TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QC – Fourth event of the 2023 season of the NASCAR Pinty’s series, the race held this past Saturday at the Eastbound International Speedway, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, gave ups and downs for the three-time series champion Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. Eighth in qualifying, eighth in the race, the statistics are certainly below the driver’s ambitions. But Dumoulin’s race at the wheel of car #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab is not limited to these two stats as he fought for the Top 3 during most part of the event.
Very comfortable on this track and with a car displaying a higher level of competitiveness than ever on an oval track this season, Louis-Philippe describes his race: “I fought at the front of the field for the majority of the race. But during a restart in the last quarter, I spun my wheels a little too much and lost the third place. Usually, it should not have had a big impact on my end of race but a full-course yellow occurred immediately after and I was now in fourth place, on the outside line, which is a big disadvantage on this oval. To make matters worse, at all the following restarts I was again on this outside line, which was also very dirty during the last laps because of absorbent products which had been deposited there by the officials following the oil left by another driver who broke his engine.
However, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin didn’t give up, trying his best to keep his position and hoping for a slightly longer sequence under the green flag to regain his place among the top three, which never happened, the incidents followed in the last laps. “I must also add that during the laps after a restart, a driver hit me several times, which again pushed me back in the standings and ultimately explains this ninth place on the track,” he mentions.
A ninth place which would become eighth in the official race classification, following a penalty to a driver ahead of Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. But what the driver of car #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab retains above all, it’s his global performance throughout this race. “I fought several laps with Treyten Lapcevich, the eventual winner, and with others drivers fighting for the victory. With the Dumoulin Compétition team, we have managed to find the small details to correct on the car, which have so far prevented me for a podium finish in the first oval races of the season. Knowing that we have found the solution and having shown it during this race in Newfoundland is very, very promising for the rest of the season,” confides Louis-Philippe.
Next event: Toronto on July 14!
The fifth event of the 2023 NASCAR Pinty’s season will take place on the Toronto Indy’s temporary street circuit on Friday, July 14. A track on which Louis-Philippe Dumoulin has always finished in the Top 5 since 2016. There is also a victory during his career in open wheel series (F1600 in 2002) and podiums in NASCAR Pinty’s during his last two participations. “I would really like to win this race, especially since Toronto and area is the headquarters of my main sponsor WeatherTech Canada. Besides this aspect, I like the track. It’s a bit like Trois-Rivières but a little bigger and faster. With the walls all around, there is no place for error,” comments Louis-Philippe Dumoulin.
“I will work very hard with the team to have the right settings as soon as the practice session starts because the track time is very limited for our series at this event. I think it’s unfortunate that our presence is limited to one of the three days of activities of the Toronto Indy. For my part, I know the track and its specifications perfectly and I am convinced that with the level we have shown since the start of the season, a good result is possible,” he concludes. In the drivers’ championship, Dumoulin is currently 5th, only two points behind third place.
