BOWMANVILLE, Ont. – Friday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Nicolai Elghanayan captured the third pole of his World Challenge career ahead of Saturday’s sprint race.
The No. 71 KTM X-BOW set a fast lap time of 1:23.465, holding .128 seconds clear of the No. 66 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly.
Pumpelly jumped to provisional pole early in the session, but Elghanayan dug in, improving his best time with each lap and methodically climbing up the charts.
He went from seventh to second and then ultimately to the pole position.
“I could not be happier with the result we had today,” said Elghanayan. “Spencer put down a really fast lap time, and I had to give everything our car had in order to catch up to him. It’s my first time here, and I’m still learning a lot, but I was able to scrape out a few tenths here and there.”
Despite making his debut at the 2.459-mile circuit in Bowmanville, Ontario, Elghanayan showed quick speed early on, setting the fastest times in practice one and practice two.
The No. 71 KTM X-BOW, which was delivered to the team a month ago at the Long Beach Grand Prix, is suited well for the rolling road course.
“I know it seems like every time I come to a new track I say it’s my favorite, but this track may be at the top of the charts,” he concluded. “There’s nothing like going into turn five at full throttle in fifth gear, then braking going up the hill.
“This track has a lot of flowing, high-speed corners, and it’s just exhilarating.”