Kellymoss racer Loek Hartog took his third victory of the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship today with a controlled drive in treacherous conditions at the Formula 1 AWS Grand Prix of Canada.
Again starting from pole, Hartog made sure there was no opportunity for rival Yves Baltas to repeat his turn 1, around the outside move that he put on the pole sitter yesterday.
Hartog impressed at the front of the field with Baltas in pursuit. MDK Motorsports’ Dan Clarke also took to the outside at the start but had to abandon the move and take the run-off before rejoining in turn two.
Despite all cars starting the race on Yokohama wets, the track conditions were still treacherous, with a number of cars running off at the hairpin on the opening lap. Kellymoss Masters’ Class racer Chris Bellomo, unfortunately, suffered contact with the wall as many cars ran wide.
Spins for Jodan Wallace (Kellymoss Pro-Am) and Sabre Cook (MDK Motorsports Pro) brought out the safety car after 10 minutes of track action.
With 24 minutes to go, the race resumed with Hartog maintaining his lead over Baltas with Alex Sedgwick (JDX Racing) in third.
Michael Cooper (Baby Bull Racing) moved past Sedgwick before the race again came under safety car control for a heavy impact by Colin Kaminsky at the final corner.
Kaminsky’s Topp Racing entry slid straight across the entrance to the chicane and made heavy impact with the Tech-Pro safety barrier.
Fortunately the former Indy NXT racer was able to climb out of the car uninjured. However with heavy damage to the safety barrier, the race was unable to be restarted and checkered early with Hartog, Baltas and Cooper filling the Pro podium.
“It was great to come away with the win today in Montreal, I’m really happy about that,” Hartog said.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get to race as many laps as I would have liked, but I executed everything I needed to. I also learned from my mistake at the start from yesterday. This time I kept the lead and could pull away quite a bit.
“A big weekend of points and a great lead in the championship – Montreal went well.”
For the second Porsche Carrera Cup North America weekend in a row, Baby Bull Racing’s Moisey Uretsky came away with the victory in the Pro-Am class-leading home Canadian Marco Cirone and former champion, Alan Metni.
“The day is great – first place Pro-Am – I can’t complain about that,” Uretsky said.
“The weather was definitely a bit challenging. The track was pretty good in the conditions, but the visibility was impossible. At 150 miles an hour, you couldn’t see anything and you are kind of guessing.
“You can’t even see the walls to the side, but I’m happy we survived. Baby Bull Racing also got third overall, so this one’s for our man Jason Hoover. He’s a little bit under the weather, so we hope he’s feeling better and what better way to get him there, than two podiums.
Returning to the championship in 2024, Masters’ driver Matt Halcome continues to impress with another victory today – the only driver from any class to win both races this weekend.
He finished ahead of Kyle Washington and Carlos de Quesada.
“It was amazing today, very exciting. The spray was unbelievable with a lot of guys spinning around me,” Halcome said.
“It’s been great to be back in the championship I’m doing pretty good so far. I wasn’t expecting to be where we are leading the points at the moment. Taking two wins here in Montreal was pretty cool – especially to do it here at a Formula 1 track.”
The Porsche Carrera Cup North America teams now head back across the border and set their sights on rounds seven and eight of the 2024 championship at Watkins Glen International from June 20-22.
