DEFI-VISION STEVE POIROER SCORED HIS THIRD CONSECUTIVE WIN AT GRANBY
GRANBY, Qué., June 17, 2000--Steve Poirier took advantage of a full house at Autodrome Granby for the 13th edition of the Défi-Vision, that special annual race for blind persons, to score his third consecutive win in the Modified division, his fourth of the season. The driver of the Fondations 4 Saisons/Teo had the best on Claude Brouillard and Clément Therrien. Then, in the Défi-Vision, the team of Yves Tougas and Claude Picard took the checkered flag after a race that kept the fans on their feet.
Again 12th at the starting grid for the second week in a row for the 30-lap feature race, Poirier was able to catch up with the front runners and by lap 9, he was able to challenge and pass American driver Chad Miller, the early leader. After that, Poirier was never upset by his rivals and it was an easy win. For the two other spots on the podium, fans were witnesses of a good battle till the end. Claude Brouillard, the driver sponsored by Eau Labrador/Transport Brouillette, took 13 laps to find himself in the third spot after starting ninth. After that, he had to work very hard to catch Miller and it's only on lap 20, that he was able to do so. Then, it was Clément Therrien, the first Modified 358 driver in that race, who took the 3rd spot. The Victoriaville driver finished in front of Mario Clair and Hugues Mercier.
On the first lap of this race, an accident involving nearly the half of the field forced Dominic Dufault and Pierre Hébert to withdraw while at the beginning of the evening, Denis Labonté, Robert Ranger and Hugues Mercier were the winners in their respective heats.
Therrien again for a second week in a row, Clément Therrien won the 20-lap feature in the Modified 358 class. Before doing so, he had to give his best to win the challenge given to him by veteran driver Réal Lafrance. Lafrance took the second place in front of François Becksted, a driver who is constantly improving since the beginning of the season.
Like Therrien, Jean-Paul Daigneault took his second checkered flag in a row in the Late Model division. At the wheel of his Camaro, Daigneault led wire-to-wire for a perfect night since he had won his qualification race. His victims were, Daniel Messier and Stéphane Larivière in this 12-lap feature race.
Winner but. Following the disqualification of Jocelyn Cordeau for an illegal motor part, Jean Boissonneault, the Bridgetone/Camaro driver, would had certainly chosen an other way to win his first race in the Tourism class. But, this unexpected situation gave him the opportunity to take the first spot in the Prolab standings. Third at the end of this 12-lap feature race, Benoit Bérubé was also disqualified for using tires not stipulated in the rule book. Michel Beauchemin was placed second followed by André Gauthier.
Perfect night for Patrick Dupont in the 4 cylinder class. It was the fourth consecutive win for Dupont who had the best on Pierre Grondin and Éric Haman.
RESULTS
MODIFIED (30 laps) 1- 28, Steve Poirier 2- 3, Claude Brouillard 3- 39, Clément Therrien 4- 22, Mario Clair 5- 50, Hugues Mercier 6- 27, Robert Ranger 7- 7, Denis Labonté 8- 73, Alain Boisvert 9- 25, Luke Plante 10- 61, Chad Miller 11- 11, Réal Lafrance 12- 8, François Becksted 13- 4, Leon Gonyo 14- 46, Kayle Robidoux 15- 15, Pierre Raymond 16- 8s, Richard Salvas 17- 83, Lloyd Sturtevant 18- 35, Vincent Lamer 19- 5D, Yves Dessureault 20- 31, Richard Chauvin 21- 66, Louis Bouthillier 22- 17, Patrick Labonté 23- 63, Dominic Dufault 24- 71, Pierre Hébert.
MODIFIED 358 (20 laps) 1- 39, Clément Therrien 2- 11, Réal Lafrance 3- 8, François Becksted 4- 61, Chad Miller 5- 4, Leon Gonyo 6- 66, Louis Bouthillier 7- 31, Richard Chauvin 8- 66W, Wallace Stacey 9- 24, Stéphane Michaud 10- 15, Pierre Raymond 11- 46, Kayle Robidoux 12- 32, Guy Ouellette 13- 5D, Yves Dessureault 14- 2, Claude Brouillard 15- 06, Francis McNeil 16- 33, Robin David 17- 83, Lloyd Sturtevant.