Double CTCC win for Zachary Vanier at Shannonville
Pfaff Motorsports’ 17-year old rookie Zachary Vanier is leaving his mark on the Canadian Touring Car Championship. After claiming a well-deserved maiden win on his debut in the series three weeks ago at Bowmanville, Vanier drove his Audi RS 3 LMS to a dominant double victory in the second event of the season at Shannonville.
These results also meant that he has taken the leadership in the standings,
In Race 1, Vanier started from the pole and was soon able to pull away from the rest of the field, while Tom and Gary Kwok followed in second and third positions, with Ron Tomlinson and Connor Attrell fighting over the fourth place. Halfway-through the race, as Vanier had built a huge margin, both Kwok brothers had to pit with technical issues; Gary lost one lap and Tom four. The battle for the other podium positions intensified as Marco Cirone and Damon Sharpe overtook Connor Attrell, and eventually Cirone passed Tomlinson as well to finish second, 32 seconds behind Vanier.
Vanier was on pole again for Race 2 and duly repeated the same scenario, consistently increasing his gap over his competitors. Gary Kwok was a distant second for most of the race, however in the late stages he was forced make a pit stop for overheating and lost the position to Cirone; he had to settle for third, rejecting a late assault from Sharpe.
The next and final event of CTCC will be at Calabogie on 29th/30th August.
Race 1
1. Zachary Vanier (Pfaff Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS), 22 laps
2. Marco Cirone (Mark Motors Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 31.382
3. Ron Tomlinson (TWOth Autosport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 33.312
Race 2
1. Zachary Vanier (Pfaff Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS), 35 laps
2. Marco Cirone (Mark Motors Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 22.649
3. Gary Kwok (M&S Racing, Honda Civic Typer R FK7), 35.035
Championship points
1. Zachary Vanier 494 pts; 2. Marco Cirone 479; 3. Gary Kwok 469
Picture: CTCC
