Double victory for Di Benedetto at Trois-Rivières

Sports Car Championship Canada’s iconic event in the frame of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières resulted in Justin Di Benedetto’s back-to-back victories in races 2 and 3, while Louis-Philippe Montour won the first race on Friday night. On his second appearance at the wheel of his new Honda Civic FL5, Gary Kwok finished twice on the podium.

As far as the title fight is concerned, all contenders experienced ups and downs; eventually Dean Baker retained the lead with a margin of 48 points over Di Benedetto, while Richard Boake slipped down to third, three further points behind.

Race 1 – Gary Kwok and his Honda Civic FL5 won the overall pole in the dying moments of a close Qualifying on a drying track; second in TCR and third overall was Boake, less than four tenths behind. At the start of the night race Di Benedetto’s Audi went wide at Turn 1; Tom Kwok’s Honda spun in avoidance, crashed into the wall and was collected by the other Honda of Jocelyn Hébert. Both Civic cars were too damaged to continue, and the safety car was deployed. When racing resumed, Gary Kowk led the TCR class from Boake and Montour but then Boake’s Audi punted Kwok’s Honda into a spin. Kwok rejoined at the back of the field, while Montour benefited from the incident and took the lead, pulling away to build a small gap. Behind him, Boake was defending P2 from Di Benedetto. Up front, Montour was unchallenged and claimed his maiden victory in the series, while Di Benedetto passed Boake in the final laps to secure second place; Kwok recovered to finish sixth. After the race, Boake was dropped to fifth for the incident with Kwok.

Race 2 – Boake and Baker shared the front row thanks to their best second qualifying laps, but it was the third-placed Di Benedetto who led at the start from Boake, Baker, Gary Kwok and Hébert. The safety car was deployed in lap 3, following a crash between Ed Killeen,’s Audi and Connor Attrell’s Hyundai Elantra. The green flag was waved in lap 8; Montour passed Hébert for P5 and then Kwok for P4. Di Benedetto took advantage by the overtaking of a GT car and pulled away, while Boake and Baker delivered a thrilling fight for second. Di Benedetto went on to take his second win of the season, while Baker went straight while trying to pass Boake and rejoined in ninth position; Kwok passed Montour and finished third. The race ended behind the safety car following an incident between Ron Tomlinson’s Audi and a GT car. 

Race 3 – Di Benedetto was on pole following his victory in Race 2, with Boake alongside; at the start Di Benedetto led from Boake and Gary Kwok, while Marco Cirone passed Montour for P4. At the beginning of lap 3, Boake’s Audi slowed down abruptly in a cloud of smoke, Cirone swerved in avoidance and was collected by Montour; their cars crashed into the tyre wall and the safety car was deployed. At the restart, Kwok began to put pressure on Di Benedetto, while Baker had recovered up to third. After a few attempts, Kwok made his move in Turn 5 and passed Di Benedetto for the lead. However, Di Benedetto did not give up and was able to regain the first position during the penultimate lap beating Kwok to the line by less than three tenths.

The season will come to an end at Bowmanville on September 1/3.

Trois-Rivières – Race 1

1. Louis-Philippe Montour (GT Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 29 laps

2. Justin Di Benedetto (Di Benedetto Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 3.918

3. Dean Baker (Baker Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 15.461

Trois-Rivières – Race 2

1. Justin Di Benedetto (Di Benedetto Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 21 laps

2. Richard Boake (Blanchet Motorsports, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 7.390

3. Gary Kwok (M&S Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 7.759

Trois-Rivières – Race 3

1. Justin Di Benedetto (Di Benedetto Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 20 laps

2. Gary Kwok (M&S Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 0.286

3. Dean Baker (Baker Racing, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 9.718

Championship points

1. D. Baker, 283 pts; 2. J. Di Benedetto, 235; 3. R. Boake, 232

Picture: Di Benedetto Racing