DURABOND / C360R WIN CCTCC SEASON OPENER AT MOSPORT

(Bowmanville, ON)—Durabond/Compass360 Racing started the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship season off in fine form, winning both races in the first event of the season at Mosport International Raceway.

The team, which fields three Honda Civic Si’s in Touring class, started well, with Anthony Rapone qualifying the #72 car on pole and team-mate Karl Thomson in second in #71. Andrew Danyliw in the #73 Honda qualified eighth. In Saturday’s race, Rapone managed traffic well and pulled a gap on the battle for second, which included Thomson, the Mini of P.J. Groenke and the Civic of Tom Kwok. This trio changed positions numerous times during the race, providing a thrilling spectacle for the fans, with Thomson finally edging our Groenke for the runner-up spot.

Sunday’s race featured a similar battle, with Rapone leading the four-car fight, and pulling out a small lead as some of the faster Super Touring cars made their way through the pack. With four laps to go, Thomson and Groenke made contact while passing a lapped car, with Karl suffering a cut tire. The team made quick work of the unscheduled pit stop, which enabled the #71 car to salvage some points in 11th, with Danyliw coming home seventh. Rapone brought his car across the line in first, marking a near-perfect points haul for the weekend.

“It’s hard to describe how thrilled I am with the team,” enthused Rapone on the podium. “Thanks to my brother Andre who put the whole thing together, and to our amazing crew. It’s a good start to the year!”

For Thomson, it was a good return to a series which began his career in 2003. “The boys did a simply spectacular job this weekend. It was very nearly perfect, as we were close to two 1-2 finishes,” he said. “To be sure, I’ve now got some work to catch Anthony in the points hunt, but it’s still early in the season, and getting on the podium in the first race was fabulous. I’m hoping we can develop these Hondas a little more as the year goes on since Kenneth Lau, Sean Asselin, Michael Thornley and the crew did a great job getting the cars ready for the first event.”

The next CCTCC event is once again at Mosport, on June 11-13th. Race recap video of the first races will be available at http://touringcar.ca.

Photo credits: Mike Schwartze and Guido Rapone