Out of all the event on the DMCC schedule the Victoriaville round is one of the most exciting for so many reasons. For one the event takes place in the centre of Victoriaville where there is no race track. The DMCC crew sets up a race track out of scratch in a empty snow dump. The Victoriaville round is also where the only Canadian drift car parade takes place through the streets of Victoriaville and lastly since the track is designed out of nothing the track it self is one of the most exciting to watch and even has a little jump thrown in for good measure.
Day one started like every other.. Some coffee and the teams setting up their cars for the event.
Stopped Dave Briggs S14 added some laughing gas to his already crazy set up.
The rear of Jeff Laflammes IS300 was not always yellow. The weekend before Rd4 while doing a drift demo for a sponsor Jeff had a huge crash and completly destroyed the back end of his car. It was very impressive to see him and his car roll into the paddocks.
It was great to see Eric Warnett out in competition with his V8 FC RX7..
I got excited when I saw Greig Basdeo rolling out tires I thought he was finally going to be back in competition..turned out he was just helping out Pro Am driver Silvio Santos.
Marc Landreville sporting a fancy hair style. Him, Eric Warnett and Max lemoine all were sporting some beached hair. Dont know why but it was funny!
As always morning drivers meeting before the first practice session of the event. The judges have been very strict this year on the drivers to improve their skills and make for a better show so the driver have to pay close attention to everything the judges are looking for.
No, those are not male models..Max Lemoine and Eric Warnett “walk” the track before they heading out for practice.
As fate would have it, it started to rain right as the first practice session was about to start. Maple Leaf Bash and Slide founder and my good friend David DeSoma came prepared.
It started to rain hard. Everybody scrambled to find some cover. Or maybe Max Lemoine just likes skateboarding in the rain.
So the first practice session of DMC RD4 started with a splash! Even in the rain Tom Tom was getting some crazy angle.
Right out of the gate Bob Patinka was looking super good.
An other driver that was putting down some sick runs was Alex Michaud.
It started to rain pretty hard so I took shelter in the VIP tent..The people in the VIP had a great and dry place to watch the event.
Marc Landreville was looking good. His team seemed to have worked out all the bugs they were having in the previous rounds.
The rain brought some interesting problems. Max Lemoine had his crew tape up his door because water was leaking into the truck.
The section of the track where the little jump was filled up with water like a little pool.. Cause for some very wet rides.
Vincent Theberge tried his best to dry the track with his car.. Didnt work but looked cool!.
In its second drift competition Pat Cyr’s FRS was looking a lot better compared to its first outing. With some more tuning Im sure Pat will have this car ripping like his old rolla.
After his wreck Jeff suffered a concussion and was told by his doctor to not compete at this round. Despite his doctors wishes Jeff was ripping.
Vincent Theberge rocking his rain approved foot wear.
Before long the rain had stopped and the track started to dry.. Tire smoke and tight tandems was where it was at!
A dry-ish track meant higher speeds.. Dave Briggs took the high line over the jump but landed in a section that was still wet.
Causing him to loop out and hit the wall.. It was not a super hard hit at least.
Francis Tasse also had a little run in with the barriers..Good thing for the tire walls as Francis car didnt suffer any major damage.
Turned out that Dave Briggs little wall tap was more serious then it looked. The steering rack was completely shot.
Near the end of practice this doom cloud rolled in and brought even more rain. Since the qualifications were set to start the call was made to postpone the qualifications to the next morning in order to have a better show and better results.
This made Francis Tasse very happy since putting down almost 900 hp to the ground in the wet cant be fun.
Day one of the event was over but the day didn’t stop. It was time for the annual parade through the streets of Victoriaville.. Luckily it actually got nice out.
It always makes me smile seeing a line up of drift cars down a residential street.
The parade came to a stop infront of the Evasion restaurant where there was a pretty huge crowd gathered to check out the cars.
Pat Cyrs FRS got a lot of attention.
Future DMCC drivers!
Race director Babu showing just how much of a party animal he is..Rock on!
Dead Machine giant! Looks all mean but is one of the nicest guys I know!
After a long day of drift action nothing better then a meal with good friends. Drift Posse/Dead Machine crew.. Thats Dan of Cyrious Productions taking a pic of me taking a pic.
