The Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres was an amazing, exciting, incredible event. It was another first for me, my first street circuit race. The fans that come out for this race are some of the most passionate, excited and genuine that we have seen all season. These Canadians take their racing seriously and this race is an event not to be missed.

This weekend actually turned out to be a bit of the opposite of normal for us. We had engine problems right from the start. There was something faulty with the electrical system, causing an intermittent power loss that got worse and worse until it felt like the car only had about 100 horsepower. The crew and the engine guys fixed the issue just before qualifying, but right as I pulled out to start the qualifying session, I knew it still wasn’t right. In the process of fixing what was wrong, something else also failed, but it was missed because it failed right after the initial issue was fixed.

The qualifying session would be a throw-away; there was no way I was going to set a lap with the engine basically in limp mode. I stayed out for a few laps, just to get some more time around the track, because we had missed so much practice while  trying to diagnose the problem. I ended up qualifying dead last, to no surprise. The crew was already working on the fix before I even pulled off the track from the qualifying session. They were sure that they had everything found and replaced and that the car was going to be back to normal when the race started in the morning. And of course, it was.

I had a great time coming up through the pack from the back and it even started raining for about 10 minutes at one point during my stint. Rain on a street course caught out quite a few of the drivers and I was able to pick up even more spots. By the time I handed over to my co driver, I was up in the top 10, from 29th on the starting grid. Serge did a great job and held solid for an 11th place finish, earning us the Suntrust Improve Your Position award for this race, for picking up the most positions from our starting spot.

Despite heavy contact from another competitor on the last lap, the 09 car came home with a top 10 finish and gained even more points in the championship chase. With only a few rounds remaining, they are looking to be the favorites in the championship race.

We look forward to the next round at Miller Motorsports Park, another new track for me. Another new track, another new challenge. Bring it on.