Beaulieu St. Eustache report

LANGLEY, BC - July 4, 2001: Langley race driver Josh Beaulieu scored another convincing Canadian Formula Ford win in Sunday's Grand Prix of St. Eustache near Montreal, Quebec. After qualifying on the pole, his Dowco.com Vector-Ford racecar led all but the first 3 turns of the race, to finish 4.6 seconds ahead of Toronto's Mark Wilkins. It was the second victory of his rookie season, following his win at the Montreal Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend on June 9.

"It was probably the most physically demanding race I've had so far, as the track is quite bumpy and there are no long straights where you can relax," explained Beaulieu. "I didn't make the best start and Mark blew by me going into the first corner, but I managed to squeeze by him a couple turns later. The first half of the race he was right on my gearbox, making life very difficult! My car's balance was better than his towards the end of the race, and I was able to pull away a bit. Mauro and the team really worked hard all week - this win is for them."

Following the post-race technical inspection, series officials cited a technical irregularity in a component of Beaulieu's Ford engine, and subsequently disqualified him. Beaulieu's team, LM La Scuderia, has filed an appeal which will be reviewed by the sanctioning body of the series, ASN Canada FIA.

"The events following Sunday's race were very unexpected," said LM La Scuderia owner Mauro Lanaro. "I look forward to a positive outcome following the appeal. We are confident it will get sorted out after all of the details are reviewed."

Rounds five and six of the Canadian Formula Ford Championship will be held August 3-5 at the Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres. The entire 8-race series will be aired across Canada in the fall on CTV SportsNet.

Josh Beaulieu, in only his third year of auto racing, has established himself as part of the next generation of Canada's racing stars.

-www.joshbeaulieu.com.