A FIFTH WIN FOR STEVE POIRIER AND A WITHDRAWAL FOR CLAUDE BROUILLARD
GRANBY, Qué., August 17, 2003— By winning the 50-lap feature in the Modified division, last Friday at Autodrome Granby, Steve Poirier made his fifth visit of the season in the winner’s circle while Claude Brouillard, the defending champion and the most serious contender to Poirier’s lead, had to retired due to electrical problems. By having the best on Kayle Robidoux, Réal Lafrance, Clément Therrien and Marco Potvin, Poirier, the Teo/FM Industries driver, increased his lead margin by 34 points over Brouillard for the Carquest Auto Parts title.
After taking the green flag from the fourth spot, Poirier only needed two laps to catch and pass Wallace Stacey, the early leader. Then, Poirier easily dominated this race slowed by only three caution flags. The first one came on lap 10, when Clément Therrien spun. At this occasion all drivers chose that moment to make the mandatory pit stop of the race. Poirier and Robidoux respectively came out first and second while Claude Brouillard who could count on a well prepared team, was able to get back on the track in third place, a gain of three positions.
Following this stop, Poirier and Robidoux were able to outdistance their rivals while Réal Lafrance was able to gain a few spots by passing Ian Bussière and Vince Quenneville Jr. Then on lap 40, everybody got on their feets when Brouillard stopped his Teo/Eau de source Labrador just before entering turn 4, to cause the third and last yellow flag of this race. Brouillard wasn’t able to make it back for the restart and had to retire due to an ignition problem, a sad moment for the track champion.
In this race, Martin Roy, last week winner, could not do better than a 10th place finish while Mario Moreau had to quit the race in the very last lap. Earlier in the evening, Leon Gonyo and Wallace Stacey were the winners in their respective heats.
Two in a row
If the Modified feature race was dominated by Steve Poirier, the one in the Sportsman division was more tight and young Sébastien Gougeon gave a nice demonstration of his skill with his second consecutive win and third of the season.
At the beginning, Daniel Messier and Arnold Cross were side-by-side for of the most time and battling for the lead. However, Cross could not pass Messier who was resisting Cross’s pressure but it was Gougeon who did it with an excellent and spectacular maneuver.
Ninth at the start, Gougeon who was just behind Messier and Cross, saw a little opening between the two cars in front of him getting out of turn two. With all the fans on their feet, Gougeon passed them in the middle and never looked back after.
Cross was able to hold on to the second spot followed by Messier, Yannick Ledoux and Alex Fortier.
In the 20-lap race, Jean Boissonneault, the Castrol points’ leader, was unable to do better than an eighth place finish. With his solid performance, Gougeon who is still a strong contender to this championship, is now in second place, only 12 points behind Boissonneault.
Just like Gougeon, Michel Coderre had a perfect night in the Semi-Pro division to register his second consecutive win. His victims were Frédéric Lussier and Normand Voghell. At the technical inspection, Lussier was disqualified for an illegal motor.
In the 4 Cylinders class, the battle between the Bernier brothers, Steve and François continued. This time François took the checkered flag for the sixth time this season by having the best on his brother Steve and Patrick Dupont, the defending champion.
RESULTS
SPORTSMAN (20 laps) 1-44, Sébastien Gougeon; 2- 648, Arnold Cross; 3- 9, Daniel Messier; 4- 1, Yannick Ledoux; 5- 09, Alex Fortier; 6- 15, Pierre Raymond; 7- 8, François Becksted; 8- 61, Jean Boissonneault; 9- 07, Alain Mathieu; 10- 172, André Gauthier; 11- 54, Steve Bernard; 12- 20, Frédérick Gamache; 13- 28, Martin Hébert; 14- 99, Benoit Courchesne; 15- 7, Patrice Demers; 16- 81, Éric Landry; 17- 33, Robin David; 18- 50, Jocelyn Cordeau; 19- 85, David Bourgeois; 20- 79, Dominic Brin; 21- 14r, Pascal Romanesky; 22- 63, Éric Haman; 23- 72, Maxime Lajoie; 24- 29, Marcel Gagné; 25- 51, Michel Fagnan.
MODIFIED (50 laps) 1- 61, Steve Poirier; 2- 46, Kayle Robidoux; 3- 11, Réal Lafrance; 4- 39, Clément Therrien; 5- 2, Marco Potvin; 6- 78, Vince Quenneville Jr.; 7- 31, Richard Chauvin; 8- 21; Ian Bussière; 9- 66w, Wallace Stacey; 10- 90, Martin Roy; 11- 8s, Christian Salvas; 12- 4, Leon Gonyo; 13- 5, Mario Moreau; 14- 3, Claude Brouillard; 15- 80, Pierre Berthiaume; 16-2k, Martin Gagné; DNS : 24, Stéphane Michaud; 7, David Hébert.