Prototype Lites: Toppe Strikes Back At CTMP, Extends JDC's Winning Streak To 24 Races

Clark Toppe sent a clear message with his dominant victory in Round 6 of the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires on July 9 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Don't count me out yet.

Lites 1 podium finishers (from left): Austin Versteeg, Clark Toppe, Kyle Masson

Toppe, from The Woodlands, Texas, earned his second victory of the season in the No. 10 JDC Motorsports entry. He started from the pole and led every lap in the 30-minute race, which ended under caution.

The victory - Toppe's first since Round 1 in mid-March at Sebring International Raceway - helped Toppe pull to within 20 points of championship leader and JDC Motorsports teammate Austin Versteeg. The win also extended JDC Motorsports' winning streak in Prototype Lites to 24 consecutive races, dating back to August 2014."It's really great to get the mojo back after Watkins Glen," Toppe said. "It was a really tough weekend there, but this definitely gets me back on track. To get out there and keep pushing the gap as hard as I can, it was really good."Versteeg, from Sandy, Utah, finished second in the No. 7 JDC Motorsports Élan DP02 chassis powered by a Mazda engine and racing on Cooper Tires. He is the only driver in the series to finish on the overall podium in all six rounds this season.Series rookie Kyle Masson, from Windermere, Florida, finished third in the No. 18 Performance Tech Motorsports entry for his second podium finish of the season.Michael Whelden, from Sausalito, California, finished fourth in the No. 29 Extreme Speed Motorsports car. Max Hanratty, from Milwaukee, rounded out the top five on his 23rd birthday in the No. 30 Extreme Speed Motorsports entry.Series veteran Joel Janco, from Key Largo, Florida, earned his first career Lites 1 Masters victory in the No. 25 JDC Motorsports entry. Max De Angelis, from Windsor, Ontario, was the top finisher in the Lites 2 class in the No. 07 Eurosport Racing car.Round 7, a 45-minute race, starts at 8:40 a.m. (ET) Sunday and marks the halfway point of the season for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Official Development Series.Versteeg entered this event with a 22-point lead in the Lites 1 standings after sweeping all three rounds July 1-2 at Watkins Glen International. Toppe finished second in Rounds 3 and 4 but was eliminated on the first lap of Round 5 due to an accident.

	Cooper Tires pole winner Clark Toppe

But Toppe rebounded during qualifying Saturday morning on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile (3.957 km) circuit at CTMP, edging Versteeg for the pole by 42-thousandths of a second.

Toppe wasted little time expanding that margin at the green flag, jumping to a 2.882-second lead over Versteeg after nine minutes. Toppe inexorably grew the gap, pulling to a 4.940-second lead with eight minutes remaining."I think there are places that I could have done better, but we'll go back to the tent and work on some setup stuff, talk to the engineers and see what I can do better, too, and hopefully take the fight to Clark tomorrow," Versteeg said. "He did a really great job today, so I have to give credit where credit is due."Meanwhile, a fierce race for the final spot on the podium unfolded between Hanratty, Masson and Whelden.Masson and Hanratty made side-by-side contact on the back straightaway after Masson drove past Hanratty for third place in Turn 5 just past the halfway point of the 30-minute race. The close-quarters duel between Masson and Hanratty continued into Turn 1 on the next lap before Masson prevailed."It was really aggressive, hard racing," Masson said. "Neither one of us wanted to give up the position. It was overall a lot of fun, a little scary at times."Whelden also edged past teammate Hanratty for fourth but couldn't challenge Masson for third.A full-course caution was triggered with five minutes, 45 seconds remaining when the No. 43 Performance Tech Motorsports car of series rookie Nathan Blok stopped at the pit entrance. Blok, from Pembroke, Ontario, was running sixth in his series debut when his car suffered a flat tire.The race was about to return to green-flag action with two minutes left when the No. 31 Eurosport Racing entry of Lites 1 Masters driver Michal Chlumecky stopped at the exit of Turn 3. The race ended under caution.Lites 1 Masters

Lites 1 Masters podium finishers (from left): Jon Brownson, Joel Janco, Gerhard Watzinger

Janco's first victory came in his fourth full season in the series. He took the top spot when leader and pole sitter Chlumecky stopped under caution with two minutes left in the race.

"I'll take a win any way I can get it," Janco said. "I'm sorry for what happened to Mike Chlumecky, but I will take what I can get. I've had it happen to me."The car was great, it was set up really well, and I'm just very excited to get my first win."Janco's victory ended a three-round winning streak for Chlumecky, who swept all three races at Watkins Glen. Janco stayed within striking distance of Chlumecky for most of the race from the second starting position in the class, keeping within 1.5 seconds at the halfway point of the race.Three-time L1 Masters champion Jon Brownson, from Breckenridge, Colorado, finished second in the No. 34 Eurosport Racing entry. 2016 championship leader Gerhard Watzinger, from Naples, Florida, rounded out the podium finishers by placing third in the No. 32 ONE Motorsports car.ROUND 6 POST-RACE QUOTESCLARK TOPPE (No. 10 JDC Motorsports, winner):"It's really great to get the mojo back after Watkins Glen. It was a really tough weekend there but this definitely gets me back on track. To get out there and keep pushing the gap as hard as I can, it was really good. JDC gave me an awesome car to build on. I can't thank my Canadian partner, Puzzle Partner, enough and my parents for all of their support."AUSTIN VERSTEEG (No. 7 JDC Motorsports, second): "A little bit uneventful, passing-wise, but it was a really physical car to drive. I think there are places that I could have done better, but we'll go back to the tent and work on some setup stuff, talk to the engineers and see what I can do better, too, and hopefully take the fight to Clark (Toppe) tomorrow. He did a really great job today, so I have to give credit where credit is due." (Are you thinking about wins or points?): "Both. I had a quote said to me by one of my old mechanics in karting, 'If you have a second-place car, make it a second-place car. If you have a first-place car, make it a first-place car. But don't make a second-place car a third-place car.' That's what I was trying to do today. I think I maybe I could have tried something in the beginning, but Clark drove excellently today."KYLE MASSON (No. 18 Performance Tech Motorsports, third): "At the start, my tires weren't warm enough, and I got wide through Turn 2. That gave Max (Hanratty) the advantage through there. I spent about five laps stuck behind him. My tires were going away, and I was just being held up. The only place I could really keep up with him, because he was so quick through the straights, was through Turn 5. I decided to make the pass going into (Turn) 5. I made a clean pass, nosed it in, and he turned into me. It was really aggressive, hard racing. Neither one of us wanted to give up the position. It was overall a lot of fun, a little scary at times. A lot of things happened that shouldn't have, but it did, and once I got ahead I started to pull away. A big thank you to the team at Performance Tech for giving me the car to get into this position. They've been great all weekend."JOEL JANCO (No. 25 JDC Motorsports, first, Lites 1 Masters): "I'll take a win any way I can get it. I'm sorry for what happened to Mike Chlumecky, but I will take what I can get. I've had it happen to me. The car was great, it was set up really well, and I'm just very excited to get my first win."Race CoverageLive timing: All on-track sessions at scoring.imsa.com and on the official IMSA App for iOS, Android and WindowsTwitter: Live text commentary from all sessions at @IMSALiveFor more information about Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtags #MazdaLites and #MRT24 @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.