By: In-race Reporter James Francis



A crisp, cool Ontario Autumn evening heated up Wednesday night when the Champion Motorsports iRacing Sportscar Challenge blazed into Mosport International Raceway. It was the first event of the season to feature the Acura HPD ARX-01c Le Mans Prototypes, after previously showcasing the Ford GT's and Corvette C6R's making up the Sportscar Challenge. Newcomer Andre Martins took the pole in qualifying while John Hyatt put down a solid qualifying effort to start on the front row as well.

Coming into the race Christian Oquendo held the points lead. He stated before the race that it was possible he had "used up all his luck with the Vettes", referring to the fact that he had won three races in a row in the Chevrolet C6R before the change in vehicles. Although he did not win, his luck supplied a solid second place finish and he retained his points lead.

Steven Clark won his first race of the season tonight in the chilled Canadian air at Mosport and if his sizzling run in the Acura Prototype is a sign of things to come Christian Oquendo will have a battle on his hands to maintain his grasp on the championship. With tonight's win Steven is only 9 points back in 2nd place in the points standings, followed by Kris Hudson and John Hyatt in the fourth spot. Andre Martins started from the pole tonight and finished 3rd followed by John Hyatt who remained running at the end and finished fourth. Next week the Sportscar Challenge travels to Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps where the battle will resume with the top 6 drivers within 100 points of each other. With three races left in the championship, the top three positions in the Challenge could be had by any of them.

The Acura LMP cars at Mosport were a challenge for all drivers as the long sweeping corners and elevation changes (not to mention the landmine) took their toll on the field and the attrition rate was high. Those simply running at the end can hold their head high for burning the candle at both ends and surviving the long Candian.....Winter....ahem.....race. Next week at Spa in Belgium there's sure to be exciting action at the course better suited to the Acura LMP's, and there's an even better chance things will be hotter.