Vallee-Jct., QC – St-Denis, QC’s Patrick Laperle dominated on his way to his second straight Série ACT Castrol win at Autodrome Chaudiere on Friday, August 3. The defending Castrol Champion lapped all but the top five of the 18 car field, while leading the final 111 laps of the 150 lap event.
Former Castrol Champion Karl Allard jumped out to the point from the outside pole after the initial green. However, his lead was short lived as Donald Theetge used the outside line to take over the lead on lap 9. Theetge broke away from the field and built himself a healthy lead over the next 30 laps. Coming off of turn four to complete the 39th circuit, Theetge unexpectedly slowed and coasted to a stop, bringing out the first caution. Theetge’s day would be over due to distributor issues.
Allard would inherit the lead for the first restart of the event, but Laperle made short work of the battle and took the lead for good on lap 40. Jean-Francois Dery chased Laperle after the second caution flag on lap 42 for a minor spin. The two worked through lap traffic but Dery could not close the gap. The third and final caution came out on lap 146 bringing the field back together, but Laperle was too strong and held a lapped car cushion over Dery on the final restart.
Laperle would cruise to the win followed by Dery, Allard, Dany Trepanier and Patrick Cliche completing the top five and lead lap cars. Daniel Descoste, David Michaud, Patrick Hamel, Tony Cote, and Gaetan Lauzier rounded out the top ten.
The 150 lap event was completed in 45 minutes and 37 seconds with just three cautions, one for mechanical failure and two for minor spins. Five of the 18 car field completed the 150 lap distance with 14 cars taking the checkered flag. A total of 20 cars attempted to qualify for the event. Jonathan Bouvrette dropped out after his heat race with motor issues, while Stephane Descoste suffered a nasty crash into the turn four wall that put him on his roof and ended his day.
Laperle has already qualified for the Bond Auto ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 22. A total of 10 ACT Late Model competitors have qualified for the event; Laperle, Jean-Francois Dery, Karl Allard, Donald Theetge, Brian Hoar, Wayne Helliwell, Jr., Ben Ashline, Austin Theriault, Joey Polewarczyk, Jr. and Nick Sweet.
The Série ACT Castrol will be back in action next Saturday, August 11 for the Sanair 100 at Sanair Super Speedway in St-Pie, QC. The event will be a combination event with the US-based ACT Tour and will be the first time ever that a Sanair event has been run under the lights. The last time ACT visited the speedway was in 2006.
Chaudiere 150 Unofficial Results
Serie ACT Castrol
Autodrome Chaudiere – Vallee-Jct., QC
Friday, August 11, 2012
Pos. (Start) Driver, Hometown, Laps Completed
1. (7) Patrick Laperle, St-Denis, QC, 150 Laps
2. (9) Jean-Francois Dery, Quebec, QC, 150 Laps
3. (2) Karl Allard, Saint-Felicien, QC, 150 Laps
4. (16) Dany Trepanier, St-Edouard, QC, 150 Laps
5. (11) Patrick Cliche, St-Jean-Chry., QC, 150 Laps
6. (15) Daniel Descoste, St. Joseph, QC, 149 Laps
7. (10) David Michaud, St-An-des-Plns, QC, 149 Laps
8. (17) Patrick Hamel, Sainte-Croix, QC, 149 Laps
9. (6) Tony Cote, Beauceville, QC 149, Laps
10. (13) Gaetan Lauzier, St-Pacôme, QC, 148 Laps
11. (1) Claude Leclerc, Lanoraie, QC, 148 Laps
12. (14) Yannick Tremblay, Chicoutimi, QC, 148 Laps
13. (12) #Patrick Boyer, Quebec, QC, 147 Laps
14. (8) Jacques Poulin, East Broughton, QC, 146 Laps
15. (3) #Etienne Cliche, Vallee-Jonction, QC, 53 Laps
16. (5) Steven Boissonneault, Lyster, QC, 42 Laps
17. (4) Donald Theetge, Boischatel, QC, 39 Laps
18. (18) Eric LeHoux, St-Elzear,QC, 20 Laps
Lap Leaders: Karl Allard, 1-8; Donald Theetge, 9-38; Allard, 39; Patrick Laperle, 40-150.
Time of Race: 45:37
Margin of Victory: .498 seconds
Cautions: 3 (Lap 39, 42, 146)
Heat Winners: Claude Leclerc, Patrick Laperle
Consi Winner: David Michaud