HONDA / MICHELIN CHALLENGE SERIES KICKS OFF THE 2004 SEASON
HONDA / MICHELIN CHALLENGE SERIES KICKS OFF THE 2004 SEASON WITH OPENING ROUND AT MOSPORT INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY BOWMANVILLE, Ontario (May 20, 2004) - The re-launch of the crowd-pleasing Honda / Michelin Challenge Series gets underway this weekend at Mosport Park International Raceway as part of the Victoria Day Weekend Celebrations. More than 20 drivers have responded to Honda Canada Inc.'s winter announcement that the Honda / Michelin Challenge Series would return with a 10-race, nine weekend schedule to be contested in Ontario and Quebec. "The stock Honda Civic DX Coupes equipped with Michelin Pilote Sport Cup tires, will provide a truly low cost form of motor racing," said Kalim Ansari, executive vice president of Honda Canada Inc. "The series was re-introduced to encourage young drivers to enter the sport, but it did not deter some veterans from returning to the series. The single-marque Championship Series will give them the opportunity to showcase their talent in identical cars." The mixed field of racers includes six-year veteran Normand Boyer of St. Agathe (QC), the 1987, 1990 & 1991 Honda / Michelin Champion, Robert Boyer from St. Anne-des-Monts (QC), runner-up to his brother in 1990 & 1991. Normand won his first-ever Honda race during his rookie season at Mosport on August 10, 1986 (Round 6) after starting 13th. Montrealer Denis Baillargeon started in 1985. His best finish in the championship title race was third in 1992, the year he also won his first career race and his first pole (Sanair). Didier Schraenen of Mont St. Hilaire (QC) started in 1988 and had his best season in 1990 finishing third overall behind champion Marc Dancose and runner-up Normand Boyer. It was the year he won his first career race and pole in round 10 at Mont-Tremblant. In 1998, Schraenen won the Canadian Formula Ford Championship. Steven Laporte of St. Sauveur (QC), started in 1990, finishing 11th overall. He won his first-ever race the following year in round 6 in Shannonville after starting second. In the last year of competition of the series in 1992, he finished second overall with two wins, six podiums and three poles. 1992 was also the year Benoit Theetge of Quebec City, a former karter, made his debut in the Honda / Michelin Series, competing in the class 2 CX model. He finished third in class with a class win and a pole. Some of the rookies scheduled to start this weekend's race show promise as well. Young and aggressive, they do not intend to let the veterans take over the re-launched series. Travis Walker is one of the youngest drivers in the Series. The 17-year-old karter from Mississauga (ON) is the two-time Canadian Grand National Champion Junior Heavy and Junior Medium of 2002. Last season, he competed in the Senior division in the ICC six-speed shifter karts in both the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship and the CART Stars of Tomorrow series A student at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Ashley Taws of Newmarket competed for the last two seasons in the Canadian Formula Ford Championship. In 2002, she finished fourth overall with two podiums and four top-five finishes. Due to injuries suffered in a traffic accident, she missed the first half of last season but still managed to finish seventh overall in Formula Ford. She began racing karts in 1993 at the age of nine and was a two-time Canadian Grand National Champion by 1998. She then moved to Formula 1200 where she was also very successful. Kuno and Nick Wittmer of Hudson (QC) are the sons of Patrik Wittmer who was one the pioneers of the Honda Series running in the second half of the seventies. At the age of 16 while competing in the 1999 Motorola Cup Series, Kuno II became the youngest driver to win a pro race in the United States. The following season, he entered four CART Atlantic races, collecting one top-10 finish. In 2002, he won the Quebec Touring Championship and last season, he ran in the Fran-Am Series, finishing ninth overall. His younger brother Nick ran in the Québec Regional Formula 1600 series last year following his 2002 championship winning season in the Quebec GTO-GTU Series. Frédérick Lelièvre of Mont-Joli (QC) is also following in the footsteps of his father Jacques who was the 1986 Quebec Formula Ford Champion. For the last two seasons Frédérick has competed in the Canadian Formula Ford Championship, finishing fifth overall in 2002. The fields of rookies also include Ontario drivers Kyle Brack of Toronto, Ryan Kelly (London), Alex Penfold (Georgetown), Dan Burchill (Mitchell) and Daniel Courtney (Kendal), as well as Nicholas Woodhouse of Vancouver and Kurt Kossmann of Scituate, Massachusetts, The inaugural 2004 Honda / Michelin Challenge race gets underway Sunday afternoon at 2:35 pm, with a 40-minute sprint around the 4.023 km famed Mosport track. The first on-track practice session of the weekend will take place on Friday afternoon, while qualifying for Sunday's race will take place on Saturday morning at 11:10 am. The single-marque road racing series was originally launched in 1976 with the Honda Civic Hatchback. During its 17-year run the series has attracted more than 400 racers. Among the Canadian drivers who have competed in this series are Richard Spénard, Tony Morris, Frank Allers, Marc Dancose and Jacques Villeneuve, brother of the late Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve. The series is sanctioned by ASN Canada FIA and sponsored by Honda Canada Inc., and Michelin North America Canada Inc. The Honda Civic has been the top-selling passenger car in Canada for the past six years. The Honda / Michelin Challenge Series aims to reinforce the fun-to-drive aspects of the Civic a claim that will be further supported by its reputation for quality, reliability and durability.