Racing Lines: BMW CCA Club Racing runs north of the border

Twenty-five Tire Rack BMW CCA Club Racing drivers traveled to the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park—historically known as Mosport—for a Trillium Chapter event in June 2025. James Keown, racing at CTMP for the first time in his C-Modified E46 M3, won the Friday enduro, and Canadian racer Steve Barnett was first overall in all three sprint races in his B-Modified F82 M4.

Keown, one of several racers running at CTMP for the first time, said, “CTMP has been a bucket-list track for me for some time; I had heard that it was daunting but fun. I can tell you that this track has something for everyone—fast turns, dramatic elevation changes, and blind corners.”

Keown found the fast way around the track quickly, scoring the overall and C-Mod wins in the Friday enduro ahead of M2 Spec winner Frank McCleneghen (F87 M2 CSR). McCleneghen  noted, “Last year I was the lone M2. This year we had four M2s, with Ron Checca, Michael Wetzel, and Michael Kerner joining me. It was great to see Checca immediately get on pace in qualifying. The enduro is really the only chance I get for an overall win. At the start I thought I might have a chance with Jim Keown in the C-Mod car over the distance, but it was quickly clear that I was going to need some luck. Luck didn’t arrive, and we had to settle for second overall and first in class.”

Checca finished third overall ahead of PWR4 winner Greg Wharton (E46 M3) and PWR4 runner-up Sri Haputantri (E36 M3), who was also driving the circuit for the first time.

Ryan Agnew, another CTMP first-time racer, won I-Prepared with an eighth-overall finish in his E36 M3. Ron Hougham (E36 M3) won PWR3, Warren Wulff (E92 M3) won B-Modified, Francois Metivier (E36 M3) won I-Sport, and Rick Schoonover scored a solo win in Spec E46.

Steve Barnett, who had exited the enduro early, stormed back on Saturday morning to score the overall and B-Mod wins in his F82 M4. Friday winner Keown was second, taking another C-Mod victory, and McCleneghen was third, once again winning M2 Spec. Ryan White finished just behind McCleneghen, winning PWR4 in his E46 M3, with PWR4 runner-up Haputantri close behind. Matt Noonan won I-Prepared, and Yakov Bielak (E46 328Ci) took a solo win in PWR2, finishing  just ahead of I-Sport winner Bill Mellott (E36 M3). Schoonover took another solo win in Spec E46.

Barnett took another convincing overall win in the Saturday-afternoon feature sprint race. But the performance of Marshall Papadopoulus, who finished second overall and first in C-Mod in his E36 325is, was the highlight of the weekend. He opted out of the enduro, where he was slated to share his car with his father, Isi Papadopoulus; instead, he took Ted Mason’s wounded PWR3 E46 M3 to his shop for major repairs. After a long work session that stretched into the night, Mason’s car was ready to race on Saturday.

Marshall Papadopoulus qualified second for the Saturday-morning sprint, but the electronic gas pedal failed on the pace lap, taking him out of the race, He made repairs and came through the field from dead last in the feature to win his class with a second-overall finish. C-Mod runner-up Keown rounded out the podium, McCleneghen scored his third M2 Spec win with a fourth overall finish, and Haputantri, who had clearly found his way around the circuit, finished just behind him, winning PWR4 ahead of Ryan White. Noonan won again in I-Prepared, Hougham repeated in PWR3, and Metivier took his second I-Sport win. Bielak (PWR2) and Schoonover (Spec E46) once again scored solo class wins.

Barnett, Papadopoulus, and Keown once again made up the podium in the Sunday sprint, with Barnett and Papadopoulus taking class wins. Haputantri took his second PWR4 win with a fourth-overall finish, while McCleneghen, finishing fifth overall, completed his sweep of M2 Spec.

Matt Noonan set a new track record in I-Prepared—1:30.038—on his way to a third class win. Spencer Wharton (E46 M3) won PWR3, Mellott won I-Sport, and Bielak and Schoonover rounded out their weekend with solo class wins.

Papadopoulus was given the Spirit of Club Racing award for his work on Mason’s car.

Bob Stiver served as the competition steward, Steve Gailits and Mirril McMullen served as tech stewards, and Roland Nieves served as the timing-and-scoring steward.—Brian Morgan, Roundel motorsports editor, with input from racers

Lead photo of Steve Barnett and Frank McCleneghen leading the pack on a race start at CTMP by Michael Tan