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Jim Russell Racing Drivers School

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Mathieu St-Pierre
This time, in an F2000!
Hello, my name is Mathieu St-Pierre, I'm 34 years old, married, have two cats, a mortgage, a lawn mower and am addicted to... racing road cars on a track!

Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com

Yes, if you've hung around Auto123.com over the last year and have taken a few moments to see what I've been up to (not that I'm the only thing going on Auto123...), you may have noticed that I love spending time behind the wheel of anything with four wheels in a controlled environment such as a race track. In the last three years alone, I've spent time at Road America, Calabogie, Mosport, Miller Motorsport Raceway, Spring Mountain, Willow Springs to name but a few. And it's never been enough.

You can therefore imagine that when I got a call from a friend inviting me to the Circuit du Mont Tremblant to take part in Jim Russell's Racing Drivers School that I said yes without considering date or time. When this magical mystery person from the Heavens added that I would be participating in the Introductory Level Training course at the wheel of a 2002 Van Diemen FR02 F2000, I nearly swallowed my tongue!

“What is a Van Diemen?” you ask. They are open-wheel single-seater race cars powered by a Ford-sourced, dry-sumped, 170 hp, 2.0L 16-valve 4-cylinder engine mated to a 4 speed Hewland LD200 gearbox with an open differential. Yes, these are as close to an F1 as I'll ever get. Understand why I nearly lost consciousness now?

As I pulled up to the Control Tower at Tremblant, I met up with my good (and famous) friend, Philippe Létourneau. Yes, this is Canada's Worst Driver's High Performance Driving Instructor. To get to this position, you have to know what you're doing. Philippe does. He stepped on the podium more than 40 times in over 150 races. He's raced in such series as Formula 1600 and 2000, Champcar Light, Touring car, Formula Atlantic and Daytona Prototypes. He's got the necessary track-cred to be Chief Instructor for the Jim Russell Racing School.

After a brief discussion on what the day held, myself and a group of guys waltzed into class, were briefed on the program, got suited up and were then versed by Philippe on important and intelligent driving techniques. As Phil said, we are here for the track and that's where we will put these teachings to use. So out we went.

Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com
Mathieu St-Pierre
Mathieu St-Pierre
Automotive expert
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