Canadian Touring Car Championship Explained

Canadian Touring Car Championship
Category:Touring cars
Country/Region: Canada
Inaugural:2007
Folded:2020
Tires:Pirelli
Champion Driver:Zachary Vanier
Champion Team:TWOth Autosport

Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) presented by Pirelli is a Canadian professional touring car road racing series. In 2006, it was created based on the growth of amateur touring car racing in Canada and the pent-up demand for a professional product.

CTCC is featured in Eastern Canada's main provinces, Ontario and Québec. Race events generally take place in the Greater Toronto Area, in the Greater Ottawa Area, in Mirabel, Montréal and Trois-Rivières. The competitor base expands reach all over Canada, but more specifically in Southern and Eastern Ontario, Québec and the United States.

Originally, the CTCC used a domestically developed BoP, but now the series parallels the IMSA SportsCar Challenge in using a combination of Group GT4 and TCR Touring Car regulations and homologations for its racing cars.

The CTCC went on hiatus before the 2022 season.[1]

Classes

TCR Class (2018–2020)

The international TCR Touring Car class was formally adopted in 2018 as a permanent replacement for the sedan/hatchback based classes. Still running to this date, CTCC is only Canadian series that has the homologated license to run this class. The car count in this class grows every year.

GT Sport Class (2014–2020)

The Grand Touring Class previously appeared only in CTCC's inaugural season in 2007, but rejoined the series in 2014 and includes makes such as Mustang, BMW, Nissan and Porsche. The class was briefly split into GT Sport and GT Cup. The class now includes a wider vehicle list.

GT Cup Class (2018–2019)

This GT Cup class comprised ultra performance race cars such as Corvette, Viper, Ferrari 430/458, Nissan GTR and Porsche 991/991 GT3.  GT Cup class race cars competed on the track concurrently with the existing Touring, Super Touring and GT Sport classes.

Super Touring Class (2007–2019)

Super Touring Class machines have powerful and heavily modified engines and advanced aerodynamics. As with Touring Class, Super was replaced by the international TCR class.

Touring Class (2007–2019)

This class was the initial class of the championship, along with Super Touring. The Touring Class featured cars with minimal modifications. Touring Class was superseded by TCR

B-Spec Class (2013–2014)

The concept of B-Spec was first developed through collaboration between Honda Performance Development and Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development with the goal of creating a common set of rules that could be adopted by different racing series or sanctioning organizations. CTCC worked with the Sports Car Club of America and Grand-Am to solidify a set of rules that would respect both the B-Spec concept and goals of the different series. B-Spec is designed to be an entry-level and affordable category and highlights one of the fastest-growing segments of the automobile business. Both Honda and Mazda revealed their new prototypes in December 2010. Since then, the Honda Fit and Mazda 2 have been joined by the Ford Fiesta and Fiat 500 at various test sessions. Other eligible cars include the Chevrolet Sonic, Kia Rio, Mini Cooper, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris.

Like its Super and Touring Classes, the new B-Spec Class will have its own set of requirements and will feature showroom stock racing cars utilizing stock engines and chassis, fitted with a competition roll cage, racing seat and other safety equipment along with the approved Continental ExtremeContact race tires and Sunoco race fuel. Weight equalization will be used to balance performance among competing manufacturers.

The entry-level B-Spec Class introduces a compact car category with stock engine and strictly controlled modifications.

Following the 2014 CTCC season, in which there were 4 full time cars at the start of the year, the series decided to drop the class for 2015. Replacing the class for that year would be the return of the GT class.

