May 11, 2020, BURLINGTON – It wasn’t how he scripted his race execution, but Alex Labbe was strong when it mattered taking the Right Choice Auto Sales 100 win Sunday. The Canadian Sim Racing Series (CSRS) presented by Lacroix Tuning visited the tricky 1.5 mile oval on iRacing, and the event was marred with cautions.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Labbe. “We had a couple incidents, and we had to go back through the field. I knew if we had long runs I would be pretty decent.
Labbe led the most laps in the event with 56 tours spent at the helm.
“Treyten (Lapcevich) was really really fast on the short runs. I had better pace than Treyten later in a run, but Treyten was really good on stickers.”
Ultimately Lapcevich wound up fifth after a late-race restart, and it was Michael Moorley who posed the biggest threat to Labbe’s victory. Moorley was two laps down at one point in the race, and in a restart with just five laps to go lined up in the 13th spot.
His fresh tires allowed Moorley to charge the outside lane vaulting all the way to second place before running out of laps.
“The runs on the outside were absolutely phenomenal,” said Moorley. “The guys were actually letting me go by, so I have to thank them for that. I’m very surprised at how that (the outside lane) was working.”
Moorley’s final pass of the night came on third-place finisher Raphael Lessard who wound up third. He completed the move out of turn four on the final lap.
“It was a lot of work,” said Lessard of the race. “There was a lot of caution. I would have liked to have run more green flag laps. I missed it in qualifying and started 17th.
“We had 100 laps to get to the front. We finally got there, but Alex was really good at the end. Michael on new tires was way faster than all of us. First race we were second, and now we were third. For the championship it is looking pretty good. It was very hard to gain position.”
Raphael Lessard battles with round 1 winner Blake Reinhart. Both would earn top-five finishes
The frequent caution flags were a product of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s narrow confines combined with an extremely competitive field of 43 drivers. Only half a second separated the qualifying times from first through 40th.
Rounding out the top five was week one winner Blake Reinhart and Lapcevich. Sixth through 10th were Alex Guenette, Jeff Cote, Maxime Poitras, Bertrand Godin, and Kyle Rochelle.
The Right Choice Auto Sales Hard Charger Award was earned by Godin who started 40th and advanced into the top 10 at the finish. The Lacroix Tuning Smooth Move of the Race Award went to Moorley for his slick execution in moving from 13th to second in just five laps at the end of the race.
Bertrand Godin battles with Connor James.
Rounds three and four of the month-long series present a new challenge for the 60-racer series. Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) is host to next Sunday’s race, and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal will host round four on May 24th.
The 56-lap event at CTMP is the series most high profile event – the final race of CTMP’s Castrol Victoria Day e-Speedfest Weekend. The race will stream live at 9 pm on GForceTV, and so will the public qualifier at 11 am, Sunday, May 17th.
“We are excited to work with the great people at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to participate in their Victoria Day Weekend event,” said league co-founder Adam Ross. “We expect great racing on the track, and a big audience following from home.”
The CSRS presented by Lacroix Tuning visits Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this Sunday, May 17th, with the streams starting at 11 am for public qualifying and 9 pm eastern time on GForceTV.net. Learn more about the CSRS by visiting www.CanadianSimRacingSeries.com.
To register for CSRS Public Series qualifiers, simply visit https://form.jotform.com/201143392266248 , and sign up. There is no charge!
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VICTORY LANE QUOTES:
WINNER – Alex Labbe:
It wasn’t easy. We had a couple incidents, and we had to go back through the field. I knew if we had long runs I would be pretty decent.
Treyten was really really fast on the short runs. It all worked out there at the end.
I wanted to build a little gap there. I had better pace than Treyten later in a run, but Treyten was really good on stickers. I had a little breathing room. I just tried to save a little bit of my right front tire in case we had a late caution.
SECOND PLACE – Michael Moorley:
Believe it or not I restarted 13th on that last restart, and I had nice good tires. The runs on the outside were absolutely phenomenal. The guys were actually letting me go by, so I have to thank them for that.
