Raphaël Lessard finishes 8th at Governor’s Cup in Florida
Teenage sensation, Raphaël Lessard enjoyed a strong running in the 52nd Edition of the Governor’s Cup for Super Late Models on Sunday at New Smyrna Speedway, Florida.
Raphael Lessard
David Gilliland Racing
The young Canadian racer qualified his David Gilliland Racing FRL Express/Toyota-TRD/JBL Audio Toyota in seventh place but got stuck in traffic moments after the green, resulting in a loss of several places.
Strangely, the car did not behave to his liking. “Let’s just say that our start did not leave us in a good position for the rest of the race,” said Lessard. “The car was not up to my taste and I had a hard time finding a good racing line. I tried the exterior of the oval, then the middle, and then the bottom of the track but nothing was working.”
A full course caution came on Lap 119 for what is called a 'competition caution' during which drivers could come down pit row. Lessard’s crew changed all four tires, put fuel in the tank and made some adjustments. After this stop, only one other caution flag came out.
Unfortunately, the adjustments didn’t solve totally the issues for Lessard who nevertheless was able to cross the line in 8th position at the end of the 200 laps. “I lost some positions at the restart, but an accident between competitors in front of me allowed me to gain a few spots. I did everything to gain as many places as I could during the remaining laps,” he added.
Ty Majeski, the winner of the previous two editions of the Governor’s Cup, made it three in row. Bubba Pollard finished second and Harrison Burton took third place.
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