Alexandre Fortin won the Nissan Sentra Cup championship in his third season of car racing. Fortin started the year with a win and a DNF at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, before runner-up finishes at Circuit ICAR. He then won both races in the prestigious GP3R; he says it was pretty awesome to win multiple races on the same weekend there, following three podiums in four prior starts.
Fortin picked up two wins between ICAR and CTMP, while accomplishing a goal of finishing on the podium with his dad. He hoped to secure the title in the first race at Mont-Tremblant, so he could gun for the win in race two, but a DNF changed his approach; he finished second to clinch the title.
The road course isn’t the only place where Fortin’s competed in Mont-Tremblant. He went all-in on skiing at 14-years-old, competing professionally for several years before returning to motorsports in 2021.
“I was pretty good in karting, I was pretty good in skiing, I had to choose which one I wanted to pursue and I chose skiing,” said Fortin, noting that he eventually aged out of it. “I did one year without competition but there was an itch that needed to be filled and racing cars was it.”
Fortin was approached by the Ste-Foy & Beauport Nissan team, who were looking to join the Sentra Cup field and knew he had raced as a kid. He says that he’s grateful for the time put in by his crew and is happy to bring them a championship.
“Our mechanics are not actually mechanics, they’re family members that like racing with us,” said Fortin. “They learned, just like us, to do the brakes, to do suspension; they never worked on that before. But they’re a really passionate group of guys and they read on the weekend (about) how to set-up the car better…it’s been nice to have them.”
Fortin previously finished fourth and third in the standings. He says his experience made him an even calmer person, helping him be more patient and make the right moves to record consistent results in 2023.
