June 11, 2007

A bet that didn't work

Well placed on the starting grid in Portland, Kevin Lacroix was taking the start from the seventh place for the first race of this weekend's double header. The rain stopped 30 minutes before the start of the race. The Brooks Associates Racing Team decided to put scrubbed rain tires, which are made of a harder compound and have better grip when the track dries, rather than dry tires. However, this strategy played against them since heavy rain fell immediately before the start.

Putting scrubbed tires was a risky gamble, but it would have been a great one if rain hadn't start falling. Unfortunately, the rain ruined every chances Kevin had to be competitive during this race. The Quebec driver had to deal with a very unstable car.

Kevin tried to keep up with the field from the first corner, but the lack of grip on his car caused him to spin, luckily, he didn't hit anyone. He was then 21st. In spite of a very unstable car, Kevin started to gain places and ended up 15th at the checkered flag.

"It's the first time I'm so slow in the rain, said Kevin who was obviously very disappointed. I was really quick in the fast corners, I clocked the third fastest time, but I was losing a lot of ground as soon as I got to the slower corners."

Kevin will get his second chance come Sunday when he takes the start on the first row beside James Hinchcliffe.

Robert Wickens, who made a great pass on James Hinchcliffe, the other Canadian, to take the lead he kept to the checkered. In spite of difficult conditions, the full course yellow was deployed only once and the drivers showed great control in these conditions.

Yvan Provencher
For OnRoule.ca
Translation: Geneviève Tellier