 program to USF2000 and then on to Pro Mazda, providing a consistent environment for driver growth and development.”

Exclusive Autosport is a leading team in the Canadian F1600 programs, having won the Canadian F1600 Super Series and the Quebec-based Formula Tour 1600 championship in 2016 with Texan Trenton Estep and both the Formula Tour 1600 and Toyo Tires F1600 series in Ontario in 2014 with Missouri’s Tristan DeGrand. They swept both F1600 programs in 2013 as well, winning in Quebec with Thomas McGregor and in Ontario with Jack Mitchell Jr. In addition, they won the American F1600 Championship Series in 2015 with Scott Andrews.

This year, the team expanded its platform and made its debut in the Mazda Road to Indy with a three-car effort in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Canadian Parker Thompson delivered their first wins on the streets of Toronto just over a week ago, while teammates Jayson Clunie and Dev Gore added in three more top-10s for a total of five. Thompson currently sits third in the point standings. Likewise, Exclusive Autosport has accrued 167 points in the Team Championship standings and is positioned in fourth, the highest ranking of the teams that are new to the MRTI in 2017.

Once the team’s new PM-18 arrives, Exclusive Autosport will again put to work their partnership with AERO™ Advanced Paint Technology (www.rethinkpaint.com), which is used on all their race cars. Exclusive Autosport welcomes all inquires for the team’s Pro Mazda Championship seats in 2018. Testing will begin in September and will continue at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in October.

About Exclusive Autosport: Exclusive Autosport (EA) is a professional racing team dedicated to the success of its drivers in open wheel formula car competition in North America. EA currently operates teams in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in the United States and the Formula Tour 1600 series in Canada, and will join the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires in 2018. Exclusive’s drivers have secured numerous race wins, podium finishes and pole positions, as well as Rookie of the Year championships, a Team USA Scholarship and nominations for Team Canada F1600. Exclusive’s drivers are on the podium in over 80% of the races they enter. Exclusive Management Inc., the team’s parent company, has enjoyed great success in both open wheel and sports car racing and has worked with standout drivers like Thomas McGregor, Jack Mitchell Jr., Shelby Blackstock, Gregory Liefooghe, Jayson Clunie, David Levine and Trenton Estep. EM Inc. drivers are highly sought after in the motorsports industry.

The only Canadian involved in today’s race was Daniel Morad. Daniel and his driving partner Patrick Long, started their Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R in 3rd place in the GTD category. They finished the race on the podium with a 3rd place.