Canadian Touring Car Championship …
Mathieu Audette Eyes Victory at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières
Blainville (Québec), August 2, 2011.– Quebec driver Mathieu Audette will contest this weekend’s two Canadian Touring Car Championship races as part of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. After earning two podiums at the Toronto Indy last month, Mathieu heads into this outing with confidence and aims for a Trois-Rivières victory at the wheel of his Dimensions Doors/Novatech Acura RSX.
” I’ve always enjoyed competing at Trois-Rivières, in front of my family and friends, but also because I get the feeling that there, I’m competing in front of fans that really know the sport. It’s an interesting event, a bit like the races at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve or in Toronto. In addition, I’ve already won at this track back when I raced in the Quebec Touring Championship and I want to return to the top of the podium this year ” explains Mathieu Audette, who finished second last year after starting in 34th position and climbing his way up. ” It was an incredible race in 2010, I loved gaining 32 spots in 30 minutes of racing. In essence, I want another podium but without having to start from the 34th spot! ” confides the Audette Racing driver.
The Audette Racing Team did not schedule a test session for the car since Toronto’s race last month, aside from testing the engine: ” the engine that we bought from M&S Racing Team during the Toronto Indy weekend went on the dyno. It has a little less power than our old race engine but we’re confident it’s reliable and we’re going to use it for Trois-Rivières ” specifies Mathieu.
With the Touring Car races scheduled for Friday (8:30pm) and Saturday (3:05pm), Mathieu Audette will contest a night race for the first time in his career. ” I’m really looking forward to discovering what that’s like and I know spectator attendance will be really high with people coming especially for this reason ” indicates Mathieu, ” it will start at dusk and finish in the dark, which is pretty special. We bought new HID headlights to make sure we have the best possible visibility regardless of the amount of daylight” he adds.
Mathieu Audette is contesting a partial program of five Canadian Touring Car Championship races over three weekends in Toronto, Trois-Rivières and Montréal.
In addition to the Canadian Touring Car Championship, the Audette Racing Team is entering Mathieu’s younger brother, Rémy Audette, in the F2000 Series Championship. He currently leads the 2011 championship with two double-header weekend remaining.
The Audette Racing Team benefits form the support of Dimensions Doors, Novatech, Acura Plus Blainville, Les Extrusions du Nord, Verre Select, Jeld Wen, OPM, Amusements Spectaculaire, Les Moulures PFJV, Gulf, Blueprint Racing, Mec-Inov and Omnitech.