Looking to continue with the momentum of their strong results at the previous Pirelli World Challenge round at Barber Motorsports Park, Scuderia Corsa drivers Duncan Ende and Martin Fuentes arrived at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario looking for equally strong results in this past weekend’s doubleheader event.
Battling throughout Saturday’s race on the hard-to-pass CTMP circuit, Ende would finish in thirteenth position. In Sunday’s race, he improved to finish in eleventh position in GT after gaining positions on a restart.
“I was aiming for a bit more heading into this weekend, but ultimately I think we wound up more or less where we belonged,” said Ende. “We struggled with balance in Saturday’s race and the car fell off in race two. I was being held up by a competitor a fair bit early on in race two, but once the car and tires went away they drove off, fair and square. On the bright side, there isn’t a scratch on the car – which is a nice change!”
Fuentes, who entered the weekend as the championship leader in the GT-A category, qualified for Saturday’s race in fourth position in that class and finished Saturday’s race in that same position after battling for a podium position throughout the race. In Sunday’s race, Fuentes battled to the third position in GT-A but finished in fifth position.
“It was a very complicated weekend for me and the Scuderia Corsa team,” said Fuentes. “We didn’t find the speed we needed, and this track is one of the most difficult tracks to pass someone. So I had to push the tires very hard in the second race which cost me two spots at the end of the race. Now, we will have to focus and get that first place in the championship back.”
Despite both of the drivers hoping for better results, technical director Roberto Amorosi was pleased with the performance of both drivers in Canada.
“Canadian Tire Motorsports Park is a very technical, high-speed track where even a small mistake can cost the drivers much,” said Amorosi. “Martin and Duncan drove a flawless race and acquired important points for the championship. We are looking forward to the street circuit in Detroit for which Scuderia Corsa is very well prepared thanks to our driver’s great performance in Long Beach!”
During Sunday’s World Challenge race, Scuderia Corsa TUDOR United SportsCar Championship driver Townsend Bell qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 26th position with a speed of 223.447 mph.
Scuderia Corsa’s World Challenge drivers will be competing again in two weeks’ time in a doubleheader at the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in Detroit, Michigan on May 29-31.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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