Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From SLAM! Sports:
Schraenen in the driver's seat
BOWMANVILLE -- Didier Schraenen shattered the qualifying record for the Honda-Michelin series at Mosport International Raceway with a lap of one minute, 42.447 seconds on the 2.49-mile road course yesterday.
Schraenen's lap in the No. 94 Honda DX was 3.791 seconds faster than the 1:46.238 lap set in 2004 by Nick Wittmer.
It was Schraenen's third career pole in the series and, if history is any indication, that should bode well for the Montreal native.
Schraenen has won in each of the three races where he started from the front row.
But the big unknown for today's race is the weather.
Rain is forecast and if there is a downpour, Schraenen said that changes everything.
"If it rains the race becomes a lottery," he said.
"Anyone can win."
Schraenen credited the new Multimatic suspension system on this year's cars for his record-breaking performance.
"It definitely made a big difference," he said. "The car is a lot more racy this season."
Schraenen made his record run in the first of two sessions yesterday and he hung on late in the second session when the rest of the field were catching up to him.
"We started to get some rain in the second session so I came in thinking that my time was safe," he said. "Then the sun came out, the track dried, but there wasn't enough time left in qualifying for anyone to beat me."
Robert Boyer, of Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, P.Q., will start on the outside of the front row after he timed a 1:42.520 second lap.
Wittmer was second fastest in the second session with a lap of 1:42:813 seconds, good enough for third spot on the grid.
The top Ontario driver in Honda-Michelin qualifying was Georgetown's Alex Penfold, with a lap of 1:43.044, good enough for fifth spot on the starting grid.
"My teammate (brother Richard) had problems so I had no one to draft with and that is hard when your are racing with multi-car teams," Penfold said.
In other action at Mosport, Joey Scarallo, of Smithtown, N.Y., was fastest in the second round of practice for the American GT Challenge series race today in his No. 06 Corvette with a lap of 1:20.234.
WIN FOR RAEKELBOOM
Edison Lluch, of Puerto Rico, in the No. 73 Corvette, was second fastest at 1:20.852 with Charlie Webster, of Dundas, Ont., in another Corvette third at 1:21.895.
In the Formula Vee 1200 series yesterday, Michael Raekelboom held off Chris Hart to win the first race for that series this season.
Schraenen in the driver's seat
BOWMANVILLE -- Didier Schraenen shattered the qualifying record for the Honda-Michelin series at Mosport International Raceway with a lap of one minute, 42.447 seconds on the 2.49-mile road course yesterday.
Schraenen's lap in the No. 94 Honda DX was 3.791 seconds faster than the 1:46.238 lap set in 2004 by Nick Wittmer.
It was Schraenen's third career pole in the series and, if history is any indication, that should bode well for the Montreal native.
Schraenen has won in each of the three races where he started from the front row.
But the big unknown for today's race is the weather.
Rain is forecast and if there is a downpour, Schraenen said that changes everything.
"If it rains the race becomes a lottery," he said.
"Anyone can win."
Schraenen credited the new Multimatic suspension system on this year's cars for his record-breaking performance.
"It definitely made a big difference," he said. "The car is a lot more racy this season."
Schraenen made his record run in the first of two sessions yesterday and he hung on late in the second session when the rest of the field were catching up to him.
"We started to get some rain in the second session so I came in thinking that my time was safe," he said. "Then the sun came out, the track dried, but there wasn't enough time left in qualifying for anyone to beat me."
Robert Boyer, of Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, P.Q., will start on the outside of the front row after he timed a 1:42.520 second lap.
Wittmer was second fastest in the second session with a lap of 1:42:813 seconds, good enough for third spot on the grid.
The top Ontario driver in Honda-Michelin qualifying was Georgetown's Alex Penfold, with a lap of 1:43.044, good enough for fifth spot on the starting grid.
"My teammate (brother Richard) had problems so I had no one to draft with and that is hard when your are racing with multi-car teams," Penfold said.
In other action at Mosport, Joey Scarallo, of Smithtown, N.Y., was fastest in the second round of practice for the American GT Challenge series race today in his No. 06 Corvette with a lap of 1:20.234.
WIN FOR RAEKELBOOM
Edison Lluch, of Puerto Rico, in the No. 73 Corvette, was second fastest at 1:20.852 with Charlie Webster, of Dundas, Ont., in another Corvette third at 1:21.895.
In the Formula Vee 1200 series yesterday, Michael Raekelboom held off Chris Hart to win the first race for that series this season.