Manufacturers

Participating automotive brands include Acura, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Honda, Hyundai, Fiat, Ford, Mazda, MINI, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Champions

SeasonCategory
GTSuper Touring
2007 Sasha Anis Charles-Andre Bilodeau Alain Lauzière
Super Touring
2008 Nigel Krikorian Andre Rapone[2]
2009 Nick Wittmer Alain Lauzière[3]
2010 Nick Wittmer Anthony Rapone[4]
2011 Etienne Borgeat Tom Kwok[5]
SuperTouringB-Spec
2012 Sasha Anis Damon Sharpe Nick Wittmer[6]
2013 Scott Nicol Damon Sharpe Karl Wittmer[7]
2014 Roger Ledoux Michel Sallenbach Normand Boyer [8]
Grand TouringSuper Touring
2015 Ian Stanley Crerar Roger Ledoux Alain Lauzière [9]
2016 Chris Sahakian Eric Hochgeschurz Michel Sallenbach[10]
GT SportSuperTouring
2017 Bob Attrell Eric Hochgeschurz Michel Sallenbach[11]
GT CupGT SportSuperTouring
2018 Bob Attrell Ethan Simioni Marc Raymond Shawn Little[12]
GT SportTCR
2019 Parker Thompson Gary Kwok[13]
2020 Orey Fidani Zachary Vanier[14]

Race Tracks Visited by CTCC

TrackCityProvinceLengthTurnsLayout
Calabogie Motorsports ParkGreater Madawaska
45.3028°N -76.6722°W
5.05 km20
Canadian Tire Motorsport ParkBowmanville
44.05°N -78.6778°W
3.957 km10
Circuit Grand Prix Trois-RivièresTrois-Rivières
Québec2.462 km10
Shannonville Motorsport ParkShannonville
44.2254°N -77.16°W
Ontario4.03 km 14
Honda Indy Toronto
Exhibition Place
Toronto
Ontario2.824 km11
Circuit Mont-TremblantMont-Tremblant
46.1877°N -74.6099°W
Québec4.26 km17
Circuit Gilles VilleneuveMontreal
Québec4.36 km14
Circuit ICARMirabel
Québec2.8 km16

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Feud over Canadian sports car racing ends with a series put 'on hold' . Stephanie Wallcraft . Driving.ca . 2022-04-06.
  2. Web site: Fender banging highlights series. The Globe and Mail. 2013-09-03.
  3. Web site: CCTCC : Nick Wittmer first Quebecker to win Super Touring championship. Auto123.com. 2013-09-03.
  4. Web site: Nick Wittmer and Anthony Rapone Crowned 2010 Champions. Racing in Focus. 2013-09-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20150114060131/http://www.racinginfocus.com/cctcc/nick-wittmer-and-anthony-rapone-crowned-2010-champions/. 2015-01-14. dead.
  5. Web site: Canadian Touring: Etienne Borgeat and Tom Kwok seal the deal. Auto123.com. 2013-09-03.
  6. Web site: Canadian Touring Car champ crowned. The Globe and Mail. 2013-09-03.
  7. Web site: CTCC: Scott Nicol Super Class Champion: Damon Sharpe defends Touring Class title . Inside Track Motorsport News. 2013-09-09.
  8. Web site: Final 2014 CTCC This Weekend 2014 Champions are Crowned . RaceCanada.ca. August 30, 2014. January 22, 2015.
  9. Web site: CTCC celebrates the season by recognizing its champions . insidetracknews.com. December 7, 2015. May 24, 2016.
  10. News: McDonald. Norris. October 31, 2016. Racing Roundup: F1 - who's on third? Jimmie Johnson wins race but 22 NASCAR fans injured by impatient driver; Canadian Touring Car Championship, Nissan Micra Cup honour champions; news, views on other racing. The Toronto Star. June 25, 2020.
  11. Web site: October 1, 2017. CTCC crowns its 2017 champions at ICAR. Canadian Touring Car Championship.
  12. Web site: October 1, 2018. Champions Crowned at ICAR. June 25, 2018. Canadian Touring Car Championship.
  13. News: Wang. Sean. August 26, 2019. Tight championship battles on track as the 2019 CTCC presented by Pirelli wraps up at CTMP. Inside Track Motorsport News. June 25, 2020.
  14. News: August 30, 2020. 17-year old Zachary Vanier secures the CTCC title. TCR-Series.com. September 3, 2020.