WILKINS RETURNS

Canadian Veteran Back After a Decade

Story by Bryce Turner Mark

Wilkins returned to the streets of Toronto for the first time in nearly a decade, as the Canadian sports car champion made a one-off appearance in the FEL Sports Car Championship Canada (SCCC).

Wilkins currently races full-time in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (MPC) for Bryan Herta Autosport, driving a Hyundai Elantra N in the TCR class. He won the MPC TCR championship in 2019 and is also a past winner in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The last time Wilkins raced on Indy Toronto weekend was in 2014, when he won a Pirelli World Challenge race. The return home was an exciting opportunity for the driver from nearby Mulmur, ON.

“Just the fans, just the fun of it,” said Wilkins. “The last time I raced here was good, we won, but it was a tight, close race. I think we ended up winning, but by just a fraction, and it’s just fun racing here. It’s as simple as that. It’s been a while, but I’ve longed for more street course races and here’s the chance to do it three times.”

Wilkins entered the SCCC triple-header with the same team and model of car as MPC, but there were still key changes between his two rides. He noted that the braking is different, with the ABS, plus the MPC doesn’t run on street circuits.

Wilkins was fourth-fastest in the combined practice and qualifying session. He gained a few positions en route to a seventh-place finish in the opening race, just one spot shy of the TCR podium, before finishing eighth (fifth in class) and sixth (fourth in class) in the following events.

While he doesn’t get the opportunity to race on street courses very often, the challenge of this type of track is something that he enjoys.

“The most challenging (aspect) is what I like the most, which is the level of precision required,” said Wilkins. “Needing to be up on the limit, but no margin for error. A lot of race tracks these days have a lot of runoffs – you can make a mistake, you can kind of be a little bit sloppier and get away with it. Here you can’t and I like that.”

Wilkins’ SCCC starts came in the middle of a busy stretch for the driver, sandwiched between MPC starts at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Lime Rock Park. He left the Chevrolet Grand Prix weekend in second-place in the TCR standings, just 20 points back. Despite the differences between the series, running the extra event in Toronto is still an advantage for him.

“I think it’s the seat time, the more time you’re behind the wheel, the better, always,” said Wilkins. “The cars are very familiar.

It’s just seat time, it’s always tuning, always trying to find more, always trying to get more out of myself. Learning about the car, the balance, all that. We don’t do very much testing, so this is a bit of a test for us.”

Wilkins’ appearance also came on the same weekend that Michelin and FEL announced a three-year partnership extension. With the relationship between SCCC and MPC, FEL Motorsports president Chris Bye is happy to see a driver crossover.

“Mark and I are good friends; he’s an amazing guy and an incredible driver,” said Bye. “Having Mark here is awesome; to have Bryan Herta Autosport paying attention to what we’re doing up here…and it’s not just them, there’s other teams talking and they’re saying ‘hey, there’s something cool going on up there.’”