Autodrome Granby results 2004-06-25

David Hébert and Sébastien Gougeon took advantage of a doubleheader night.

GRANBY, QC, June 25, 2004 With the presentation of two feature races in -- their respective divisions, last Friday night at Autodrome Granby, David Hébert in the Modified class and Sébastien Gougeon in the Sportsman category took advantage of the situation to increase their leading margin in their respective standings. Both drivers had an excellent night with each a win and a second place finish.

First, at the occasion of the rescheduled feature in the Modified division at the beginning of the evening, Claude Brouillard, track champion in 2002 at Autodrome Granby, had a good battle with Mario Lajoie to finally score his second success of the season. Without taking anything away from Brouillard's victory, David Hébert gave the crowd a good demonstration of his skills with a spectacular comeback from the 14th place. Fifth with five laps remaining, Hébert was able to take the second place from Mario Moreau at the very last lap of this 30-lap feature. Moreau started 15th on the grid.

Many drivers such as Kayle Robidoux, Martin Roy and Réal Lafrance had their share of problems, but the most important lost was for American driver Dave Camara who was a no show for the second time. For him as for New Hampshire's Dan Douvill, problems at the border are suspected. With two finals on hand, Camara had a good chance to regain important points. It's now uncertain if Camara will be able to come back at Autodrome Granby this season.

Then, on the occasion of the 19th Eastern Townships final in the Modified division, David Hébert who was sitting first on the starting grid, took the early lead and never looked back to register his first win at Granby since many years. Luckier this time, Martin Roy gave a good run to Réal Lafrance in the second half of this 40-lap feature to overtake him on the very last lap to finish second. Kayle Robidoux and Clément Thérrien completed the top five.

At their first appearance of the season at Autodrome Granby, Steve Poirier and Gino Clair had their share of problems. After taking the green flag from the fifth place on the grid, Poirier had climbed to third place when brake problems forced him to withdraw on lap 26. As for Gino Clair, he couldn't do better than a 20th place finish.

Following this long night due to many races, Hébert has now 328 points in first place of the CARQUEST Auto parts standings, 40 points on Martin Roy and 60 on Réal Lafrance.

Devoted mechanics

Involved in a spectacular crash, last Saturday at Drummondville, Sébastien Gougeon had only good words for his mechanics and it's easy to understand. His mechanics worked all week long, nearly 200 hours, to put the car which was completely demolished on his wheels again. Gougeon was able to thank them with good results.

Earlier in the evening in a feature race marked by many accidents, Gougeon who started 14th on the grid, was able to take the second place behind Alain Mathieu who scored his first win of the season. It's only on lap 18 that him and Mathieu were able to take advantage of Michel Dusseault's problems.

Then, in the other 25-lap feature, Gougeon repeated Hébert's performance by leading all the way to the checkered flag. He had the best on Dusseault and Steve Bernard. With only a one‑point lead margin on Daniel Messier and Steve Bernard before the features, Gougeon has now a 23-point lead on Bernard. There were 29 cars at the green flag.

Denis Tremblay registered his first win of the season in the Semi-Pro division while in the 4 Cylinders class, Jonathan Jubinville was in the winner's circle for the third time so far.

RESULTS

MODIFIED ( 30 laps, feature rescheduled from June 18)

1- 3, Claude Brouillard; 2- 1, David Hébert; 3- 5, Mario Moreau; 4- 39, Clément Therrien; 5- 2x, Mario Lajoie; 6- 31, Richard Chauvin; 7- 46, Kayle Robidoux; 8- 90, Martin Roy; 9- 10, Patrice McGrail; 11- 21, Ian Bussière; 12- 78, Vince Quenneville; 13- 09, Alex Fortier; 14- 4K, Jasmin Léveillé; 15- 24, Stéphane Michaud; 16-115, Stéphane Lafrance; 17- 8G, Tom Gonyo; 18- 11, Réal Lafrance; 19- 4, Leon Gonyo; 20- 2, Luke Plante; 21- 66W, Wallace Stacey;

MODIFIED (40 laps) 19th Eastern Townships Championship

1- 1, David Hébert; 2- 90, Martin Roy; 3- 11, Réal Lafrance; 4- 46, Kayle Robidoux; 5- 39, Clement Therrien; 6- 2X, Mario Lajoie; 7- 5, Mario Moreau; 8- 31, Richard Chauvin; 9- 4, Leon Gonyo; 10- 2, Luke Plante; 11- 3, Claude Brouillard; 12- 21, Ian Bussière; 13- 10, Patrice McGrail; 14- 24, Stéphane Michaud; 15- 78, Vince Quenneville; 16- 8G, Tom Gonyo; 17- 4K, Jasmin Léveillé; 18-19, Michel Pelletier; 19- 61, Steve Poirier; 20- 22G, Gino Clair; 21- 115, Stéphane Lafrance; 22- 09, Alex Fortier; 23- 66W, Wallace Stacey.

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