Trois-Rivieres: Round four preview

American Le Mans Series begins Canadian swing with Trois-Rivieres race BRASELTON, Ga. (July 29, 2003) -- The American Le Mans Series begins its annual "North of the Border" swing this weekend with its participation in the 35th running ...

American Le Mans Series begins Canadian swing with Trois-Rivieres race

BRASELTON, Ga. (July 29, 2003) -- The American Le Mans Series begins its annual "North of the Border" swing this weekend with its participation in the 35th running of Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres on the historic Quebec city's street racing circuit.

The two-race Canadian journey concludes Aug. 15-17 with the Grand Prix of Mosport at Mosport International Raceway near Toronto.

Trois-Rivieres, located along the St. Lawrence Seaway between Montreal and Quebec City, takes on a festival atmosphere with the annual Grand Prix, which the American Le Mans Series became part of in 2002. The 1.5-mile temporary street racing circuit is regarded by many drivers as one of the best of its kind in motorsports.

"It's a small, tight circuit, but there are lots of places for passing and racing," said Ron Fellows, a Toronto resident who has competed many times at Trois-Rivieres and enters the event after having won the GTS class in last weekend's ALMS race at Sonoma, Calif., in the factory Corvette with co-driver Johnny O'Connell.

"It's a great event because the French-Canadians love their racing, and especially they love road racing," said Fellows. "The fans at Trois-Rivieres are always so knowledgeable and there are always lots of them. That event has been a good event for a long time and it just goes like clockwork."

In addition to the featured three-hour American Le Mans Series race on Sunday, the weekend will also include the Trans-Am Series for the BFGoodrich Tires Cup, the CART Toyota Atlantic Series and several Canadian-based racing series.

The four classes of American Le Mans Series cars will be on the track for two hours of testing from 11:35 a.m. until 1:35 p.m. on Friday, with official practice set for Saturday. Qualifying is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Saturday with the race to begin at 2:45 p.m. Sunday.

The race will be televised live in North America by the SPEED Channel and the broadcast by the American Le Mans Series Radio Web can be heard online at www.americanlemans.com. Event ticket information is available online at www.gptr.qc.ca or by calling (819) 373-9912.