Vancouver: Ward Imrie race notes

July 28, 2003 (Toronto, Canada): Aspiring racer Ward Imrie took a seventh-place finish on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, yesterday in a Barber Dodge Pro race at the Molson Indy. The twenty-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was competing in just his second professional race after an outing two weeks ago in Toronto where he finished sixth.

After qualifying eleventh for yesterday's race, Imrie knew it would be very tough to achieve his goal of a top-five finish. Passing was very difficult on the Vancouver circuit and, with very few drivers retiring from the race, it was quite a task to advance from his sixth-row starting position.

Although he was always able to catch the car ahead, getting by was no simple chore. Compounding the difficulty, the race went its full 32-lap distance without a caution period to slow down and bunch up the field.

Imrie's seventh-place finish netted US$1250 and although his feat of gaining four positions was matched by two other drivers, it was not surpassed.

"I'm very happy with my result," said Imrie, "But I have to improve my qualifying.

"Even though I finished better in Toronto, I consider Vancouver the better result because I had to do more passing. Last time (in Toronto) a lot of drivers hit the walls and I really just avoided trouble. I had to be more aggressive this time out."

Imrie is scheduled to compete in one more Barber Dodge Pro race this year, at the Molson Indy Montreal, August 22-24. He is very excited about the event and looking forward to racing on the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve which plays host to Formula One and Champ Car races.

Imrie is using funding won last year in the Barber Formula Dodge National Championship along with partial sponsorship from Jan Kelly Marketing and Russ Bond Agency to compete in three rounds of the ten-race Barber Dodge Pro Series. He began racing cars after winning several Canadian and US Grand National Karting Championships. In 2002 he won a Barber-CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) Karting Scholarship which provided a full season of racing in the Formula Dodge National Championship. He took six top-five finishes, including one win, and claimed one pole position to finish fourth in the championship.

-mj-