Jean-Francois and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin call the city home. Kuno and Nick Wittmer dominated the street circuit last season. This weekend, both pairs of brothers from Quebec will look for home victories in Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series action, with the annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières next on the 11-round calendar.
The Wittmer brothers, victorious in last year's race around city streets, hail from Hudson, Quebec, and will compete together in Saturday's Street Tuner (ST) race, commencing at 1:30 p.m. ET. Sunday's Grand Sport (GS) race, featuring the Dumoulin brothers from Trois-Rivières, is scheduled to start at 9:10 a.m. ET. Both races are slated for an hour and 45 minutes around the 1.521-mile temporary street circuit.
The Dumoulins have never won the KONI Challenge race at Trois-Rivières - Jean-Francois has a Rolex Series SRP II victory and two wins in Echo Cup, and Louis-Philippe has won in Formula Fords - but this may be their best chance for a KONI triumph as they will compete in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997, which visited victory lane last month at Watkins Glen International with drivers Tim Traver and David Murry. Jean-Francois and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin put together a deal to run the car earlier this week. Jean-Francois Dumoulin is tied for fifth with fellow Canadian David Empringham and fellow BGB driver Craig Stanton on the overall KONI Challenge victory list with seven wins. Meanwhile, Stanton and co-driver Jon Miller in the No. 83 BGB Motorsports Porsche 997 are coming off a second-place finish in last Sunday's Casey General Stores KONI Challenge at Iowa Speedway.
"I'm very excited to be able to drive with my brother again," Jean-Francois Dumoulin said. "We came together with a last-minute sponsor here in Trois-Rivières, and we are very excited to run in our hometown race. Everybody loves the Grand Prix and that works in our favor. Everything around it is a lot of fun. It's great!"
Everyone will be trying to topple point co-leaders Jep Thornton and Jeff Segal, who hold a 22-point (171-149) advantage over Toronto's Scott Maxwell and Joe Foster in the No. 55 Hyper Sport Ford Mustang GT. Thornton and Segal drive the No. 09 Automatic Racing Imported Car Store/Land Air BMW M3 and have one win, while Maxwell and Foster have two, including at the only other Canadian KONI track, Mosport International Raceway. Automatic Racing is bringing three BMW M3s.
Slowly catching the pair are Bret Seafuse and James Gue, who recorded their fifth straight top-10 finish of the season at Iowa and third top five of the season. Seafuse and Gue drive the No. 37 JBS Motorsports Trumansburg Shursave Ford Mustang GT. Another Mustang duo, Hugh Plumb and Mike Canney, in the No. 60 Rehagen Racing Sunset Hills Vineyard machine, also seek their first victory after four top-10 finishes. That car is one of four Rehagen Racing Ford Mustangs traveling north of the border.
Marc-Antoine Camirand, looking to become the winningest driver in the history of Le Circuit Trois-Rivières, will team with Iowa victor Andy Lally in the No. 79 Kinetic Motorsports BMW M3. Camirand is from Saint Leonard d'Aston, Quebec. Other Canadian GS drivers include Empringham, driving with Tom Nastasi in the No. 5 Blackforest Motorsports USG/DeWalt BMW M3; Vancouver's David Riddle, driving with Kris Wilson in the No. 25 C-Max/Unitech Racing Porsche 997; and Toronto's Sasha Anis in the No. 140 SG-Motorsport Nissan 350Z.
Two-time race winner Bill Auberlen will look to defend his Trois-Rivières victory with Matthew Alhadeff in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3. The pair is coming off a third-place finish at Iowa. Don Salama and Bryan Ortiz will drive the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3. TRG will also bring two cars, including the No. 41 Carlsen Porsche/Cohen Financial Porsche 997 that Scott Schroeder took the pole and co-won with Lally at Iowa. Playboy Racing/Fall-Line Motorsports will bring two BMW M3s while the Motorsport Technology Group is bringing a Porsche 997.
