SUPER PRODUCTION CHALLENGE

Quebec-based road racing series to appear at CTMP, Shannonville, ICAR and the GP3R

Story by Greg MacPherson

Speaking with Super Production Challenge (SPC)

promoter Dominic St-Jean, a few weeks prior to the start of the schedule for the Quebec-based road racing series, it was clear that he was upbeat and excited about the coming season.

With almost 50 registered and paid drivers already secured – and more predicted before the first green flag of the season, May 19-21 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), St-Jean’s enthusiasm seems warranted.

Inspired by other large North American touring series, for 13 years, SPC has offered amateur, semi-pro and pro racers an opportunity to compete at a wide variety of venues, including at some high-profile race weekends. Governed by FIA’s arm in Quebec, Auto Sport Québec, the three-class tour will make a pair of visits to CTMP in 2023, for the season-opening Castrol Victoria Day SpeedFest, as well as the big Chevrolet Grand Prix IMSA weekend, July 7-9 at the legendary road course.

In between, the series will appear at Shannonville Motorsports Park, June 3-4, as part

...Mac

Clark, continued from Page 18

“Having that engineering mindset and more background information on some of the things that happen on the racetrack definitely helps me to articulate, to my engineers, what the car needs to go faster and win more races.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Clark is excited about racing in Toronto, at the Honda Indy, in mid-July. The USF2000 Series will have a pair of races at the Exhibition Place street circuit. “This will be the first time I get to race at ‘home’ and like three years,” continued Mac.

Clark’s talent, determination and temperament are being noticed by fans and others in the racing community who are in a position to help him reach his full potential.

Spearheading the effort to support Mac and his family to advance the youngster’s career is racer and businessman Bill Clubine, of Woodbridge, Ontario, and his long-time motorsports partner Andre of a CASC-OR race weekend at the eastern Ontario facility. The final two race meets of the SPC season will take place in Quebec. The series will be in action August 4-6 at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, before the season finale at Circuit ICAR, outside of Montreal, during the NASCAR Pinty’s Series race weekend on the facility’s tarmac.

Laurin of OTSFF.

The USF2000 scholarship that Clark won last year didn’t cover the cost of a full-season of racing, but that has now been secured thanks to Clubine Motorsports and the recent addition of racing and automotive enthusiast Angelo Paletta, of Burlington, Ontario, through his TNG Exotics & Limited Editions.

All of these individuals are impressed with Mac’s racing talents and the way he carries himself, and are excited about supporting him in his racing journey.

“I was very fortunate to meet Bill Clubine, probably about eight months ago now,” said Clark. “He’s been incredible, he knows racing and what it takes to succeed, and he’s personally supported our program. I’m really happy to have him in my corner. He’s leading the charge, north of the border, in our program to create awareness about what I’m doing and working to attract new partners and financial support for us to go racing. I couldn’t be more

SPC is comprised of three classes: Super Production, Production and Compact. Controlled horsepower and weight-to-ratio limits ensure fair competition. The championship races were tight, in 2022, and St-Jean expects more of the same this season.

A pre-season practice day was scheduled for the end of April at ICAR. IT grateful for what he’s done.”

Talking about what impresses him about Mac, Clubine said, “I started racing when I was about 16 years old. Snowmobiles in the winter and motorcycles in the summer. I had no help and funded it all myself. Fast forward to now, and my goal is to give young Canadian ‘up and comers’ a leg up in terms of being a friend, mentor, coach, advocate and sponsor.

“When it comes to Mac Clark, the kid is a winner. He does his talking by what he does in the car. Out of the car, he’s smart, soft-spoken and very polite.

“He’s an impressive young gentleman and an amazing driver, and he has a great family. And that’s why we’re getting behind him. We’re very excited and grateful to welcome Angelo Paletta and his TNG Exotics & Limited Editions to the team supporting Mac.”

To follow Mac’s racing adventures, go to MacClarkRacing.com where you can also sign up for his ‘MCR Club’ newsletter. IT

With Files and Photos Courtesy Carsrally.ca Adeep polar airmass brought extreme cold temperatures to Maniwaki, QC the night before the start of the 2023 Canadian Rally Championship at Rallye Perce Neige. Undeterred by temperatures hovering near -40 degrees Celsius, 28 teams took to stages presenting a mix of hard-packed snow and ice. Hearty fans were waiting out in the woods to cheer them on.

Jerome Mailloux and Philippe Poirier made it clear that they were out to defend their 2022 Championship title, setting the pace through the first loop of stages in their wide-body Test Racing Subaru WRX STI. Behind them, Jean-Sebastien Besner, Olivier Martel, Alexandre Moreau, and Simon Vincent duked it out for second place, with Vincent and co-driver Hubert Gaudreau emerging as the fastest of the group by the first service.

With most of the field staying on studded ice tires for the second loop, Mailloux decided to gamble on snow tires, but it didn’t pay off. He was immediately off the pace, his lead bleeding down until a snowbank excursion cost him several minutes on SS11, dropping him to 11th place. He would fight back to finish just off the podium in fourth place, earning valuable points in his run for a second championship.

Alexandre Moreau and Ian Guite balanced skill with patience, emerging from the second loop with the lead, with Jean-Sebastien Besner and Yvan Joyal right behind them. They remained rock steady through the rest of the day’s stages, maintaining their pace even after the sun set. Although Besner would leverage his vast experience and push hard to close the gap to Moreau, Moreau held him off to earn his first national win. Olivier Martel put on another demonstration of smooth, error-free speed in his bright green Subaru, earning himself and co-driver Vincent Hubert third place.

Balancing out the cold weather, the 2WD competition brought the heat to Rallye Perce Neige. Matthieu Leblanc and co-driver Eric Dubé, coming off a string of DNFs, attested that their goal was to just finish the event. By the first service, it was clear that they were back to a class-winning pace, but so was American Chris Greenhouse. Greenhouse and co-driver Ryan Scott have also suffered bad luck at Rallye Perce Neige, but they put Leblanc in their crosshairs. The resulting duel saw the two teams trade the lead several times, with Leblanc taking the win by just 4.7 seconds over Greenhouse.

Kurtis Duddy and Matthieu Toupin, fresh off class wins at Rallye Charlevoix and Tall Pines in 2022, made zero mistakes through the race, but had to settle for third.

Vincent Trudel and co-driver Michael Szewczyk took home a commanding win in the Production AWD class by winning 17 out of 18 stages in their Subaru WRX hatchback.

Other notable entries included Jason Bailey and Shayne Peterson in the RC3 Fiesta. Bailey struggled to match the pace of the leaders early on, making several mistakes, before finally requiring the Sweep Team to extract him from a snowbank. He took advantage of the rally-restart rules to get some more stages under his belt in the new Open Class car, but ultimately finished in last place.

Marc-Andre Brisebois finally returned to the driver seat at Rallye Perce Neige, after broken legs forced him to sit out of the second half of the 2022 season. The 2021 Championship runner-up once again enlisted Marie-France Desmarais-Trepanier to call the notes, and Brisebois showed both enthusiasm and speed early on, climbing as high as third overall. In the end, he would settle for fifth behind Test Racing teammate Mailloux.

The teams of the Canadian Rally Championship will head west to the Rocky Mountain Rally for the second round of the season in June. Jean-Sebastien Besner reports that he will be making a run at the championship this year and plans to debut a new car on the stages near Invermere, BC. IT