Brilliant third last week on the Daytona road circuit, the young driver from Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce had to be content with the 19e rank at the 13e stage of the season presented at the Oval Track in Dover, Delaware.
Raphael Lessard
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Lessard conceded two laps to winner Zane Smith, who posted his second victory in 15 starts in NASCAR’s Third Major Division.
Under the new format for determining starting grid positions, Lessard had started from fifth place when the green flag was deployed.
In this time of pandemic, there are no free trial sessions or NASCAR qualifiers.
capricious vehicle
At the end of the first of the three segments, Lessard finished his run in ninth place, not without complaining, on the radio waves, of the capricious behavior of his car.
“It was very difficult to overtake opponents and even to resist those who were behind me, he explained, in an interview with The newspaper. I had no grip.
“I risked going off my racing line at any time. We have had a lot of trouble since the start of the year adjusting to the new tires, which are much harder.
“We are able to ride well when there is no traffic, but it’s the opposite when the peloton is regrouped. “
Changes … in vain
At its first stop, at 45e of the 200 laps of the race, his mechanics from the Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) team tried to remedy the problem, to no avail.
“We made big changes to improve the situation,” added the 19-year-old driver, “but, despite their efforts, my van was still just as unstable. It’s a race to forget. “
If at the start of the third segment, Lessard occupied the 10e instead, his hopes were quickly dashed when he found himself a lap behind the point guard.
A late penalty
Then, at his last refueling, under the green flag at 167e In turn, the commissioners imposed a penalty on him for not respecting the procedures at the entrance to the pits.
“I was not penalized for excessive speed in the pits,” said Lessard. There is a yellow square on the track at the exit of the fourth turn, and all four wheels must be on the inside before entering the pits. But I arrived too quickly, my tires were so hot.
“I was not able to go down far enough in the curve to respect the limits of the yellow square. “
To serve his penalty, Lessard had to make another stop in the supply pits. This explains why he finished two laps behind the winner.
Victory and nothing else
There are only three stages to go before the start of the playoffs for which only the top 10 in the cumulative standings will qualify.
Lessard currently occupies the 14e rank with a delay of 73 points on the holder of the 10e up, Todd Gilliland. Only a victory would secure him a place in this select group.
“My confidence is in no way affected,” Lessard says. We’re going to the Gateway circuit [dans l’Illinois] next week in order to win. We can do it. This is the first real short track that we will be visiting this year. I’ll give it my all. “
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