Tough Racing Leads to Three Podium Finishes for Kelly Moss at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

By:
On:
In: Racing News

Kelly Moss Motorsports added to their Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season total podium count by earning three more podium finishes last weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

 

The total podium count increases to 20 with the addition of a third-place overall finish by Jesse Lazare in Round 7 and two, third-place finishes by Bill Peluchiwski in the Platinum Masters cup in both Rounds 7 and 8.  

 

Peluchiwski and teammate Jay Patel had arguably some of the best racing of the weekend in Saturday’s Round 7 race.  The two were involved in an exciting duel for the final Platinum Masters podium position in the first race.

 

They swapped third place a few times during the race. Peluchiwski passed Patel for good in the challenging, double-apex Turn 5, with two minutes remaining. Peluchiwski took third-place and Patel took fourth-place.
 

“Obviously, as teammates and friends, you want to make sure you’re extra careful,” Peluchiwski said. “But we’ve raced close together, and it’s been great. He’s been a great teammate and partner. He’s won a few, and I’ve won a few. So it’s a good battle. Kelly Moss put a good car for both of us, and we had a great time.”

 

In Round 8 the two teammates had more traffic between them and Patel wasn’t able to catch Peluchiwski for another battle. Peluchiwski took third in Platinum Masters for his third podium of the year. Patel earned his second-straight top five finish and fourth of the year, with a fifth-place Round 8 finish.

 

“All in all it was a good weekend,” Patel said. “Bill and I had a great battle in the first race. I was hoping it would be a repeat today but traffic got in the way. I’m not all about the podiums, its fun when they happen, but it’s so fun to be able to race hard like that. It’s fun to race with your teammate. You know what to expect and know you can race hard but there is that element of mutual respect.”

 

Lazare, from Montreal, came into the weekend with high hopes at his home track and the circuit where he won his first Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama race. He ended the weekend with a third and fourth-place finish in both rounds, respectively.

 

He trails Elliott Skeer 121-114 in points, but has the home track of Kelly Moss to look forward to next.

 

“Unfortunately, the first two (drivers) were really quick,” Lazare said. They really took off, so I was really racing for third. It wasn’t exactly the weekend we were hoping for, but everyone has that at some point. We still got quality points and we’re ready for Road America. I know Kelly Moss is always really good there, with it being their home track, so we’ll have high expectations going in.”

 

The next two rounds at Road America are scheduled for Aug. 7-9, with the Kelly Moss team back to full strength with a high-count driver lineup, including new Kelly Moss driver Kurt Fazekas.

 

The team will run in the GT3 Cup Trophy USA event at Road America the first weekend of August, while Colin Thompson will also be back in action in the Pirelli World Challenge Championship GT3 Cup presented by MOMO July 31-Aug. 2 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

 

For the latest news on Kelly Moss, visit www.kellymoss.com. For updates throughout race weekend, like the team on Facebook and follow @kellymossmotors on Twitter.

Adam Sinclair
Latest posts by Adam Sinclair (see all)
Post Views: 44