DMCC Round 1 - The Storm

The first round of the 2012 DMCC presented by NOS energy kicked off over the weekend at the Autodrome Montmagny which is just outside of Quebec City. This venue is usually a huge one but with the weather forecasting rain it was anybody’s bet how the event was going to play out. The first round of the season is always a special one. Spectators and media get to see new cars, new faces and old friends. Before the practice session started the pits were calm as teams unloaded the cars and prepared them for the event.

Running Pro Am last year Alex Michaud stepped up to the Pro Ranks running some very aggressive camber on his s13.

DMCC veteran Dominique Desrosier unveiled his new 350z which is LS powered and by mid season it will be getting a huge turbo installed on it!

Last years Rookie of the year Jeff Laflamme built up this wicked IS300 for this season but sadly because of some mechanical issues the car was parked in the show and shyne for the event. Jeff had to rent his old S13 chassis for RD1 that now belongs to a Pro Am driver.

Not only were cool new drift cars unveiled at the event but cool helmets too… Check out Francis Tasse’s new bad ass helmet!

It was very cool to see General Tire back in the DMCC series. It was a few years that they pulled out but now they are back and backing Claude and Max Poirier.

Practice stared really well and the track was dry which made for some nice smoke-filled runs. Francis Tasse’s 850hp Super charged v8 S14 is a lot of fun to watch!

American Mike Pollard made the trip over for the event… He competed in last years final and is amazing to watch with such an aggressive style.

Mike was not the only American joining us for the event. Tanner Munson also came out… For this season he is part of the ASD Mob.

Dany “Babu”Bernier was looking strong right off the bat in his G35 that is now running Hankook tires.

Eric Paradis was back with his V8 convertible 240sx. Eric drove really well in practice and his car sounded so mean with his new cam.

This will be the last season for Pat Cyr’s trusty Corolla, From next year he will be running a brand new Scion FRS (Toyota GT86)

Another Pro Am to step up to the Pro’s is Tommy Boisvert-Bellemare. He was super consistent last year and will be very interesting to see how he does in the Pro ranks.

Peter C’s car is nuts… and is probably the lowest car in the whole series. Running a crazy built SR-20 that sounds insane!

And Driftworks GeoMaster knuckles!

The first incident of the day was when Mike Pollard went off track into a K wall… Fortunately the crash didn’t end his day as his team was able to get the car back together.

Marc Landreville is running a new livery for this season. Here he is smoking it up with Peter C on his tail.

After having a season plagued with mechanical failures Marc Andree Fointaine’s R32 was back and running great.

Rod Campo made it out to the event too, but sadly he never made it onto the track… Car troubles cut his event really short!

Then it happened, it started to rain! I love Eric’s “hard top” for his car.

As luck would have it the rain picked up right when qualification was about to begin. Its too bad these events are usually jammed packed with people. I was surprised at the amount of hard core fans that did come out in the rain.

As you’d expect, the rain made qualification very difficult for all drivers. Some parts of the track were still grippy but others were like driving on ice. Marc Landreville put down 2 solid runs getting him the top qualifying spot.

Cyrious Productions… doing it dirty!

With the top 16 about to start the LEDGLOW lit up the cars!

The first battle in the Top 16 was Marc Landreville VS Simon Shafner. Simon was doing great but Marc pushed hard and moved on to the great 8.

Mike Pollards car was in less then great shape. And a spin gave the win to Eric Paradis.

Next was a battle of former Pro Ams, Tommy VS Alex… Tommy moved on.

Jeff Laflamme went against Francis Tasse… Tasse’s power set up was a little too much for the rain. Jeff took the win.

Claude Poirier was driving great event in the rain. He faced JF Chiasson who’s car had broke and pretty much gave Claude a by run.

Pat Cyr had to face his Drift Posse team mate Peter C… With these conditions is was not only drivers battling each other, but battling the conditions as traction was horrible in some ares of the track. Pat moved on.

Babu faced Tanner… The battle went to a one more time and in the end Babu was given the nod!

Marc Andree Fontaine took the win against Dom Desorier.

Onto the Great 8… Marc faced Eric. Eric was super aggressive and took the win when Marcs throttle cable snapped when they lined up for the second run.

Another upset of the night was when Pat Cyr spun giving the win to Claude Poirier.

Babu VS Marc Andree was a sick battle! Babu Stuck to him throughout car and took the win.

Into the Final 4 and it was raining like crazy just in time for when Eric faced Jeff. It was a great battle and in the end Jeff moved on.

Babu went against Claude… Babu looked like he was going to pull it off but was a bit too aggressive around the last clip and spun.

Babu now had to face Eric for 3rd but Eric seemed to have car issues as he pretty much let off right after the first turn. This was Babu’s first podium in DMCC.

Battle for first was between Claude Poirier and Jeff Laflamme. Jeff made sure to stick to Claudes door and then leave Claude behind on his lead run… Ensuring he got the win.