Canadian Weekly Notebook - Stroll takes satisfying 8th place in Singapore

Rain started to fall shortly before the race, making this year’s Singapore GP Formula 1’s first ever wet night race. During the opening lap, Stroll jumped to 13th place following a multi-car incident at the start, resulting in the first of several safety car periods. The young Montrealer made his one-stop onto ultrasoft tires on Lap 26, driving a solid race up to eighth place on his debut at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

“Lance chose to start on the intermediate tire in P18. There was a big incident at the start which helped us gain some places,” said Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer at Williams. “Lance drove a great race. He was one of the earliest to stop for dry tires and he had good pace on the ultrasoft, taking the advantages at every stage. He put up a good defence as well, particularly towards the end, and managed to get an excellent eighth place for his first finish in Singapore.”

“I think it was a fantastic race,” said Lance Stroll. “It was raining at the beginning so to capitalise on the start, overtake, and really come through the field due to others making mistakes was fantastic in tricky conditions. Then after that, we ran a steady race. We kept cool. I made one mistake letting Vandoorne by. I just locked up into Turn 7 and he got past but all-in-all, a fantastic result and four points for the team.”

Alex Tagliani scores podium finish in Round 7 of the FRD LMP3 Series

Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers Alex Tagliani and Greg Taylor finished third on Saturday to collect their first podium result of the season in Round 7 of the FRD Le Mans Prototype 3 Series held at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China.

Starting eighth after he qualified the No.20 Ligier for the first race on Friday, Taylor quickly moved up the field to second place after a racing incident involving some of the leading cars in the first corner of the race. Unfortunately, he went wide in a corner on Lap 6, losing three spots to fifth place. Taking over at mid-race following the mandatory pit stop, Tagliani came out in third place.

A regular top runner in the Canadian NASCAR Pinty’ Series, Tagliani fought hard to keep his Ligier in third place, despite braking issues near the end of the 50-minute sprint race. He crossed the finish line 11.2 seconds back from race winners.

"It was nice to collect a podium finish after starting from eighth on the grid," Tagliani said. "I took over in third place, posting similar lap times as the driver ahead of me in second place despite braking issues. The heat is intense here in China and this circuit is really tough on the brakes and tires.” In the second race of the meeting, Tagliani and Taylor were forced to retire their Ligier after 26 lap of hard racing and were not classified.

Disappointment for Raphaël Lessard at Toledo Speedway

Raphaël Lessard contested the Glass City 200 in the ARCA/CRA Super Series at the Toledo Speedway in Ohio this Saturday evening. Victim of an accident in the early stage of the race, the 16-year-old driver had to retire on Lap 73.

Lessard had set the fourth best time during qualifying earlier in the day. With the first nine positions being inverted on the starting grid, he began the race in 6th place.

After 10 laps, an accident on the track ruined Raphaël's hopes for a strong finish. Dalton Armstrong and Tristan Van Wieringen made contact, which created a ripple effect behind them. Lessard was not able to avoid a competitor in front of him. With the front bumper and wing gone, he had to return to the pits in order for the team to work on the car.

After returning on the track, the car was not performing, and on Lap 73, Lessard retired the No. 99 FRL Express/Toyota-TRD/JBL Audio Toyota Camry.

Strange weekend for Raphaël Forcier

Raphaël Forcier and the other competitors in the US Formula 4 Championship were in action at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Fighting an ill-handling car, Forcier qualified only 10th and cross the finish line in eighth place at the end of the first race. He had to start Race 2 from a lowly 16th. The race was stopped for the most inexplicable reason when a school bus drove onto the track during the race! Race officials quickly issued a red flag. When the race was restarted, Forcier passed a few rivals and finished 11th.

For the last race of the meeting, the Canadian started 18th but had his front wing damaged in the first lap melee, forcing him into a retirement.