Pat Cyr is so awesome that even Canada’s voice of Drift Sexy Steve wanted his autograph.
The next morning it was super nice out and looking like it was going to be a great day for some action. Teams did some final prep to their cars because with the schedule change the drivers were only going to have 1 practice lap before going straight into qualifications.
Eric loving his hair.
The Sombrero Warrior and awesome photog Rich bringing some water out to the media zones!
With only one practice lap everybody had to make it count.
Tanner Munson was looking good and man his car sounds good.
In the dry the jump was a lot more evident especially with a light weight car like Joe Thiffaults rolla.
Onto quals!.. Pat put down some decent runs and put his new FRS into the show for the first time this season.
Tanner qualled in 4rth spot!
Jeff ” I dont listen to doctors” Laflamme qualled in 3rd.
Francis Tasse had a sick run and was confident he was going to get first..
Until Marc Landreville went out and put down a crazy run getting him the top qualification spot.
After the qualifications the pits were opened to the fans. People flooded in!
It was a good time to check out the vendor booths.. Little drift fan really enjoying the Sony booth.
It was also a good time to check out the DMCC models..
Or witness a kidnapping…
During this time the drivers got interviewed by DMCC own Mouton to find out how their event was going so far.
Supporting the drivers is always good. Simon Schaffner was selling his official shirts and hats made by SILLY Boutique.
Ummm..not really sure what was going on here.
Spotted Dom Desrosier lurking in the pits..He has been competing in DMCC since pretty much the start but recently sold his drift car.
Also spotted DMCC godfather and now DMCC judge Marco Santos. He and the other judges have not been having an easy time this year.
The top 16 was about to start.. A lot of drivers were getting into the competition state of mind.. With 10k on the line you have to be focused.
With the grand stands packed and the crowd ready for some action it was time for the top 16 at RD4 to start.
First battle saw Marc Landreville face Nic Lorange. Nic had a really good run but over rotated on his chase run giving the win to Marc.
Vincent Theberge VS Eric Paradis. Vincent had a sick lead run.even tapped the wall. He moved onto the Great 8.
The Victoriaville round is great for tandem.. Tanner Munson VS Joe Thiffault.. Tanner got the win.
Paco VS Philippe Bruyere. Paco takes the win!
Heres a pic of fellow photog Antoine..why? just look at that smile! lol
Crazy match up between Francis and Pat. Pat looked good but Francis was able to stick right on him.. Francis moves on!
One of the craziest battles of the even: Tom Tom VS Kevin Morin. Kevin actually hit Tom Tom but he stays in it..It was crazy. Then on Kevins lead run he goes in to hot and hits the wall..Tom Tom gets the win.
An other crazy battle. Max Lemoine VS Jeff Laflamme. Max spun on his lead run giving the win to Jeff.
Bob Patinka faced Simon Schaffner… Bob came in way to hot and went into the tire wall. Car was ok and on his chase run he stuck to Simon but it was not enough to over come his crash.. Simon gets the win!
Onto the Great 8. Landreville VS Theberge.. Theberge goes into the wall on his lead run..Landreville moves on.
Paco VS Tanner. Both these guys are amazing to watch..Tanner got the win!
Francis Tasse’s car was dialled in. He got the win against Tom Tom.
Jeff VS Simon. I was super impressed with Simons driving but a few errors cost him the win. Jeff moved on to the final 4 joining Marc Landreville..Francis Tasse and Tanner Munson.
Tanner faced Marc. Tanner had an epic chase run and was on Marc all the way.
On his lead run how ever he pushed a tad too hard and wound up making close friends with the wall. Marc moved on to the finals.
Again Tasse was on fire. The speed he was able to get was crazy. He got the win over Jeff.. Jeff was set to face Tanner for 3rd. Tanner went over his 5 minutes fixing his car after the crash by only a few seconds and was disqualified giving 3rd place to Jeff.
Final Battle was Marc Landreville VS Francis Tasse.
Francis yet again was able to stick to Marc and got the win.
It was Francis first podium this season.
Final standins : Francis Tasse. Marc Landreville. Jeff Laflamme and Tanner Munson.
Rd5 is coming up next week back at the St- Croix race track for a one day Top 32 main event!
Thanks
JAG
