Richard Boake starts SCCC campaign with a double win

The Sports Car Championship Canada season kicked off at Bowmanville’s Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with Richard Boake winning both races in the TCR class. In Race 1, Boake and his Blanchet Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS recovered after a poor start and stole the lead to the 2023 champion Dean Baker who then retired after a crash. Boake claimed a lights-to-flag win in Race 2 ahead of Baker and so has taken the lead in the standings. But the hero of the weekend was the 15-year-old rookie Anthony Martella who started both races from the last spot after he was excluded from Qualifying for a technical infringement. Martella completed two impressive recoveries to finish second in Race 1 and third in Race 2, though he was later demoted to fifth by a penalty, and is already placed second in the points.

Race 1 – Boake had set the overall fastest lap, with Baker, second in TCR ahead of Martella who was then excluded for a technical infringement. At the rolling start, Baker got away well into the lead, while Boake was chased by Quinn Attrell and Gary Kwok who sprinted from P7 on the grid. Baker and Boake quickly built a gap, with Quinn Attrell following in third; further behind, Cameron Attrell overtook Kwok for fourth. In lap 7, the recovering Martella passed Kwok for fifth and three laps later he got past Cameron Attrell for fourth. Halfway through the race, Boake closed in on Baker and at the start of lap 16 he took the lead. Baker remained within striking distance for a few laps, but then he spun off, hit the tyre wall and limped to the pits. Baker’s accident promoted Quinn Attrell to second, but he had Martella just behind; then in lap 26, while taking a lap to a TCA car, Attrell spun and rejoined in sixth position. Boake won by a large margin ahead of Martella, with Ron Tomlinson third.

Race 2 – The front row of the grid saw again Boake on pole and Baker in P2 thanks to their second fastest Qualifying laps. This time Boake kept his cool and led from Baker and Tomlinson, while Kwok passed the Attrell brothers moving into P4. Further behind, Martella began recovering once again and joined a five-car battle for P4 with Kwok, the Attrells and Megan Tomlinson. One after the other, Martella passed all his rivals and climbed to fourth in lap 10 ahead of Connor Attrell whose Hyundai Elantra slowed, began to drop and eventually retired. In lap 13, the third-placed Tomlinson was joined by Martella and Quinn Attrell; Tomlinson resisted until the penultimate lap when he made a mistake and both Martella and Attrell moved up to third and fourth. Up front, Baker had kept on chasing Boake but without getting close enough to threaten his lead, eventually he lost contact and finished three seconds behind.

After the race, Martella was handed two 10-second penalties for avoidable contacts; he dropped to fifth while Attrell inherited the podium spot.

The series will resume at Calabogie on 21/23 June.

Bowmanville – Race 1

1. Richard Boake (Blanchet Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS), 29 laps
2. Anthony Martella (Martella Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 26.667
3. Ron Tomlinson (TWOth Autosport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 43.991

Bowmanville – Race 2

1. Richard Boake (Blanchet Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS), 28 laps
2. Dean Baker (Baker Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.141
3. Quinn Attrell (Hyundai Canada, Hyundai i30 N), 46.263

Championship points

1. R. Boake, 80 pts; 2. A. Martella, 59; 3. R. Tomlinson, 57

Picture: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park