SCC: Trois-Rivieres: Series spotlight

Theetge, Two Other Quebecois KONI Challenge Drivers Poised For Trois-Rivières Victory

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 10, 2009) - The streets of Le Circuit de Trois- Rivières are like second nature to Benoit Theetge of Boischitel.

This Saturday, Theetge will once again compete in the Grand Prix de Trois- Rivières, the 1.521-mile temporary circuit playing host its 40th year of racing. He will drive in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge, as a co- driver to Christian Miller, the point leader in the Street Tuner class.

Theetge began competing at Trois-Rivières in the early 1990s, and has a handful of wins at his home track. However, none have compete in the KONI Challenge, which is a successor series to the Motorola Cup that toured Canada during the previous decade.

Theetge and Miller will drive the No. 74 034 Motorsport/Skunk2 Honda Civic Si for Compass360 Racing of Toronto. Last season, Compass360 fielded the winning machine - an Acura TSX - for ST winners Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood, as well as two other cars. This season, the No. 74 has two victories - both with Miller and Randy Pobst - and overall, Compass360 Racing has three wins in eight races. With Pobst busy racing elsewhere this weekend, Theetge steps in, and hopes his efforts will award him with a share of the victory.

"No doubt, Trois-Rivières is a special track for all of us," said Theetge, who will make his first KONI Challenge start of the season Saturday. "Even though good drivers are competitive there, there are challenges - the braking zones, the walls. The walls can be intimidating - if a driver is scared of them, they will lose a second or so. I have been competing at Trois-Rivières since 1992 or 1993, and I skipped a couple of years there, but by the time I started competing in Motorola Cup, I was competitive."

Theetge has four KONI Challenge starts at Trois-Rivières - three in ST and one in the Grand Sport class - with a best finish of third in 2001 with another Quebec driver, Jocelyn Hebert of Becancour. Hebert and Cyril Hamelin of Trois-Rivières will drive the No. 189 Trois-Rivières Honda/TVA- Chem Honda Civic Si for 89 Racing this weekend.

"Honestly, I believe I am on the best team out there," said Theetge, who has led laps in each of the last three KONI Challenge ST races at Trois- Rivières. "But racing is racing. The last three years, I led - 20 minutes from the end, 40 minutes, an hour - but never came up winning. Typically, the track is hard on brakes, but this year, I don't believe it will be because the race is only 90 minutes. There will be a lot of different strategies. I know the car will be competitive and I will be competitive - it's my home track.

"I have won there before in other types of cars, but I am not thinking about that right now" Theetge concluded. "I want to drive well and get the maximum amount of points for Christian to keep his championship alive. Those are my goals."

-credit: grand-am