Montréal, September 16th, 2008 – TwoFast Racing won the Saturday race during the last round of the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship held at the Mosport International Raceway September 13th and 14th in Ontario and finished the season with an overall second place.
Thanks to both the additional financial assistance provided by the Québec Mazda Dealers Association and the team strategy, the driver Christian Raymond was able to participate to this last event’s qualifications and races, with the MAZDA# 40, usually driven by his partner Éric Leblanc. Officially third after the qualifications, Raymond had quite a departure and managed to get in the lead position in two turns. He stayed at the head of pack during the entire race, with the exception of one lap, happily crossing the finish line and getting that very first victory for TwoFast Racing. “It was quite a fight, but what a great ending! When we realized a few weeks ago that the first place of the Championship was almost unattainable, we reviewed our season’s objectives: winning a race and finishing in the overall second position for the 2008 Championship. So today, there was no such thing as conservative driving to gain points, it was the victory or nothing. Our first objective is achieved, and the points we accumulated contribute to consolidating our Championship second position… it looks like we are going to achieve our second goal as well!”, said Raymond after the Saturday race.
Raymond was first for the Sunday 30-minutes race departure, which made him both confident and nervous. The race went well, although he could not maintain this position. Alain Lauzière with his Mini Cooper passed TwoFast Racing’s MAZDA after two laps. Raymond eventually had to slow down, when he realized his tires were slowly deteriorating, and that was just enough to allow Kyle Marcelli and his SAAB to pass him at the end of the race. “My rank was not at stake, so I decided to take it easy and finish this last 2008 event on the podium, in the third place.” Looking back at the season, Raymond is smiling: “WOW, what a season… 12 podiums in 16 races, including a victory in Mosport and the pole in Trois-Rivières! There were so many great fights on the track, and let’s not forget that second overall position for the 2008 Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, with 1595 points, only 48 less than Andre Rapone, who I would like to congratulate. I am quite satisfied with our results: TwoFast Racing’s team members really went out of there way, with limited resources, and stayed focused and confident until the end. My partner Éric Leblanc even sacrificed the end of his season to lend me his car, while mine was undergoing major repairs. Honestly, I could not have imagined being part of a more competent and supporting team”.
Although the official season is over, TwoFast Racing will be on the Mont-Tremblant raceway September 20-21 for a few last laps in 2008, which will please their fans. Éric Leblanc will be back behind the wheel of his MAZDA # 40 and Yves Bédard will be driving Christian Raymond’s almost-new MAZDA # 04, a way to thank the crew chief for all the great work done during the season. We hope Yves will enjoy a pressure-free ride during this event that is not part of the Championship calendar…
Éric Leblanc and Christian Raymond sincerely want to thank, once again, their team: Yves Bédard, chief mechanic, as well as Alexandre Boiteau, Benoît Brazeau, and Mathieu Ouellette. They are grateful for the ongoing support of their families, their driver François Ouellette, their communication advisor Véronick Raymond, and their precious sponsors, the Québec Mazda Dealers Association, Rythme Urbain, Rack’N’Roll, Lettrage ProVan, International AllStars and Mazdaspeed.
Visit TwoFast Racing at http://www.twofast.ca/.
Information on the Championship is available at http://www.touringcar.ca/.
Contact : Véronick Raymond Communications – vraymond@sympatico.ca – 514-269-7698
Thanks to both the additional financial assistance provided by the Québec Mazda Dealers Association and the team strategy, the driver Christian Raymond was able to participate to this last event’s qualifications and races, with the MAZDA# 40, usually driven by his partner Éric Leblanc. Officially third after the qualifications, Raymond had quite a departure and managed to get in the lead position in two turns. He stayed at the head of pack during the entire race, with the exception of one lap, happily crossing the finish line and getting that very first victory for TwoFast Racing. “It was quite a fight, but what a great ending! When we realized a few weeks ago that the first place of the Championship was almost unattainable, we reviewed our season’s objectives: winning a race and finishing in the overall second position for the 2008 Championship. So today, there was no such thing as conservative driving to gain points, it was the victory or nothing. Our first objective is achieved, and the points we accumulated contribute to consolidating our Championship second position… it looks like we are going to achieve our second goal as well!”, said Raymond after the Saturday race.
Raymond was first for the Sunday 30-minutes race departure, which made him both confident and nervous. The race went well, although he could not maintain this position. Alain Lauzière with his Mini Cooper passed TwoFast Racing’s MAZDA after two laps. Raymond eventually had to slow down, when he realized his tires were slowly deteriorating, and that was just enough to allow Kyle Marcelli and his SAAB to pass him at the end of the race. “My rank was not at stake, so I decided to take it easy and finish this last 2008 event on the podium, in the third place.” Looking back at the season, Raymond is smiling: “WOW, what a season… 12 podiums in 16 races, including a victory in Mosport and the pole in Trois-Rivières! There were so many great fights on the track, and let’s not forget that second overall position for the 2008 Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, with 1595 points, only 48 less than Andre Rapone, who I would like to congratulate. I am quite satisfied with our results: TwoFast Racing’s team members really went out of there way, with limited resources, and stayed focused and confident until the end. My partner Éric Leblanc even sacrificed the end of his season to lend me his car, while mine was undergoing major repairs. Honestly, I could not have imagined being part of a more competent and supporting team”.
Although the official season is over, TwoFast Racing will be on the Mont-Tremblant raceway September 20-21 for a few last laps in 2008, which will please their fans. Éric Leblanc will be back behind the wheel of his MAZDA # 40 and Yves Bédard will be driving Christian Raymond’s almost-new MAZDA # 04, a way to thank the crew chief for all the great work done during the season. We hope Yves will enjoy a pressure-free ride during this event that is not part of the Championship calendar…
Éric Leblanc and Christian Raymond sincerely want to thank, once again, their team: Yves Bédard, chief mechanic, as well as Alexandre Boiteau, Benoît Brazeau, and Mathieu Ouellette. They are grateful for the ongoing support of their families, their driver François Ouellette, their communication advisor Véronick Raymond, and their precious sponsors, the Québec Mazda Dealers Association, Rythme Urbain, Rack’N’Roll, Lettrage ProVan, International AllStars and Mazdaspeed.
Visit TwoFast Racing at http://www.twofast.ca/.
Information on the Championship is available at http://www.touringcar.ca/.
Contact : Véronick Raymond Communications – vraymond@sympatico.ca – 514-269-7698
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