The 3rd round of the DMCC series took place at the Riveside Speedway in Ste- Croix Quebec. The last time that DMCC held an event here was back in 09. Since then the track has undergone some pretty major changes to better accommodate a drift event. With that I was very excited to shoot this this event since it was going to be something new!
Magic Mike Pollard fuels up his beast before practice was about to start.
Teams were making sure everything was set up properly.
Pat Cyr had his new FRS out for the first time for competition. Looks soo bad ass and sounded crazy!
With this event hosting Pro and Pro -Am drivers the drivers meeting was packed.
Some drivers got a comfy seat.
In order to understand what the judges were explaining Dave Briggs gets all up on the track map.
During the drivers meeting the Marc Landreville’s crew was doing some final prep on his S14.
When the first practice session was about to start the drivers started to head to the pre grid. Max Lemoine was ready to burn some rubber in his Chevy s10 running a big 454.
I headed to the tracks infield. Once amazing thing about this track is the underground tunnel that passes right under the race track..Makes getting on and off track so easy.
First out was Max. His truck makes so much smoke its crazy.
Max was not the only one making crazy amounts of smoke..Paco and Brad Carlton seen above were easily filling up their cars with think smoke essentially driving blind.
This season Claude Poirier has been looking very solid in his new S13..Looks pretty good too.
Mike Pollard is quickly becoming a crowd favourite with his balls out style. After just a few laps he was one of the ones entering at the highest speeds.
After missing Rd2 due to an engine failure Seb GrandMaison was back with his awesome looking S13.
Was awesome to see Pats FRS out on track..With any new build there are bound to be problems and for Pats FRS it was no different. The car was having engine power problems but his team was working hard to get it fixed in time for qualifications.
This was a pretty exciting track to shoot and the speeds were very impressive.
The Judges had a great vantage point to see the whole track.
Simon Shaffner unveiled his 2013 s13 for the first time at RR3.. Car looked great!
Bob Patinka was doing super well during practice.
Practice didn’t go so well for everybody..Luckily the damage was not too bad.
Jeff Laflamme looked good too but he was not making as many practice runs as I thought he would.
When I went into the pitts in between sessions I found out how come Jeff was not out on track..A suspension component had broken. His team was working hard and were going to have to car ready.
Who needs tires anyway? The infield section was a tad narrow and putting a wheel off often meant you tire was not going to stay where it should. It didnt seem to bother Max Lemoine as he finished out the course with only 3 tires on his truck.
An other driver that I didnt see do to many practice laps was Marc Landreville. It seemed his car was still having little issues.
Practice was ending so it gave me time to head into the paddocks take a break and eat before the qualifications began.
Gotta say thanks to Dave Briggs’s team for the Mr Freese..it was uber hot out.
I headed back out track side for the qualifications. Fellow awesome photographer Antoine De Cardaillac sun screens up! He knew the qualifications were going to be hot..lol
Getting the number one qualification spot was Dave Briggs with a smokey fast run.
Not far behind was Tom Tom getting the second qual position.
Kevin Morin locked in the 3rd qualification position.
Alex Michaud got forth.
Despite the best efforts of his team Pat Cyrs FRS was still down on power and he was not able to make a clean pass ending his weekend.
Both Mike Pollard and Seb Grandmaison failled to qualify due to mechanical problems. Mike Pollards engine actually locked up on him right after initiating.
When the announcer called Marc Landrevilles name for his pass and I didn’t hear his usual anti lag sound I knew something was up. Turns out his car was still having problems so the team borrowed Silvio Santos’s car in order to qualify. Having never driven the car before Marc was still able to get himself into the 7th spot.
The next morning as most teams were getting ready for the main event Max Lemoine did some cardio.
Top 16 practice was going great.. The drivers were really starting to turn it up.
Francis Tasse and Phil Bruyere making a nice smoke trail.
No idea how Bob Patinka was able to see..Yes.Look closely he is in the photo too!
Local pilote got a nice view of the action.
During the break before the main event it was a good time for drivers to relax and get in the zone!
Free Old Dutch chips!..awesome sponsor!
The crowd started to fill in.
Eric Paradis failed to qualify but he went out and did a little demo as the Top 16 was getting set up on the pre grid.
The owner of the race track decided he didn’t need a back tire on his Harley.
First battle of top 16 saw Dave Briggs face David Roy – Briggs took the win.
Next battle was epic as it saw two front runners facing each other early in the event. Jeff Laflamme VS Francis Tasse.
The battle was close and had to go to a OMT and in the end Jeff was awarded the win.
Bob Patinka VS Vincent Theberge. Both drivers put down a solide run but Vincent had a few errors giving the win to Bob.
Alex Michaud faced Claude Poirier. Good battle and there was even contact between the two cars but it was deemed to be Claudes fault moving Alex on to the Great 8.
Claudes son Max faced Tom Tom. Max has improved a lot coming into this season.
But he pushed a bit too hard and went off.. Tom Tom moved on.
Marc Landreville faced Joe Thiffault.
Joe went off on his chase run giving the win to Marc.
Paco VS Kevin Morin. Super good battle.. Kevin Morin gets the win.
Last battle of top 16 saw Phil Bruyere did not have it easy facing Max Lemoine.He put up a solid fight but Max was still able to edge out the win.
After having a hard battle in Top 16 Jeff Laflamme didn’t have it easy again going into Great 8 facing Dave Briggs. This was one of the most epic battles of the entire event.
So much so that it went to 2 OMT’s and in the end Dave Briggs got the win.
Bob Patinka VS Alex Michaud – Alex drove solid and got the win.
Marc Landreville faced Tom Tom. Marc got the win.
But the car had to be towed off track.
Max Lemoine VS Kevin Morin. I was very impressed with Kevins driving but Max was just on point and got the win to move on to the Final 4.
Dave Briggs got the win over Alex Michaud to head into battle for the top Podium spot.
Max was set to face Marc Landreville but it turns out that the car Marc was using suffered a mechanical failure giving Max the win and sending him straight to battle for the number one spot. It also meant that Alex Michaud would automatically get the 3rd spot on the podium.
Both drivers put on a great show.
The battle was very close to call.
Dave Briggs got the Win!
Its awesome to see how much emotion goes into this!
Max got his champagne bottle ready a bit to early and it was about to pop.
So he gave it to Race Director Dany ” Babu” Bernier” to hold while we did the official photos.
Final Standings came down to Dave Briggs. Max Lemoine. Alex Michaud and Marc Landreville.
With the group photo over it was time for the champagne. Max and Alex got Dave good.
DMCC Rd3 was a great event. Next round takes place at the famous Victoriaville track that has the jump! It will be an action packed event..I cannot wait.
Thanks
JAG