This second round of the NASCAR Canada series championship has the distinction of being a single-day event, which means that the drivers and their respective teams face a very busy schedule. This is very different from what happens at GP3R for example, where the activities are spread over two days.
Sometimes nicknamed the little Bristol, the Autodrome Chaudière track, a quarter of a mile long with a lot of inclination in the turns, offers very close races where the drivers, 21 on this occasion, have to jostle to be able to hold on to the front or slip through it.
“You have to do it, but to a point. You can’t fit into everyone. There are ways to move someone slower than you, either by putting their bumper under their rear bumper to gently pack them and send them sideways to crash into them. Yes, it’s messy, but you have to be careful. If you do it too much, some will give you back and you will have a bad reputation,” said Louis-Philippe Dumoulin.
Behind the scenes with Louis-Philippe Dumouli at Autodrome Chaudière, second round of the NASCAR Canada series calendar. (Matthew Vachon)
How the day went
7 a.m.: morning jog
For the Mauritian pilot, a big fan of running, the day begins with a quick lunch followed by a 25 to 30 minute jog.
“What helps in preparation is exercising, eating well and sleeping well. This is the basis. Most mornings before a race, I get up, have a little light coffee and half a granola bar or a banana. I then go for a jog. It’s not a workout like I do during the week (around 90 minutes), but I do it for around thirty minutes. It helps me relax and release tension in my body. It puts me in the right frame of mind. It’s really a warm-up.”
During the day, it is in this room at the front of the Dumouli Compétition team trailer that Louis-Philippe Dumoulin spends the majority of his time. He eats there and also does his mental preparation in anticipation of the upcoming race. (Matthew Vachon)
10 a.m.: arrival at the track
If Dumoulin arrives at the track in the middle of the morning, around 10 a.m., the members of his team have been hard at work for a while already in the pits of the NASCAR series while they have to unload all the equipment and get busy preparing the car.
“We have to unload everything we have in the trailer when we arrive, including tents, mechanical equipment, the car, etc. I have a lot of teammates who set this up so that we are efficient. There are also scales to know the weight on the four wheels as well as the height of the car. This is what helps us make the perfect settings. All this happens in a very short time. You also have to talk about strategies and attend several events (media and promotion) during the day.”
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin’s mechanics arrive very early at the Autodrome Chaudière to ensure that car number 47 is properly prepared. (Matthew Vachon)
12 p.m.: free practice
During this session, the cars registered for the event were divided into two groups in order to have sufficient space to drive and find their bearings. However, the tests did not go optimally as, from the first turns of the wheel, a car lost a large quantity of oil. This required the use of absorbent material to recover the oil and make the track less slippery, but this however prevented the drivers from testing different racing lines.
“It was a bit of a crap session with the goose seed to absorb the oil. We couldn’t do what we wanted. We were still satisfied, because we had good time. The balance of the car is good.”
A lap at the Autodrome Chaudière lasts no more than 15 seconds under a green flag. With a time of 13.272 seconds, Dumoulin took 3rd place behind Marc-Antoine Camirand and Alex Labbé respectively.
Robert Lacroix is the one who whispers the tires within Louis-Philippe Dumoulin’s team. He ensures all the precise details regarding the pressure, depth and size of the 12 tires purchased from General Tire the morning of the race. The bill comes to around $5,000. There are also specific times of the day when tires can be removed from the enclosure where they are placed. (Matthew Vachon)
2 p.m.: drivers and team leaders meeting
As is customary, the leaders of the NASCAR Canada series hold a meeting in the hours before the start of the race. They review all the specific details surrounding the smooth running of the day, including pit stop instructions and tire specifications.
As the track is too short to have a pit line, teams must carry out tire changes in the garages.
Before that, all the cars were inspected by the discipline officials.
4 p.m.: qualifying
Car number 47 WeatherTech of Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. (Matthew Vachon)
Like the day itself, the qualifying session moved extremely quickly. The drivers only have three laps (one preparation lap and two timed laps) to achieve the best possible time in order to start at the front of the peloton.
“As it’s only three laps, it’s very difficult to build tire pressure and heat quickly. […] To achieve good times, it comes with experience. On the oval, there are several strong drivers. On small tracks like this, it’s really the car’s settings that will make a big difference. The driver will wage war in the race. He will position himself well and overtake, but on a single lap, the key is really the settings.”
The tests completed on time determine the order in which the cars parade for this crucial session. As he had taken 3rd place in the midday practice sessions, Dumoulin was one of the last to start.
He took advantage of the opportunity to set the 6th time with a loop completed in 13.371 seconds, 0.143 seconds behind the holder of the leading position, Marc-Antoine Camirand.
5:30 p.m.: race kickoff
On the quarter-mile track, you obviously have to have a fast car to get ahead, but there is also management to be done on several levels, especially when there are 300 laps to complete and 21 cars starting.
“We are here to win, but we are here to finish the race and get valuable points in the championship.”
Throughout the race, Dumoulin was able to maintain a good pace to fight among the leaders. However, he lacked a small degree of performance to be at the level of Kevin Lacroix and Marc-Antoine Camirand, untouchable on the Beauceron track.
When the checkered flag was presented, Dumoulin took 4th place.
“We were just missing a little bit. In traffic, I was a little too careful. At the same time, latecomers don’t always make it easy for us. We would have liked to take a yellow flag at the end to fight with the leaders. We would have had something interesting. The season is long. We know we can fight up front. This is encouraging. A podium or a victory would have been better. We’re in the mix. I think with the right settings we have the speed. We have to find them.”
After analyzing the race with his team, it was time to decompress and then hit the road towards home.