I’m very surprised at how that (the outside lane) was working. I was kinda trying it a little bit further back in the field. It was running hard up there.
Just want to give a shout out to you guys at G Force TV. I want to give a shout out to Darkhorse and to CSRS.
THIRD PLACE – Raphael Lessard:
It was a lot of work. There was a lot of caution. I would have liked to have run more green flag laps. I missed it in qualifying and started 17th.
We had 100 laps to get to the front. We finally got there, but Alex was really good at the end. Michael on new tires was way faster than all of us.
First race we were second, and now we were third. For the championship it is looking pretty good. It was very hard to gain position.
| Right Choice Auto Sales 100 | ||||
| Canadian Sim Racing Series | ||||
| Time Trial Results | ||||
| Car # | Name | Fastest Lap Time | ||
| 1 | 36 | Alex Labbe | 29.856 | |
| 2 | 12 | Blake Reinhart | 29.857 | |
| 3 | 74 | Kevin Lacroix | 29.879 | |
| 4 | 32 | Treyten Lapcevich | 29.894 | |
| 5 | 6 | Michael Moorley | 29.895 | |
| 6 | 26 | Trent Ringler | 29.895 | |
| 7 | 1 | John Schweickart | 29.9 | |
| 8 | 76 | Cayden Lapcevich | 29.915 | |
| 9 | 11 | Jeff Cote | 29.917 | |
| 10 | 55 | Will Larue | 29.955 | |
| 11 | 38 | Jarrett Herbison | 29.974 | |
| 12 | 12 | Tom Senchak | 29.974 | |
| 13 | 51 | Frederik Ladouceur | 29.992 | |
| 14 | 118 | Jean-Philippe Bergeron | 29.996 | |
| 15 | 88 | Connor James2 | 30 | |
| 16 | 10 | Shane Billings | 30.001 | |
| 17 | 4 | Raphael Lessard | 30.018 | |
| 18 | 29 | Jason Metcalfe | 30.021 | |
| 19 | 19 | Justin Arseneau | 30.026 | |
| 20 | 39 | Alex Guenete | 30.031 | |
| 21 | 28 | Jonathan Cote2 | 30.04 | |
| 22 | 6 | Felix Gratton | 30.078 | |
| 23 | 95 | Anthony Simone | 30.083 | |
| 24 | 1 | Kyle Rochelle | 30.083 | |
| 25 | 33 | Brett J Taylor | 30.084 | |
| 26 | 35 | Adam Ross | 30.085 | |
| 27 | 23 | Maxime Poitras | 30.095 | |
| 28 | 96 | Olivier Bédard | 30.104 | |
| 29 | 82 | Calum McNicol | 30.12 | |
| 30 | 18 | Colin Livingston | 30.132 | |
| 31 | 97 | Maxime Gauvreau | 30.142 | |
| 32 | 52 | Jessy Lambert2 | 30.171 | |
| 33 | 61 | John Fletcher | 30.174 | |
| 34 | 85 | Steve Cote | 30.184 | |
| 35 | 91 | Jeremy Gagnon2 | 30.216 | |
| 36 | 72 | Alexandre Labrosse | 30.218 | |
| 37 | 129 | Danny Caouette | 30.231 | |
| 38 | 17 | DJ Kennington | 30.282 | |
| 39 | 0 | Jacob Exton | 30.295 | |
| 40 | 77 | Bertrand Godin | 30.314 | |
| 41 | 25 | Larry Jackson | 30.345 | |
| 42 | 31 | Wyatt Seburn | 30.447 | |
| 43 | 56 | Francois Verville | 30.475 | |
| 44 | 43 | Francis Daigneault | 30.573 | |
| 45 | 9 | Todd Seburn | 30.778 | |
| 46 | 15 | Anthony Rinomato | 31.195 | |
| 47 | 24 | Dany Lacroix | N/T | |
| 48 | 90 | Lucien JR Campeau | N/T | |
| 49 | 19 | Mario Lachance2 | N/T | |
| 50 | 9 | Mathieu Kingsbury | N/T | |
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