RÉAL LaFRANCE WINS A FEATURE RACE FULL OF INCIDENTS

GRANBY, QC, July 11, 2004 -- Eleven yellow flags with one resulting in a red flag, many withdrawals and more the 75 minutes of racing, here is the result of the 50-lap feature in the Modified division won by veteran Réal Lafrance, last Friday night at Autodrome Granby. Also winner of a mandatory pit stop, Lafrance took his second win of the season to join Martin Roy in the second spot of the CARQUEST Auto parts standings.

Lafrance who with his mechanics had worked very hard the night before to change the differential, took the green flag from the thirteenth spot in this 50-lap feature dominated at the beginning by Wallace Stacy. In fact, Stacy, the St‑Hyacinthe driver, was already fifth by lap 13 behind Claude Brouillard, Kayle Robidoux, David Hébert and Martin Roy.

Then, on lap 19, on the fourth yellow flag, officials decided that it was time for the mandatory pit stop behind the official pace car. Again, with the help of his mechanics, Lafrance was able to gain two positions and get out of the pits just behind the leader, Claude Brouillard. The other winner of this pit stop was Clément Therrien who was able to move from the ninth to the fifth place. Kayle Robidoux and David Hébert were the ones who lost the most.

Following the restart, Lafrance began to put pressure on Brouillard and by lap 28, he was able to take the first spot. After that, Lafrance was able to survive to three other yellow flags to score his second very popular victory. As for David Hébert, he had moved back to the eighth position before coming back and pass Brouillard with ten laps remaining. Alain Boisvert and Martin Roy rounded up the top five finishers.

Many of the yellow flags were caused by individual spin-outs. Three in particular caught the attention. The first one occurred on lap 9 when Patrice McGrail hit the retaining wall after a brake line problem. The car was badly damaged but McGrail escaped without injuries. Then ten laps later, Alain Boisvert spun in turn 4. Richard Chauvin, Stéphane Lafrance, Stéphane Michaud and Marco Potvin couldn’t avoid him. Everybody escaped safely but Chauvin’s race was over.

Another contact with the concrete wall on lap 38 was more worrying. Plagued with a direction problem, Jasmin Léveillé went directly in the wall. Unable to get out of his car, officials had to drop the red flag to allow the emergency crews to get near the car and release Leveillé who was shaken but not seriously injured.

Steve Poirier had another night to forget. After having mechanical problems in his qualifying heat, he had to work very hard with his crew to change the transmission to be ready for the feature race. Dead last, 23rd, at the green flag, Poirier was in fourth place on lap 37 then slowing his pace to finish ninth. Only 14 of the 23 starters crossed the finish line.

A first

Finally, Michel Dusseault of Victoriaville paid his first visit in career at Granby in the Sportsman division. The 20-lap feature race was also slowed down by two accidents involving many cars. Also having their best results of the season so far, Frederic Gamache and Martin Hébert followed Dusseault at the finish line.

It was a night to forget for points leader, Sébastien Gougeon. After being involved in the first crash on lap 2, he was forced to quit. As for Steve Bernard, is most serious contender for the championship, he lost a very good chance to take the first spot from Gougeon. While he was fifth on lap 17, he spun out and finished eleventh.

For the third time this season, Stéphane Larivière was the winner in the Semi-Pro division while in the 4 Cylinders, after four seasons, Robert Larocque saw his efforts pay off with his first checkered flag.

RESULTS

MODIFIED 50 Laps: 1- 11, Réal Lafrance; 2- 1, David Hébert; 3- 3, Claude Brouillard; 4- 73, Alain Boisvert; 5-90, Martin Roy; 6- 21, Ian Bussière; 7- 78, Vince Quenneville Jr.; 8- 2, Marco Potvin; 9- 61, Steve Poirier; 10- 39, Clément Therrien; 11- 8, Christian Salvas; 12- 5, Mario Moreau; 13- 24, Stéphane Michaud; 14- 86, Aaron Bartemy ; 15- 115, Stephane LaFrance; 16- 46, Kayle Robidoux; 17- 09, Alex Fortier; 18- 4, Leon Gonyo; 19- 4k, Jasmin Léveillé; 20- 2x, Mario Lajoie; 21- 66w, Wallace Stacey; 22- 31, Richard Chauvin; 23- 10, Patrice McGrail.