Less than two weeks after the inaugural round on the road course of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport) in Ontario, the drivers of the NASCAR Canada series will compete this Saturday in the first of seven consecutive races on an oval track, at the Autodrome Chaudière, located in Vallée-Junction, in the Beauce region of Quebec. For the driver of car #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, this is a very important race, on a track that he particularly appreciates.
The three-time champion of the NASCAR Canada series and the Dumoulin Compétition team are indeed familiar with the Autodrome Chaudière track, which they occasionally use in testing and to fine-tune the development of their oval car. “I really like this track. The Autodrome Chaudière has quite banked turns, which makes it pleasant for the drivers, and the races there are always very competitive” indicates Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, who adds: “The particularity is that this event will not only be the first of the 2024 NASCAR Canada championship presented in Quebec but also the first of seven consecutive rounds on an oval track. In fact, from this Saturday, all series’ races until the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières next August will be on ovals.
Third in qualifying last year at Vallée-Jonction, then Top 5 at the end of a very competitive race where the first 10 at the last restart could claim victory, Dumoulin is confident about the improvements made to his oval car: “I’m happy that this is the second race of the season because it will quickly give us good lessons for the following rounds. I’m aiming for victory because we worked well during the off-season on this #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab and the whole team work very well together, as we shown at the season opener at Mosport.”
Classified third in the first event after leading for several laps, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin will be making his 155th start in NASCAR Canada series this Saturday. “It’s been a long career in the series and I’m still highly motivated to win! But for now, I prefer to look to the future and this race this Saturday which could allow us to be back to Victory Lane. At least the Top 5 to score good points but, even if I know that there is always a bit of contacts that we can avoid in the last laps in this race, I really think that we have a candidate to win” says the Trois-Rivières driver.
Very often ranked well without managing to score a win in recent years on this oval, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin knows that settings are crucial on this track, just like qualifying. “It’s a 300-lap race in which the strategy is defined mainly according to the position on the starting grid. If you are well qualified, you can stay at the forefront throughout. Otherwise, you have to be patient and take advantage of restarts to gain positions and to be among the leaders at the end,” concluded the driver of car #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare | Omnifab.
LP Dumoulin PR
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