Bell and Salama win at Trois Rivieres

[Roundel]

Matt Bell teamed with Don Salama in a Turner Motorsport E46 M3 to win the Koni Challenge Grand Sport race at Trois Rivieres, Quebec. It was the second win of the season for both drivers and the third for the Turner team: Bell had won along with his regular teammate Bill Auberlen at Daytona in January; Salama had teamed with Will Turner to win the Street Tuner class in an E46 328i at Laguna Seca; and Joey Hand and Chris Gleason had won in GS at Lime Rock in May in a Turner E46 M3. Both Hand and Auberlen were racing their ALMS M3 on the day of the Trois Rivieres race.

Salama had qualified the M3 third on the 1.52-mile street circuit at Trois Rivieres. He started the race, handing off to Bell on lap 22 during the second yellow flag period in the race. Dean Martin, who had led the first 21 laps, handed off to series’ point leader Ken Wilden at about the same time.

Matt Bell and Don Salama won the Koni Challenge GS race at Trois Rivieres. (Grand-Am photo)

Bell took over the lead, extending it to eight seconds at one point. A late-race yellow enabled the second and third place cars to close on Bell’s M3, but he motored away again when the track went back to green, holding on for the win.

“It’s fantastic to get a win on this track!” said Bell. “To be behind the wheel and take the checkered flag was a great feeling. When that last yellow flag came out and took away the lead I’d built up, it was like it took all the steam out of the effort I’d put in at that point. But the BMW M3 is so balanced and I had been as conservative as I could be with the brakes so on the restart I was able to build up my lead again, thankfully. Don did a great job in his stint and the Turner guys gave me an unbelievable pit stop and then I just had to do my job from there.”

Billy Johnson finished second in the Mustang that he shared with Jack Roush Jr., while Martin and Wilden finished third. Another Mustang piloted by James Gue and Bret Seafuse was fourth, and the Automatic Racing M3 of Tom Long and Charles Putman finished fifth.

Trinkler takes the Street Tuner pole, but fades at mid-race

Owen Trinkler took the pole for Saturday’s Koni Challenge Street Tuner race at Trois Rivieres in his RSR Mini, and led for the first 39 laps. Then, after a slow pit stop, his co-driver Jade Buford returned to the race out of the top ten, and the Mini did not challenge for the lead again; it went on to finish eleventh. The overall win went to the father-son team of Andrew and Alfredo Carbonell, who took over the lead soon after the Mini relinquished it.

The other RSR Minis had difficulties as well; Trevor Hopwood and Adam Burrows, classified eighth in the finishing order, went into the wall when a tire went flat with just a lap left in the race. The third Mini, driven by team owner Randy Smalley, spun after contact with the 3D Auto Works 330ci of David Maynard. The spinning Smalley made contact with Turner’s Paul Dalla Lana; both cars went behind the wall and out of the race.

The Koni Challenge series runs again at Miller Motorsports Park on September 18-20 and then ends its season at VIR on October 2-4.—Brian S. Morgan, motorsports editor, bmwcca.org