ST-EUSTACHE, QC – St-Edouard-de-Lotbinière, QC stock driver Dany Trepanier won Sunday’s inaugural Canadian Stock-Car Championship (CSCC) LMS Division race over defending Quebec series champ Jonathan Bouvrette of Blainville and Steve Cote of L’Île-Bizard.
A 125 lap race held at Autodrome St-Eustache’s 4/10-mile track, located in the Lower Laurentians, just North of Montreal. Seventeen drivers lined up for the first race of the year, which was also the first race in the new touring series’ history.
“I am so pleased,” said Trepanier. “Last year we were very fast, but we had a suspension part failure. I was very anxious as my engine was showing signs of weakness. I was expecting it to explode at any moment. The win is very sweet and is possible due to our sponsors and my team members.”
With the win, Trepanier boosted his career Quebec LMS wins total to five. Trepanier had recorded the fastest lap in two of three open practice sessions and won his qualifying race. He took the start in the third starting position and led the most laps (64) having led twice (8 to 66 and 119 to 125).
Jonathan Bouvrette, who won a pair of LMS races at St-Eustache in 2017, recorded the fast lap of the day in practice (17.500). He was involved in a wreck while leading his qualifying race, but was luckier in the redraw for starting positions as he drew the number 4 chip. Bouvrette was one of four leaders and imposed his rhythm for 51 laps.
The driver who won the Sportsman Lucas Oil and NASCAR Late Model Championships in 2017, Steve Cote, graduated to the CSCC Touring series.
Despite limited experience in LMS cars, he was identified as the favourite to win the race at his “home track.”
He won his qualifying race and crossed the stripe in third place in the main event. Disappointed with his third-place finish, he still showed the numerous fans on hand – as well as his competitors – that he will be a force to reckoned with this summer.
Jean-Pierre Ouimet of Terrebonne took advantage of the Bouvrette and Martin Latulippe (Vallée-Jonction) incident to win the third qualifying race. Carburetor issues sidelined him in the feature race.
Pier-Luc Ouellette of Terrebonne and Patrick Cliche of Levis were the other feature race lap leaders having led each one and five laps, respectively. Ouelette came home fifth in the main, one spot back of Cliche.
Five drivers will participate in the Attaches Montreal rookie Championship: Jean-Philippe Bergeron (Terrebonne) finished 11th, Benoît Lemieux-Ayotte (Beloeil) was 12th, Vincent Vachon (Saint-Anges) was 13th, Martin Hebert (Roxton Pond) was 14th and Remi Perreault was 15th.
Lemieux-Ayotte claims the Les Constructions Alain Gaudreault hard charger award with a plus five positions.
The race took 72 minutes to complete and slowed four times.
The next and second round of the Canadian Stock Car Championship, a 125 lap race, will be held on June 9th at Autodrome St-Eustache. The green flag is scheduled to fly at 6:00pm.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
CANADIAN STOCK CAR CHAMPIONSHIP LMS DIVISION
MAY 20TH 2018
AUTODROME ST-EUSTACHE
FINISH / STARTED / CAR# / DRIVER / HOMETOWN / LAPS COMPLETED
1 3 19QC Dany Trépanier St-Edouard, QC 125
2 4 41QC Jonathan Bouvrette Blainville, QC 125
3 7 1QC Steve Côté Île-Bizard, QC 125
4 2 5QC Patrick Cliche Lévis,QC 125
5 1 48QC Pier-Luc Ouellette Terrebonne, QC 125
6 5 9QC Mathieu Kingsbury Blainville, QC 125
7 6 6QC Simon Roussin Québec, QC 125
8 10 38QC Gaétan Gaudreault Québec, QC 125
9 11 83QC Martin Goulet Jr. St-Calixte, PQ 124
10 12 99QC Brandon White Kanawhake, QC 124
11 15 18QC #Jean-Philippe Bergeron Terrebonne, QC 123
12 17 17QC #Benoît Lemieux-Ayotte Beloeil, QC 120
13 16 83VA #Vincent Vachon Saint-Anges, QC 120
14 13 43QC Martin Hébert Roxton Pond, QC 96
15 14 33QC #Rémi Perreault St-Paul-de-Joliette, QC 91
16 9 84QC Martin Latulippe Vallée-Jonction, QC 33 Suspension
17 8 59QC Jean-Pierre Ouimet Terrebonne, QC 25 Carburation
Follow the CSCC LMS Stock-car Championship on its new website: www.stock-car.ca, on twitter: @cscc_lms and on Facebook at stock-car.ca.
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