Bessette : exciting race rewarded with 4th place

By Michel Poirier-Defoy, Équipe Bessette Racing

Denver Grand Prix, Colorado, August 14 : Antoine Bessette drove his #3 Unik Auto Design car to fourth place in the Grand Prix of Denver Toyota Atlantic round and climbed back in fourth place in the season standings, only two points away from third place. His final position does not indicate the kind of race he had and how deserving it was for him to complete this race. After he got out of his car, Antoine was very happy with this result.

“This race was so filled with action it has to be one of the best I drove in my career, claimed the Polestar driver who started in 6th place. In the first turn, I was hit by Katherine (Legge) my teammate and I thought my day was over. I realized my car was running well by I was way down in 8 or 9th place. So I got to work and reeled in a few cars before I got to the leaders. I passed (Alan) Sciuto for fourth and was after (Charles) Zwolsman. My car was faster and we passed one another four times on the same lap, until I was too slow out of a corner and Sciuto passed me again when we ran into some backmarkers. I finally earned fourth when Tonis (Kasemets) spun on the last lap. It was so exciting to race with those guys. In on of those laps, I got the second best time of the day.”

6th in qualifying
AB had his share of trouble getting in a decent time in qualifying. “Friday, my car had a lot of understeer and working around the concrete patches in the corners was not easy. With the traffic on the track and some slow cars, I felt sixth place was the best I could get out of my car.

On the second qualification, Saturday, the track was damp and the times were too slow. We tried new tires at the end of the session, but the asphalt was too cold. Then, Kasemets spun in front of me and that was the end of the session.”

Next round in Road America next weekend
The Toyota Atlantic series will move north to Wisconsin for the next round of the championship next weekend at Road America, a track Antoine Bessette longs to race. He is now fourth in the season standings with 224 points, two points from third spot. He is the only Canadian to enter the 12-race series of the 2005 Toyota Atlantic championship. He will drive the #3 Unik Auto Design car from Polestar Racing Group.

You may visit Antoine Bessette's web site at http://www.bessetteracing.com/ and the series at http://www.toyotaatlantic.com/.