Cameron Cassels Now 2-For-2 After Missing 2016 Opener

Subtitle:Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Strong In GS

What a turnaround the 2016 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge has been for Cameron Cassels.

After watching the season-opening BMW Performance 200 from the sidelines – his new Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport not quite ready for Daytona – Cassels holds a perfect two-for-two after scoring overall victories at Sebring International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Co-driving with Trent Hindman – the 2014 Grand Sport (GS) champion who began the year without a ride – the No. 12 Bodymotion Cayman led the final 30 minutes at Mazda Raceway.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would start off the season this way, especially after missing Daytona and being behind the eight ball,” said Cassels, a 47-year-old driver from Coldstream, British Columbia. “I’m really blessed to be part of this series and the Bodymotion team. Our victories are a testament to how great the team is, and how great the car is.”

Cassels made his professional racing debut at Road Atlanta last October, when he teamed with fellow Canadian Rene Villeneuve in Bodymotion’s Porsche 911 and finished 11th overall and in GS.

Over the offseason, Bodymotion was the first to step up and purchase Porsche’s new turn-key race car, the Cayman GT4 Clubsport, with Cassels and Villeneuve testing the car at Daytona. However, the car wasn’t quite ready, and Cassels found himself without a co-driver.

He didn’t have to look very far to find one, though.

“Fate is a funny thing,” Cassels said. “Trent was looking for a ride, and our team wasn’t quite ready for Daytona. We were both at a crossroads. He was available; I was looking. Of course, I was aware of who he was (Hindman was the 2014 GS champion for Fall-Line Motorsports and BMW), and I had met him at the drivers’ meeting at Road Atlanta last fall. He then went on to win the race!”

Making a strong statement by winning back-to-back races, Cassels is quick to admit that 2016 will be very much a learning year.

“I feel like I’m drinking through a fire hose right now,” he said. “I’m learning a lot, but I have very little experience compared to everybody else in the field. Think about it – Sebring was the first time I’d ever been in a car with slick tires, and I’d never seen that track in my life. Being able to pull off a win with Trent and Bodymotion was beyond my expectations.”

“For the rest of the season – apart from Road America and Road Atlanta – every track will be a new experience for me as well. I’m going to have to get up to speed in a hurry. Even though it’s a small GS field right now, it’s stacked with talent, and it elevates the bar for me to learn as fast as I possibly can.”

Cassels began racing in an organized series in 1999 with the Legends car series in Western Canada, running a full season in 2002 when his peers voted him as the ‘Racer of the Year’ at the end of the season.

In 2015, Cameron participated in the Skip Barber Summer Series with their formula racecars. His first road race saw him standing on the podium in only his first time driving Road Atlanta and the first time racing one of the Skip Barber cars. Cameron competed in eight Skip Barber races in 2015 with seven podium finishes, including a victory at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca racetrack. 

Looking to take the next step at that point, Cassels took the advice of one of his Skip Barber racer and went to Bodymotion Racing due to their experience with Porsches. Then he chose the GS class of the Continental Tire Challenge because he liked the diversity of the tracks and equipment competing in the series.

He jumped in with both feet, and he’s enjoying the experience. 

“Sebring was probably my least-favorite place in the world when we unloaded there in March,” Cassels said. “I found it very daunting, very challenging. Now I have to admit I’m looking forward to going back. Not only because of the win, but I found it to be a technically rewarding track.“