Canadian Touring Car Championship…
Mathieu Audette Launches his 2011 Season this Weekend at the Toronto GP
Blainville (Québec), July 5 2011.– Quebec driver Mathieu Audette will make his return to the Canadian Touring Car Championship this weekend by contesting the Toronto Indy Grand Prix at the wheel of his Dimensions Doors / Novatech Acura RSX Type-S. Audette, a former Touring and F1600 champion, did not contest the first half of the series’ 2011 season. Toronto is the first of the team’s three scheduled Touring Car events, followed by Trois-Rivières and Montréal, at all of which he looks forward to climbing onto the podium.
” The technical rule changes at the beginning of the year prevented us from taking part in the series but recent modifications to those rules now allow us to make a return. However, it’s too late for us to run a full program so we chose three popular events; the Toronto Indy Grand Prix this weekend, followed in August by the GP de Trois-Rivières and then the NASCAR weekend in Montreal where the Canadian Touring Car Championship will be in the line-up for the first time ” indicates Mathieu.
The Touring Car side of the Audette Racing Team is eagerly awaiting this first race on the streets of Toronto : : “I like this event and it’s a very interesting circuit but we’ve almost always been unlucky with mechanical problems at the track. It was again the case last year while we were among the fastest teams. I want this time to be different and I plan to battle for the victory ! ” confides Mathieu. The entire team is confident with the capabilities of their Acura RSX Type-S, a car that Mathieu Audette knows well and successfully tested in late May during the Circuit Mont-Tremblant’s Spring Classic. ” Everything went really well at Tremblant and I know we’ll be competitive in Toronto ” adds the Québec driver.
Around forty Canadian Touring Car Championship drivers are expected on the urban track at this year’s edition of the Toronto Indy Grand Prix. Practice starts at 8:30 on Friday morning followed by qualification later that evening (5:30 – 6:00 pm)
On Saturday, the drivers will take to the track only once from 3:50pm to 4:20pm for the first of the two races. The second Canadian Touring Car Championship round of the weekend will take place beginning at 9:30 in the morning as an IndyCar series support race. ” It’s a classic schedule for the Toronto Indy Grand Prix. It means that we will have to deal with significant variations in weather and grip because we will be on the track either early in the morning or in the evening. It doesn’t bother me, I know the circuit well and I know that I can quickly get into a good rhythm ” concludes Mathieu Audette.
In addition to the Canadian Touring Car Championship, the Audette Racing Team has committed Mathieu’s younger brother, Rémy Audette, to the F2000 Series. He is currently leading the championship, which is right now at the mid-point of its season.
The Audette Racing Team benefits form the support of Dimensions Doors, Novatech, Acura Plus Blainville, Les Extrusions du Nord, Verre Select, Jeld Wen, OPM, Amusements Spectaculaire, Les Moulures PFJV, Gulf, Mec-Inov and Omnitech.