GINO CLAIR IS Mr. MODIFIED ‘98 AT AUTODROME GRANBY
8/7/98 - Gino Clair of St.Edmond caused a surprise, last Friday night at Autodrome Granby, by winning the 13th edition of the M. Modified Championship, a 40-lap feature marked by a lot of developments which made the suspense last till the end. To claim his first win since the 1996 season, Clair took the lead in the very last moments of this spectacular race.
Fans gathered for the occasion were witnesses to many spectacular lead changes which were not caused by lap or slower cars on the track as it is often the case. Many of the leaders of this race who have been seeking a first success for a long time, saw their chances go by while they were in command.
Dave Camara of Poultney, Vermont, the points’ leader in the Molson Championship trail, was the first to stop on lap 20 to visit his pit due to an accumulation of dirt in his wheels. Then, one lap later, while he was leading this confrontation, Steve Poirier, the most serious challenger of Camara, caused a yellow flag. Victim of a serious problem, Poirier lost a lap with his visit to his teammates.
After Poirier’s mishap, Luke Plante was able to take the first spot. The Sorel driver was already imaginng himself in the first place on the podium, situation that he never was able to realize since the 1995 season.Unfortunately he saw his chances go by on lap 26 due a motor failure. At the restart, Claude Brouillard who lives in the same city as Plante, took this unlucky first place so far. Like Plante, Brouillard didn’t win at Granby since 1993. With 13 laps remaining, every hopes were legitimate for the Labrador Water driver.
Another surprise on lap 32, Brouillard was the reason of an other yellow flag due to a flat tire. He had to concede his spot to Dominic Dufault, a driver who never won a feature race at Autodrome Granby since his ascension in the modified division. Two laps later, on a restart, the last one of this race, Dufault was beaten by Robert Ranger at the acceleration. With only six laps to go, Ranger was confident to be in the winner’s circle for the first time since 1995. Gino Clair took away Ranger’s dream when in the fourth corner of the very last lap, he was able to get by Ranger for his first win since 1996.
Ranger was able to hold second followed by Dave Camara who was able to gain lots of ground after his visit to the pits, Dominic Dufault and Pierre Hébert. As for Steve Poirier, he finished eleventh to loose the second spot in this Molson Championship trail.
There were 10 yellow flags in the race who was also marked by the return of Martin Roy Jr., four times track champion at Autodrome Granby. At the wheel of the Dion Transport Bicknell that was driven by Mike Romano at the beginning of this season, Roy was forced to withdraw on lap 14 due to an accident.
Earlier in the evening, Camara and Poirier were the heat winners.
Clair forced to quit
Second at the green flag of the 20-lap sportsman feature, Mario Clair, a serious candidate to the Molson crown, was forced to quit the race on lap 8 due to motor problems. Rookie in this division, Claude Morrissette was given the lead but mechanical problems forced Morrissette to withdraw with no chance to take his first win of the season. Alain Mathieu took advantage of Morrissette’s mechanical failure to register his second win of the season in front of Gerry Patenaude, the defending champion, Robin David and Louis Bouthillier. With his retirement, Clair is now 95 points behind Louis Bouthillier in the challenge for the title.
In the late models division, Jocelyn Roy led all the way to have the best on Daniel Bélanger, the BF Goodrich points’ leader, and Stéphane Dubuc. Benoit Bérubé was the winner in the tourism class. His victims were Gilles Ostiguy and Stéphane Ruel.
13th Mr. Modified Championship (40 laps)
RESULTS
1- 44J, Gino Glair 2- 27, Robert Ranger 3- 26, Dave Camara 4- 63, Dominic Dufault 5- 71, Pierre Hébert 6- 1X, Todd Stone 7- LP2, Marco Potvin 8- X1, Gardner Stone 9- 85, Alain Langlois 10- R39, Clément Therrien 11- 28, Steve Poirier 12- R88, Steve Arbuthnot
13- X50, Renald Daoust 14- 8, Francois Beckested 15- 4, Leon Gonyo 16- 3, Claude Brouillard 17- X5, Jean-Guy Primeau 18- L50, Luke Plante 19- 87, Richard Chauvin 20- 73, Alain Boisvert 21- D50, Martin Roy Jr. 22- 50, Hugues Mercier 23- 7, Denis Labonté 24- 4X, Vern Bruno.