The racing season in Canada is about to get underway! Racer Isabelle Tremblay, the only female driver to win the Enduro 200 at the Autodrome St. Eustach, is set to open her racing season of competition this Saturday May 21st at the Autodrome St. Eustache in the ANCA Sportsman Series. This year while Isabelle also competes in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and faces several date conflicts with the Sportsman Series, she seized the opportunity to offer her Sportsman ride to the winner of a driver competition and the lucky recipient has been chosen.
The first order of business in what will be a busy weekend of on track action for Isabelle Tremblay is her taking the green flag for event number one of the ANCA Sportsman Series at Autodrome St. Eustache. “I am super excited to begin the 2011 ANCA Sportsman Series competition this weekend” said Tremblay. “We finished 2010 season on a high note and the Isa Racing Team has worked super hard to prepare the car for me and I’m anxious to see some good finishes for us on the track. I’m confident we can achieve top-ten results this year” she added.
The competition between eight racers to act as a substitute driver for Isabelle Tremblay actually began a couple of weeks ago. The drivers were put through a class room session and briefing. They were of course given time behind the wheel of Isa Racing Team Sportsman Series Car and were judged on how they worked with the team and the crew along with their skills in dealing with the media. Heading up the judging committee was former Formula Atlantic racing star Bertrand Godin.
After a very long and strenuous deliberation between all of the judges Isabelle Tremblay announced the winner. “This was a very difficult choice for all of the judges to make” said Tremblay. “They are all very talented drivers and worked well with the team and showed great ability. But in the end, it was a driver with some extra experience who came out on top. I’m pleased to announce that Gerry Bergeron is the winner”!
By winning the difficult competition Bergeron is rewarded with a tremendous opportunity. At this weekend’s opening event for the Sportsman Series at the Autodrome St. Eustache, Bergeron will race alongside Isabelle Tremblay as her teammate in a car prepared by the Isa Racing Team. In addition, during the season when Tremblay is unable to race at Autodrome St. Eustache due to other commitments Bergeron will drive her car. “Having Gerry in the car is a good opportunity for him and it also allows the Isa Racing Team to gain Championship points while I’m away as the title is awarded to the car owner” explained Isabelle Tremblay.
There is also news from Isabelle Tremblay and her NASCAR Canadian Tire Series program. Tremblay was expecting to test her #07 ADF Diesel/Group Beton Brunet Ford with the Dave Jacombs Racing team at Mosport Speedway. However due to the threat of rain the team instead opted to focus on her test session this coming Monday, May 23rd at Circuit ICAR near Mirabel, Quebec. “With the weather concerns it didn’t make much sense to hope for some test laps” explain Tremblay. “Instead we know that we’ll be able to test at Circuit ICAR and I’ll be working with former Series Champion Andrew Ranger so I could not have asked for a better teacher. I know I will be able to learn quite a lot in that session” she added.
This kind of large-scale racing program schedule would not be possible without the impressive support of many partners for which Isabelle is extremely grateful. Isabelle Tremblay’s ANCA Sportsman Series efforts are backed by Insulation Ippersiel, Canadian Tire St. Jerome, La Pizzeria Etc and DB Imaging. The NASCAR Canadian Tire series program is made possible with support from Group Beton Brunet and ADF Diesel. Her Formula 1600 Tour receives backing from Furniture World Salotti.