August 16, 2010   (Francais)

Hello everyone,

Phew! I just had my first taste of stock car racing in the streets of Trois-Rivieres at the prestigious Grand Prix. Being born in nearby Sorel, it was really great to race in front of the members of my family, my friends and my fans.

It was my first race in the NASCAR Canadian Tire series. I was driving the No. 10 Dodge sponsored by the Dodge dealers of Quebec. From the first laps on the twisty street circuit, I saw how the handling and the raw power of the Dodge were enormously different from the light, fragile but nimble formula cars I am used to!

Practice went okay. I spent the time getting to grips with the car and learning the corners. Things got a little more complicated in qualifying as a faulty spark plug wire caused the engine to run on just 7 cylinders instead of 8. I also encountered traffic on my quick lap and I had to be content with 27th place on the grid. I must admit I was a bit disappointed. But I knew I was to be a long race with several yellows.

It was a great experience. I learned so many things in just one race! I believe that without the two pit stops during the race, we might have been able to achieve a top 10 finish.

We found a great set up, good speed and my team did a great job, and the car felt great.

I pushed hard after the green to gain a few spots. Unfortunately, after just a few laps, the same spark plug problems reappeared. I'm glad I was able to detect it quickly. We pitted under the green, got it fixed but that put me back at the back of the pack. I lost the position I gained prior to the pit stop…

I went through a lot of action during the race and I loved it!

I then came up to pass a slower car for position. That guy blocked me for an entire lap! I was faster but could not get by him! In a formula race, the officials would have flagged and penalized a driver like that.

Going into a corner, he over braked. I got bumped little and I bumped him, bending my front hood. I could not see where I was going for the rest of the lap! Unfortunately, no caution came out and I was forced to pit under the green for quick repairs.

I was happy that we won the VTECH Award given to the driver that logs the highest race finish after the free pass. Of course, I was upset on lap 38 when a competitor bumped me, causing me to spin and losing my free pass. That was a shame because I left him plenty of room to drive around me. But I'm getting to know every competitor and it’s part of racing a new series.

I eventually finished the race in 19th position. It was really great! I truly enjoyed myself and like I said, I learned a lot. After 43 laps of hard physical driving, I must admit I didn’t want to stop! It found the race was too short! I believe my hard physical training with Simon Hayes at Performance Physixx during the last six months definitely helped me immensely.

Now I have a lot of confidence going to Montreal. I broke the ice and took Trois-Rivieres as a great warm up. Let’s go racing!

See you in Montreal for my next race in the No. 10 Dodge!

March 23, 2007

Hello Fans,

I hope you are as much excited as I am about the new racing season. I created a diary page to keep you updated on my latest news. I apologize for not having answered all your questions lately. For that reason, I will be putting some of your questions on my diary page. So don't be shy to ask me whatever you are curious to know.

Here are some details about my last races at Infineon Raceway in February. It was a big weekend for me at Infineon Raceway, competing in the Pro Mazda series. I knew they were going to be though races, because all those guys have been testing and lapping this technical track for more than 100 times.

In comparison, I'd never drove the track aboard the Pro Mazda car. I had
just one day of testing this past winter, so that put a lot of pressure on myself to try to have a good race and absorb a lot of information quickly.

On Friday, we started the weekend by making some adjustments to the car such as fitting me snugly, adjusting the seat, the pedals and the steering wheel. Despite the team's efforts, the pedals and the steering wheel remained a little to far away for me but I had to be content with it.

Originally, we were supposed to test the week before the race but the weather was really bad, so we forced to cancel it.

Saturday's race started out hectically...
Just before the start of the race, we faced some issues with the throttle. The spring throttle came off twice during practice and qualification and unfortunately, the throttle cable broke during the warm lap of the first race. That ended up my day quickly. :(

On Sunday morning, I messed up my qualification run when I spun. I had to go back to the pits to have the car checked and that put an end to my qualification attempt. I may have put too much pressure on my shoulders and tried to rush things a little too much, but I guess it comes down to getting more experience.

I was really nervous for the start of the race. I knew I only had a few laps of practice while those experienced guys were really ready. Eventually, I felt good. My concentration was good and I was finally focused on driving well despite the difficulties. I had a clean start. My lap times were good and consistent, still trying to figure out the quick way around this difficult racetrack.

But I put all this behind me and I drove as hard as I could. During the entire race, there were no places for making mistakes. One competitor I had passed on the first lap remained glued to my rear wing for the whole race. He was really consistent and wasn't doing any mistakes.

Since there were no corner cautions or yellow flags for the whole race, it
was really intense and Infineon Raceway is a really difficult track physically. I was glad to feel the efforts of my physical preparation.

On the last lap of the race, I made a driving mistake in corner 9A. My pursuer moved ahead of me in the hairpin corner, the last corner of the last lap. In my head, a voice shouted "There's NO WAY he's going to beat me on the last lap! After all that fighting, I don't want to end up after him".

I managed to pass him back on the inside. I got him on the line! It was a photo finish final. It was so intense! I loved every moment of it. I remember hearing in my headset

"Good job! I love your style" after that pass in the last corner.

I was happy! We had such a good battle between the two of us. I think we were the action of the race on "How those two will end up?" I though he was really kind. He came to me after the race to shake hands and he said, "You are a really consistent driver. Congratulation!" Respect. I finished the race in 8th place after having started 11th.

This was my weekend and I can't wait to go back in action. If only I could get just a few more days of testing before the next race, to work on myself and learn more about the feel of the car, then I could be at 100%. We all know that, but it's my thing, rushing.

Just like the Formula BMW races I did last year. I jumped in the car for the first time in Montreal during the weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix. I had not tested the new car the team had just purchased, fitted with my teammate's old engine. I wanted to do these races so badly. But on the first day of practice, I realised I rushed thing a little too much. I had no radio communication and unfortunately, a faulty throttle sensor made me lose 9 miles per hour in top speed during the whole weekend. We only discovered that on the following race...

And then, other problems appeared such as gearbox and electronic gremlins. It was all down to small details. But due to budgetary limitations, I wasn't able to test the car before the races. Testing would have allowed me to pinpoint mechanical and electronic problems and find the limits of the car.

Thanks for reading.

Maryeve