AN EVENTFUL END TO THE RACE FOR LOUIS-PHILIPPE DUMOULIN IN THE TRANS AM SERIES
He made his way up the field to 5th position before being pushed against the wall
Series | Trans Am Championship - TA2® Class |
Track | Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, NC) - Roval with Chicane Configuration |
Strat | | Start 13 | Finish 12 |
Results |
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin came to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend to compete in the second round of the Trans Am Series (TA2® class) championship on the 2.25-mile Roval track with the talented Peterson Racing team. Driving a slightly oversteering Ford Mustang in practice and qualifying, the three-time NASCAR Pinty's Series champion qualified 13th to start the race (from 29 entries). During the 45-lap race, strategic as usual, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin skillfully worked his way up through the field with his well-prepared car. Positioned 7th for the late-race restart, the Quebecer was determined to achieve a top-5 finish, but a reckless competitor tried to pass him and pushed him up against the wall, ending his race with less than a lap to go (in 12th place in the end).
"What an experience! I would like to thank Doug Peterson and his team for their warm welcome and the fast car, I had a lot of fun working with them," said the driver of the #89 car.
"For the first third of the race, I ran with the pack and then gradually worked my way through the field thanks to economical tire and brake management. A few incidents and stop by other cars also allowed us to gain positions. Seventh with 5 laps to go, a caution period tightened the field and promised some intense last laps. I was confident for the end of the race, before a driver behind me tried to overtake me and pushed me into the wall with less than a lap to go, leaving me in 12th place in the end. Although the result is frustrating, the team was satisfied. With Adam Andretti third, Rafa Matos fourth and me fifth, the team would have finished 3-4-5, it would have been a great performance with the new kid on the block. I would be happy to repeat the experience in the future," explained Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, a little disappointed by the turn of events.
Detailed description of the event
Practice (Thursday, March 17)
Thursday morning, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin met his team members and appreciated the quality of the organisation and the preparation of the race cars.
"Our objective in the first practice session was to become familiar with the car and learn the unique Roval portion of the track. The car is quick, and we recorded the 11th fastest time out of the 29 drivers on track. The second practice session did not go so well as we experienced an electrical problem that caused a loss of power. We were limited to two timed laps in the session as we worked on fixing the electrical problem as well as suspension settings to correct persistent oversteer that slowed us on corner entry. The work in the pits during the session and lack of track time relegated us to 13th place at the end of the second practice session."
Practice and Qualifying (Friday, March 18)
During the official practice on Friday morning, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin completed only two laps due to the multiple black flags. In addition, his last lap was not included by the officials in Louis-Philippe Dumoulin's scoring for the session because of a late caution, which relegated him to the second qualifying group. Louis-Philippe Dumoulin thus had to work hard in his qualifying session to pass slower cars (and end up in 13th position on the starting grid.)
"We ran out of time in the morning to set up the suspension the way we wanted to. The car's handling is improving, so we know that we are headed in the right direction with our changes to eliminate the oversteer. More changes will be made to the car before the 45-lap race and we are confident that we will have a competitive machine for the 45-lap race," declared the hard-working driver.
NASCAR Pinty's Series
Louis-Philippe Dumoulin will be back on track in the #47 WeatherTech Canada | Groupe Bellemare car, for the NASCAR Pinty's Series season opener on May 14 at Sunset Speedway (Innisfil, Ontario).
"Passion - Performance - Partnerships"
Photos Credit: Chris Clark
Additional Information
Trans Am Series
The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli is America's Road Racing Series and dates back to 1966. Throughout the years, some of the greatest names in motorsports have participated in the Trans Am Series. Names like Dan Guney, Parnelli Jones, Tommy Kendall, Mark Donohue, Peter Gregg, Bob Tullius and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. have all won championships under the Trans Am name.
