CALABOGIE – An emotional Nathan Blok took to the podium Sunday afternoon to receive his award for third place in his second race of the weekend and an amazing start to his open wheel racing career.

Taking part in the Ted Powell Memorial Race Weekend at the Calabogie Motorsports Park, Blok who has joined the Ottawa-based Mortimer Racing Team as a Formula Ford (F1600) A Class driver, qualified 10th of 20 cars Saturday. In the 20 minute race, he was able to gain several positions, moving up to 6th place and closing fast on 5th when he experienced a technical problem with his ignition causing him to gradually lose power. While he barely had enough left to bring his car into pit lane at the end, he was still able to maintain enough speed to cross the finish line in 7th.

With the car fixed for Sunday, he qualified 6th of 17 and in the race which was shortened due to lightening and an early lap collision between two cars, the end result was a podium finish behind Olivier Bonnet and Stefan Rzadzinski.

Hugging family and friends, and receiving congratulations from many around the paddock, Blok thanked his team, and his supporters for all that they have done to get him to this point and said he couldn’t have hoped for a better ending to his first weekend racing open wheel.

He also had Claude Bourbonnais to thank for assisting with his success on the track. Bourbonnais is one of Canada's most experienced professional race car drivers who has raced internationally in series such as the Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans and FIA Formula F3000 and in the last several weeks, has provided one-on-one coaching to Blok in preparation for his transition to open wheel racing.

Now with his first races behind him, Blok is ready to move forward and, depending on sponsorship funding, hopes to be able to race in the Grand Prix De Trois-Rivieres taking place the weekend of Aug. 15 and as part of the NASCAR Canadian Tire NAPA Autoparts 200 weekend at the F1 circuit in Montreal the weekend of Aug. 29.

“This weekend was something I will never forget. The car performed great and I have learned so much from the team already I can’t wait to race again. However, I realize that opportunities to race are based solely on the financial support of my sponsors so we will have to see what is possible and make the most of each opportunity I do have,” Blok said.

Interested sponsors can contact Steve Blok at 613-582-3867.