2012 Supercup Canadian Grand Prix

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Flag of Canada.png   2012 Supercup Canadian GP Grand Prix
Race details
2012 Supercup season
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.png
Date May 30th, 2012
Official name 2012 Supercup Canadian Grand Prix
Location Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
Montreal, Canada
Course Road Course
2.710 mi / 4.361 km
Distance 43 laps, 116.53 mi / 187.52 km
Weather Sunny
Pole position
Driver Norway Petter Kaasa Torrent Motorsports
Time 1:20.593
Fastest Lap
Driver Norway Petter Kaasa Torrent Motorsports
Time 1:21.059
Podium
First Northern Ireland Andrew Morgan Water Blue Racing
Second Norway Petter Kaasa Torrent Motorsports
Third Greece Jim Parisis Torrent Motorsports


The 2012 Supercup Canadian Grand Prix - the 7th race of the season - took place on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Spain on the 30th of May.

Report

Andrew Morgan came through a chaotic Canadian Grand Prix to take his first GPVWC victory. The Northern Irish driver later announced it would be his last race for the time being as other commitments will keep him out of the cockpit for the foreseeable future.

As is always the case at the Montreal circuit, fans were greeted to chaotic start which saw David Fidock spiralling off into turn one without a rear wing and scuffles at the rear of the start grid. The bunched up field would see further incidents down at the hairpin as Jarl Teien lost control under braking causing multiple drivers to take avoiding action.

The intensity of the race would continue through the opening ten laps. At the front of the field, Roy Schroten evoked memories of the Supercup race at China as he build himself an early lead as Morgan duelled with the Torrents. Behind the front four came a large pack of drivers which squabbled over positions. It soon became apparent that Schroten was on a softer compound of tires to his competitors and the Dutch driver was quickly reeled in. Schroten came to blows with championship leader Petter Kaasa - first when he overshot the braking point for the final hairpin before the pair came together on the exit of Turn 8.

The contact between the two would lead to a domino effect. Kaasa, knowing he was liable for punting Schroten, slowed up to allow the Synergetic Motorsports to catch him. However the spin had left Schroten just ahead of a pack of drivers which included Cullen, Rouse, O'Connor and Skrajnowski. As Kaasa let Schroten too, an unusually opportunistic Cullen slid down the inside of the Norwegian ace and took the position. It all nearly ended in tears for the group as O'Connor barrelled into the hairpin and speared the Schroten, narrowly missing the Halcyon car of Cullen. While all of this was going on, Morgan steadily worked to build a gap on Jim Parisis, who was subbing for Rickard Hellsten at Torrent.

Cullen was the first of the front runners to pit but endured a torrid out-lap as damage sustained in the opening laps, coupled with poor tire and brake temperature saw him spend more time on the grass than the track. The Irishman lost enough time to see him having to re-pass both Rouse and Alex Cooper as the pair exited the pits respectively. A number of drivers opted to run longer first stints with many viewers wondering if Kaasa's zero-stop strategy from Monaco was going to end of pit-stops in the Supercup series.

Ultimately, all but Skrajnowski made at least one stop. The Pole drove had to resist a late charge from Cullen and crossed the line less than a tenth ahead of the Irishman to take fourth position. Adam Rouse scored another points finish for Hawkeye with 6th position after making his way through the tight midfield pack, fending off Spanish Grand Prix winner Alex Cooper.

Parisis scored a solid podium on his Supercup debut, showing the strenght of depth within the Torrent Motorsports driver stable. A late stop by Kaasa which saw only fuel taken failed to allow the Norwegian to attack Morgan in the latter stages. Despite coming home second, Kaasa will no doubt consider it a good day after struggles for championship rival Cooper and Hellsten not taking part. Martin O'Connor scored his and NRT Racing's first points of the season in 8th. The top ten was rounded out by Boyd Bryson and Mike Seymour.

The day belonged however to Andrew Morgan. Since joining the series for the Abu Dhabi event, the Northern Irish native has showed impressive speed and helped to restablish Water Blue's creditability after a difficult opening to the season. The win will be slightly overshadowed by his need to step away as many will have expected him to push on from this victory to achieve more. The series moves on in his absence and many will no doubt take heart from Morgan's stirring drive as they hope to match his achievements in the coming races.

Results


Standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

External links

Preceded by:
2012 Supercup Monaco Grand Prix
2012 Supercup Canadian Grand Prix
2012
Succeeded by:
2012 Supercup Korean Grand Prix