Sherbrooke: such a feat... A few days before this 8th Challenge, we could've seriously asked ourselves if this excellent drifting event would have been held in the Eastern Townships' capital, since Mother Nature was pretty tame during the preceding week. Remember that it rained for two days and the temperature was so warm, that there was almost no more ice on the track of the Bertrand-Fabi circuit. Dany Sévigny's technical team performed a real miracle, and the track was decent when we got there on Friday afternoon. We went for a short visit in the paddocks to count the number of cars competing for the Andros trophy. There was about fifteen cars, including Quebecker Yves Legris' little Citroën. The Laval resident acquired this little monster at the end of the 2005 edition. Yves and his team totally overhauled the little bomb over the summer, and they were ready to fire as early as Friday night, during the two time trials.In the paddocks, there was also Godin/Camirand duo's car, a high-rent Renault Clio and sponsored by Mister Muffler, Bertrand Godin's personal sponsor. Bad news for the team, though, there apparently was $20,000 missing to assure the presence of Camirand in the Renault. We had to wait until the end of the afternoon to see Marc-Antoine arrive, but we never knew who forked out the dollars required by the car's owners. It's curious, though, that Godin, spokesperson of the event, must still scramble to find sponsors just a few hours before the start of the event. There are certain things in the automotive sports world that surprises me in the last few years, and the Godin/Camirand duo's situation is just another one of those.The two trials on Friday night were won by the French duo of De Korsak/Lagorce in a Fiat, qui seemed to fly above the rest of the field with relative ease. As for the Godin/Camirand duo, they managed very well with a 6th place. Legris and company were trailing behind in 12th place.
Bad news on Saturday for Buddy Ford and motorcycles on ice fans The management decided that the powerful motorcycles were damaging the track and relegated the five-lap race until late in the evening, in order to preserve the track for the Andros trophy Europeans. It was an unpopular decision with Buddy and his motorcyclists. One whole day, just waiting until the heads of the ASN and the FSAQ make a decision about the bikes. So, we saw them again around 8 o'clock, for 5 little laps... when the stands were empty! It's too bad for these racers, the promoter and the fans, but it's the Europeans that finally decide, and the Quebeckers can only abide to the whim of the Challenge's stars. Race against the clock for the rallyers The third class in the weekend's program was the rally cars. Only six teams had accepted the invitation, and it's the veteran Jean-Paul Pérusse in his Mitsubishi Lancer that was the fastest all weekend long. He beat the Americans as well as the popular Bertrand Lambert who brushed the moth balls off his old '90s-vintage Mazda. For the rally teams, the standings were determined by elapsed times, which means that the total time of each car was accumulated with each race, in order to proclaim the Challenge-Rally winner. Even if Randy Zimmer won the final race in his Subaru Impreza, it's Pérusse who was declared the champion of the Challenge, thanks to his performances on Saturday and Sunday, during the preliminary races.
Bad news on Saturday for Buddy Ford and motorcycles on ice fans The management decided that the powerful motorcycles were damaging the track and relegated the five-lap race until late in the evening, in order to preserve the track for the Andros trophy Europeans. It was an unpopular decision with Buddy and his motorcyclists. One whole day, just waiting until the heads of the ASN and the FSAQ make a decision about the bikes. So, we saw them again around 8 o'clock, for 5 little laps... when the stands were empty! It's too bad for these racers, the promoter and the fans, but it's the Europeans that finally decide, and the Quebeckers can only abide to the whim of the Challenge's stars. Race against the clock for the rallyers The third class in the weekend's program was the rally cars. Only six teams had accepted the invitation, and it's the veteran Jean-Paul Pérusse in his Mitsubishi Lancer that was the fastest all weekend long. He beat the Americans as well as the popular Bertrand Lambert who brushed the moth balls off his old '90s-vintage Mazda. For the rally teams, the standings were determined by elapsed times, which means that the total time of each car was accumulated with each race, in order to proclaim the Challenge-Rally winner. Even if Randy Zimmer won the final race in his Subaru Impreza, it's Pérusse who was declared the champion of the Challenge, thanks to his performances on Saturday and Sunday, during the preliminary races.