It was a weekend of many firsts for race car driver Remo Ruscitti.
The 20-year-old Burnaby driver took three checkered flags in two separate International Motor Sports Association races, including the first-ever wins for both Autometrics Motorsports and 8Star Motorsports at the Canadian Tire Motrosport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. this weekend.
Ruscitti opened with the 8Star team's first win in the series in his racing debut in Prototype Lites on Saturday.
He then won for a second time in Round 8 of the series in the rain on Sunday, taking first place in the 29-lap race in an Élan DP02 by 17 seconds over JDC Motorsporsts Mikhail Gokhberg.
On Saturday, Ruscitti also gave Autometrics its first-ever team win in the Continental Tire Sports Car street tuner class, co-driving the team's No. 04 Porsche Cayman with Adam Isman to the wire in a 26-car field.
"It was awesome and I can't thank everybody enough. It's sweeter that this was my first time in the car and with the fact that I won earlier today in my ST car, so it's a great day," said Ruscitti in an IMSA press release.
In the street tuner car, Ruscitti and Isman set a race lap record of 1:33.568 in the Porsche on the 2.459-mile circuit and outduelling Eric Foss in a BMW 328i for the lead with two laps to go.
Earlier in the series, Ruscitti was in contention for the lead at a race in Kansas City when the clutch failed. In a later race, his car ran out of fuel while in the lead at Watkins Glen.
At the only Canadian stop of the series, the Autometrics car was forced to start from the rear of the pack because of tire issues. Isman brought the car up to 12th before Ruscitti took over behind the wheel.
With 15 minutes to go and good on fuel, Ruscitti battled Foss and Andrew Carbonell, looking for his third win of the series in a Mazda MX-5, for the lead down the wire.
Ruscitti took the lead on the second-to-last lap and held on for the win.
"It was really a fight to the end," said Ruscitti on a long-distance call to the NOW after winning his third race of the weekend.
"Today, I was just kind of happy. I'm usually good in the wet. I seemed to pick up on it pretty quickly. I had the lead in the third lap and pulled out to a nine-second lead. It's actually pretty hard to believe."
With just one more race in Indianapolis, Indiana on the schedule, Ruscitti is hoping there is a possibility for more races this season.
"Hopefully, a lot of people are taking notice," he said. "Everyone knew we had a good car (in ST), but in Lites, we proved it's not just the car that won the race."