Hudson, Quebec's Kuno Wittmer only eight points out of ST point lead
Kuno Wittmer's best chance at scoring his first KONI Challenge victory of the season might come this weekend in his home race at Trois-Rivières. The Hudson, Quebec native is only eight points behind leaders Chuck Hemmingson and Kristian Skavnes (160-152) after the lead pair finished 10th in last Sunday's race at Iowa Speedway. Wittmer finished ninth at Iowa. He and Nick Wittmer will pilot the No. 32 i-MOTO Racing Cybernation/Alpinestar Acura TSX. Nick Wittmer already has one victory this season - the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway with team owner Glenn Bocchino. Bocchino and co-driver Peter Cunningham, 13 points behind the point co-leaders, will drive the No. 31 i-MOTO Racing Cybernation/Alpinestar Acura TSX.
Based on history, Kuno and Nick Wittmer stand a good chance of repeating last year's triumph. A Quebec-born driver has won the ST race in each season dating to 2005. Kuno Wittmer has several podium finishes in touring car competition, and Nick Wittmer has also earned four poles and won all four races in which he has competed at the track.
"This is probably the biggest weekend for us because of the crowd," Kuno Wittmer said. "We know our way around there. I couldn't ask for anybody better as a co-driver than my brother; he has won there more times than I have. Coming off the victory from there last year, we have good track knowledge, and we know exactly where to turn the wheel. We've already got our baseline setup ready. We're pretty confident, actually. I think we could do some damage there. And I'm sitting high in the point standings because of consistency."
Meanwhile, Hemmingson and Skavnes are trying to avenge their first finish outside the top five since Daytona. They will drive one of two ICY/Phoenix Racing Subaru Legacys at Trois-Rivières. Hot on their heels is former point leader Jamie Holtom, who has three victories this season, including Sunday's race at Iowa with Lawson Aschenbach. Holtom is only five points behind Hemmingson and Skavnes, and will team with Andy Lally in the No. 01 Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt SS this weekend.
Bob Beede will lead two Bill Fenton Motorsports Honda Civic Si's to Trois-Rivières. He is sixth in the standings despite scoring no points at Daytona. He is co-driving with Bob Endicott in the No. 29 machine. Defending series champions and No. 76 Honda Civic Si co-drivers Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood are only 28 points out of the lead, and will drive one of four Compass360 Racing machines this weekend. Rounding out the top 10 in points is another ICY/Phoenix Racing driver Andrew Aquilante, who will drive with David Rosenblum in the No. 141 Subaru Legacy.
Like GS, there is no shortage of Canadian drivers in the ST field. Compass360's No. 73 Acura RSX will be occupied by team owner and Toronto native Karl Thomson and American Kevin York, the No. 74 Acura TSX by Boischitel, Quebec's Benoit Theetge and American Christian Miller, and Oakville, Ontario pilots Ken Wilden and Jeremy Willard in the No. 75. London, Ontario driver Matt Pritiko and Ste. Anne Des Lacs, Quebec native Robert Boyer will drive the No. 53 Predator Auto Sport Chevrolet Cobalt SS. Ashley McCalmont and Kirk Spencer, driving the No. 00 Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt SS, reside in Ancaster, Ontario, while No. 138 GS Motorsport C&P Cross Border Law/Sun Sport Chevrolet Cobalt SS drivers Andrew Danyliw and Gunter Schmidt reside in Toronto and Midland, Ontario, respectively. 89 Racing Team Honda Civic Si driver Cyril Hamelin resides in Trois-Rivières while co-driver Jocelyn Hebert calls Becancour, Quebec, home.
Also bringing cars to this weekend's races are RSR Motorsports, Freedom Autosport, APR Motorsport, Classic BMW-Plano, Fountain Motorsports, Brass Mitchell Racing, V-Pack Motorsport, Kinetic Motorsports, Team MER, HART and Turner Motorsport.
Practice for the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières begins at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Qualifying for the ST class is 8:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by GS qualifying at 9 a.m. The 75-lap or one-hour and 45-minute ST race will start at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, with the 80-lap or one-hour and 45-minute GS race at 9:10 a.m. Sunday.
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