The TA2® class brings back the "Muscle Car Wars" of the 60's and 70's, when revered brands like the Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford released hot rod versions of their Camaro, Challenger and Mustang to try to prove who made the best performance cars on the American roads. The competition today is incredibly close, thanks to rules that keep an equal eye on the bottom line as well as the finish line.
Dumoulin Competition
Jean-François and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin founded the Dumoulin Competition Race Team in 2009. Working with financial, marketing, logistics and sports management experts, they built up a solid business structure. Dumoulin Competition prepares its on race cars in-house since 2016. Their motto: "Passion - Performance - Partnerships" expresses their will to perform on the track and offer their partners maximum visibility and profitability in return for their commitment. Their vision: To become Canada's leader in motorsports through track performance, entrepreneurial and human values dumoulincompetition.com
Summary - Highlights in Louis-Philippe Dumoulin's Career
NASCAR Pinty's Series
- 2021: Pinty's Series Champion (1 victory, 3 podiums, 4 top-5 et 9 top-10 finishes in 10 events). Second championship with cars entirely prepared by Dumoulin Competition. Saw his name added for the third time to the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte, NC) / Wins "Driver of the Year" and "Best Performing Driver" awards.
- Inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame(2020) for his outstanding contribution.
- In 2020, the sanitary situation forced the NASCAR Pinty's Series to present only 6 races in the "Pinty's FanCave Challenge". Louis-Philippe Dumoulin scored 1 win and 3 top-5 finishes.
- 2019: Third in driver and owner championships (2 wins, 4 podium, and eight top-5 finishes from 13 events).
- 2018: Pinty's Series Champion (3 victories, 7 podiums, 2 poles, eight top-5 in 13 events). Saw his name added for the second time to the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte, NC) / Wins "Driver of the Year" and "Best Performing Driver" awards.
- 2017: Fourth in the driver championship (3 podiums, nine top-5 and eleven top-10 finishes from 13 events).
- 2016: Joint fourth in the driver championship (4 podiums, six top-5 and seven top-10 finishes from 12 events).
- 2015: Fourth in the driver championship (2 podiums, six top-5 and nine top-10 finishes from 11 events).
- 2014: Pinty's Series Champion (2 victories, 5 podiums and nine top-5 finish from 11 events). Saw his name added to the NASCAR Hall of Fame (Charlotte, NC) / Awarded the "Driver Of the Year", "Best Performing Driver" and "Gilles-Villeneuve" awards.
- 2013: Fifth in the driver championship (2 victories, 3 podiums, four top-5s, six top-10s and five-time top-3 grid positions from 12 events).
- 2012: Sixth in the driver championship (1 pole, three top-5 and seven top-10 finishes from 12 events).
- 2011: Pinty's Series Rookie of the year.
Rallying and Road Racing
- 2015: Participated in FIA World Rallycross Championship round in Canada (Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières).
- 2012: Second in class in the 12 Hours of Sebring (American Le Mans Series - GT3 Cup). The only Canadian driver on the podium.
- 2004 to today: Front runner in the Grand-Am and Rolex Sports Car series, in Porsche, Ferrari and Daytona Prototype cars - Races in the 12 Hours of Sebring / and the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA events.
- 2002: Champion in the Canadian Formula Ford Championship.
- 2001: Awarded the ''Gilles-Villeneuve'' and ''Quartz'' trophies.
- Records: Holder since 2002 of Formula Ford Series records for most victories (6) and most pole positions (7) in a single season.
WEBSITES:
- Quebec cancer foundation: fqc.qc.ca
- Gilles-Villeneuve Museum: museegillesvilleneuve.com
- Dumoulin Competition: dumoulincompetition.com
- Trans AM Series: gotransam.com
- NASCAR Pinty's Series: nascar.ca
- Facebook: facebook.com/dumoulincompetition
- Twitter: @DumoulinDC / @DumoulinLP / @jf_dumoulin
- Youtube: youtube.com/user/dumoulincompetition
- Instagram: @dumoulincompetition