Alex Tagliani wins his third Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières

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Racecar driver Alex Tagliani won his third Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières this Sunday in round 3 of the 2021 NASCAR Pinty’s Series season. The win was Tagliani 10th triumph in this Canadian series. The resident of Lachenaie, Quebec led 40 of the 60 laps on the 2.454 km (1.530-mile) street circuit. The Team 22 driver of the number 18 Chevrolet Camaro RONA – VIAGRA – St-Hubert, who qualified fourth on Saturday, took the lead of this 147.247 km (91.8-mile) race on lap 18 for the next 17 circuits. At the restart on lap 35 following the first race caution, he lost the lead to Kevin Lacroix for the next three laps before retaking command of the race for the final 23 laps to the chequered flag.

Tagliani crossed the finish line with a lead of 1.299 seconds over Jean-François Dumoulin and 4.911 seconds on third-place finisher Kevin Lacroix. Rookie Treyten Lapcevich finished fourth ahead of Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. Eleven of the 23 starters finished on the lead lap.

For Tagliani, this was his sixth consecutive podium finish at the Trois-Rivières Grand Prix, which is probably why it is one of his favourite tracks. He won in 2017 and 2018 and was runner-up in 2019.

 “Thanks to the hard work by the crew of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, we were able to go on track with our racecar in front of a crowd. The success of the race proved that we are able to hold events like this one if people are conscientious to cohabit with the COVID,” said Alex Tagliani.

“The start of the weekend of racing was pretty stressful. During our Saturday practice session, we had engine problems. The same issue continued during qualifying. We did not know if we could solve it before the start of the race on Sunday. I must thank the whole Team 22 Racing crew for this win. They worked real hard on Saturday night to find the problem and fix it. Their hard work gave me the opportunity to be very competitive during the race.

“We had a Bumper to Bumper car that kept us out of trouble against the car of Kevin (Lacroix), who never let up during the race. It was very stressful. I could not make the slightest mistake.

“I did not know if I was saving the car enough. There were moments when I wanted to lift me foot off the gas to reduce the rhythm, but the drivers chasing me were not. So, I kept on pushing. Luckily, nothing broke. We started the race with right tire pressure that enabled us to keep the rhythm even though the race went under yellow flag conditions only twice.

“This pace proved that competition in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series is very competitive and that the level of the drivers is excellent. Even though there were a few retirements, we worked hard for this win, and we are going to take it. My Chevrolet Camaro RONA – Viagra – St Hubert was beautiful on track with its new design. Overall, I am very happy of the win that enables me to move up to second place in the drivers standing,” concluded Tagliani.

Next race on the NASCAR Pinty’s Series agenda will be held Saturday August 28 at ICAR road course in Mirabel, Quebec. The 75-lap race on the 1.6-mile course will start a 4 p.m. with the one-hour qualifying session to begin at 12:55.

NASCAR.ca has live coverage of each event, including live timing and scoring, on Race Center.

Beside his main Chevrolet Camaro RONA – VIAGRA – St-Hubert sponsors, the TAG Motorsport/Team 22 Racing number 18 car is also sporting secondary sponsors colours such as CanTorque, Fast Wheels, La Petite Bretonne, VR St-Cyr, Arai, Gatorade, 440 Laval Chevrolet, HomeSync, Car Design & Graphics by Jerry Hall, VTT Lachute and O’Sole Mio on tracks in Ontario and Quebec.

Fans can follow Alex Tagliani during the season by visiting www.tagliani.com, or by following him on Twitter at @TAGLIANI, or @TAGLIANI18 on Instagram and like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Tagliani.

Adam Sinclair
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