Acura Nets Two Podiums at Mosport

Cunningham Grabs One Pole, Two Thirds
May 24, 2010—Bowmanville, Ontario

RealTime Racing’s matching pair of Acura Motorsports-sponsored TSXs made their way north over the weekend to Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, about an hour’s drive east of Toronto. Rounds Four and Five of the 12-race 2010 World Challenge Series took place on the historic 2.54-mile high speed circuit, now celebrating its 50th year.

Saturday

Peter Cunningham’s No. 43 Acura TSX set the pace in official practice and grabbed the pole for Round Four with a time of 1:30.408, besting multi-time SCCA T1 National Champion John Heinricy by 0.227 of a second. Long Beach GTS victor and Formula Drift star Tyler McQuarrie lined up third, 0.470 slower than the Acura. Cunningham’s teammate Nick Esayian placed his No. 34 TSX fourth on the grid.

A threat of rain was forecast to give the superior grip of the TSX front-wheel-drive an advantage, but it never materialized. Cunningham’s lead was unfortunately short-lived, as the two more powerful rear wheel drive cars scooted past the Acura before the first turn from the standing start. Heinricy charged to the lead and drew away as the supercharged Lotus and the leading Acura staged a race long battle.

On Lap 6, Cunningham got past the Lotus and pulled a gap, but 17 laps later, McQuarrie found new speed and repassed the Acura to place second. Esayian ran a steady race to bring home a solid fourth.

Sunday

Sunday was a new day for the Acura camp, giving them another chance to fight for victory. As tight as Qualifying was for Saturday’s race, Sunday’s was even tighter, with the top three separated by only 0.183 of a second. This time the starting order was Lotus, Corvette and then Acura.

In similar fashion, the Corvette grabbed the lead on Lap 1 and was never challenged, while the Lotus and Cunningham’s Acura waged war. Heavy traffic from the three World Challenge classes on this horsepower friendly circuit didn’t allow the Acura to showcase its superior handling, and instead gave the advantage to the big V-8 and supercharger-powered opponents. Even so, on Lap 16 the Lotus began to develop a misfire, allowing the Acura to pass up the long back straightaway.

It looked like Cunningham would maintain the second spot, but the Lotus healed itself and gave McQuarrie the power to regain the position eight laps later. A frustrated Esayian again didn’t have the opportunity to fight with the top three, but still took home fourth place honors.

With five of the 12 races of the 2010 season now in the books, Cunningham and Esayian maintain first and second in the GTS Drivers’ Championship. And Acura holds a significant lead in the Manufacturers’ battle.

The Grand Prix of Mosport Speedfest coverage of the double header for World Challenge will be broadcast on Versus on July 31. The special two-hour show starts at 300p EST, and will include a mid-year report. As always, if you forget to set your DVR, you can watch all the Sports Car Wars action 24 hours after its initial airing at world-challengetv.com.

Round Six will take place in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, at the World Challenge Grand Prix of Watkins Glen over the Independence Day weekend, July 2-4.

The RealTime Racing team is sponsored by Acura Motorsports, Acura Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Red Line Oil, Eibach Springs, Sparco, Hawk Performance, Brembo, A-SPEC, BOSCH, and Total Auto Body.

Last edited by JeffX on May 24, 2010 17:51