Montréal (Québec), June 3, 2013.- After an excellent start to the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) season, the Lombardi Honda Racing Team heads into the first Quebec outing of the year, taking place this weekend as part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, with confidence and enthusiasm.
Four drivers will fly the Lombardi Honda Racing colours on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve this weekend, in front of the large Grand Prix du Canada crowd. For Benjamin Distaulo, who started off the 2013 season with two podiums (one third and one second place), the goal is to claim a career-first victory in front of his supporters.
“The Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve means something very special to me, but also for all the members of the Lombardi Honda Racing Team. We will appear ahead of the Formula 1 teams and the most important thing this weekend is to come away with podium points and to remain in the hunt for the championship,” he explains.
Trailing only Ontarian Scott Nicol in the drivers’ Super Touring championship, the Ville Lorraine driver wants to capitalize on the opportunity.
“It’s the first time that I’ll contest this event in a car that can win. It’s a realistic goal because our Lombardi Honda Racing Civic Si is very competitive,” he adds.
In the second Lombardi Racing Honda Civic, novice Jérimy Daniel will also be looking for a spot on the podium after realizing a very promising start last month, finishing both races in the top five.
According to his teammate and the team’s sporting director Benjamin Distaulo, “Jérimy impressed me during the first two races. He’s young, without much front-wheel drive experience and he still managed to make his way to the same level as the best in the series. I’m convinced that he will do very well at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.”
In the Touring category, the Lombardi Honda Racing team is represented by Michel Dulong. Having earned an eighth and a sixth place finish at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CMTP, formerly known as Mosport) at the season opener last month, Dulong is again aiming for some strong results at the Montréal track.
In the B-Spec class, this will mark the first race of the season for driver and TV/radio host Benoît Gagnon, at the wheel of the team’s Honda Fit. This will be an opportunity for Benoît to jump back into competition at the wheel of a car that he knows has excellent potential after Nigel Heron earned a third and a second place finish with it last month at CTMP.
In addition to these four cars that will don the team’s colours, the Lombardi Honda Racing team’s ‘competition clients’ division will have two other CTCC cars at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve’s double header.
These include Ontarian teams Alex Healy Racing and M&S Racing.
“We hope to show our ability to prepare the vehicles and to help these other teams with our motorsports experience,” specifies team owner, Tony Lombardi.
The CTCC races will last for thirty minutes each and will take place on Saturday around 3:30pm, after the Formula 1 qualifying, as well as Sunday morning at 9:00 am. In addition, Lombardi Honda Racing will represent the CTCC series during the Open House Day on Thursday morning between 9:00 am and noon, at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. The public is welcome to attend this session free of charge.
The 2013 Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) is made up of fourteen races, over seven weekends : Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Ontario) in May, Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve this weekend, the Circuit ICAR de Mirabel (July 6 & 7), the Circuit Mont-Tremblant (July 27 & 28), the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (August 9 & 10), returning to CMTP at the end of August (as part of the NASCAR Camping World) and finally to the Calabogie Motorsports Park, near Ottawa, on September 7 & 8.
All information concerning the Lombardi Honda dealership is available on their website www.lombardihonda.com, or the Lombardi Honda Racing Team Facebook page.
From: Lombardi Honda Racing
{fcomment}
Discussion about this post