St-Donat driver Jean-Philippe Bergeron headed to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last weekend for the penultimate round of the Nascar Pinty’s series season: the WeatherTech 200. Saturday was marked by several technical challenges.
Bergeron’s practice session was brief, limited to just one lap due to a failure of the transmission input shaft connecting to the engine. Despite the tireless efforts of the Jacombs Racing team on the number 1 Ford Mustang, the repair could not be completed before the end of practice.
In qualifying, with 31 cars competing in three groups, Bergeron was forced to join the slower group due to the absence of a time in practice. His fastest lap was hindered by a slower car, placing him in 17th place on the 2.459-mile road circuit.
With a feeling of 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 °F), the track was particularly slippery. Bergeron’s team made adjustments to reduce the car’s understeer in response to the blazing heat. Despite a cautious start in the race, Bergeron quickly moved up through the pack. Unfortunately, an incident occurred when Peter Klutt failed to notice Bergeron presence during an overtaking maneuver, resulting in contact between the two vehicles. Bergeron took the opportunity to make a pit stop, refuel, and change tires. An ill-timed yellow flag, which came shortly after, put Bergeron a lap behind the leaders. Misfortune continued when on the 38th lap of the 51-lap race, Andrew Ranger’s engine failed, causing a red flag due to oil and debris on the track.
Upon returning to the yellow flag, Bergeron was forced to pit due to violent vibrations caused by passing through the debris left by Ranger’s car before the red flag. Starting from the last position, Bergeron nevertheless made an impressive comeback to finish in 14th place. Had it not been for the unfortunate yellow flag, he would probably have reached the top 10.
Jean-Philippe Bergeron is currently 8th in the championship, 20 points behind Alex Guénette and 23 points behind D.J. Kennington. The next race will be held on September 24 at Delaware Speedway, marking the grand finale of the Nascar Pinty’s series season.
JP Bergeron PR
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