Last weekend was our very first race of the season at the Circuit du Mont-Tremblant and it’s with a heavy rain that we started on Thursday with two practice sessions.
This rain complicated our day and caused us some problems on the track. In the afternoon, the #37 car skidded due to water accumulation on the track. The same thing happened on the weather side the next day, where we decided not to participate in practice.
“We decided not to take the car out because the sunroof wouldn’t close. It’s not very comfortable at my age,” said Audette at the end of the day.
Fortunately, the weather was back on Saturday, just in time for the Spring Classic qualifying. Everything went very well and we were able to get a 6th place on the starting grid (but first in our group), behind 2 Porsches, 2 Mustangs and 1 Mazda.
During the afternoon race, we had a very good start and everything was going well, but a leak from a “frost plug” in the engine suddenly occurred. Water was running on the wheel and it quickly became dangerous to continue. We had no choice but to stop, because the water had completely drained and the engine was starting to overheat.
We were able to fix the car in time for the Sunday morning race, but to make matters worse, the hose that connects the engine to the radiator cracked in the factory seal. We had never seen that before in all our years of racing. So we had a run in the grass, towards the tire wall, which caused mostly cosmetic damage to the car. Fortunately, the car will be refurbished in time for the Vintage Grand Prix of Varac on June 16th. This race is likely to be one of the three most important of the season, so it’s a date!