Mont Tremblant Diary: Jonathan Bomarito

About a 45 minute drive north of Montreal the scenery drastically starts changing into some of the most beautiful mountains and thick green forest you've ever seen. Arriving in the small ski resort of Mont Tremblant, the natural beauty instantly has your attention and you can't help but envision this magical place with snow covering the ground. Nestled in this spectacular setting is Le Circuit Mont Tremblant. With lush forest and vibrant green grass bordering the circuit and rolling elevation changes, Mont Tremblant is one of the finest all around racing venues in North America.

Unfortunately, just because you are in a beautiful place it doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to get the results you want on the track. The Mathiasen Motorsports team and I definitely seemed to struggle to find our pace and get to the top of the time charts. Trying to get that finely balanced setup in practice turned out to be a more difficult task than in previous races, and we were about 3/10's off the fastest time in 7th place. Without the Champ Car rubber laid down the track surface didn't have the grip and speed as in previous years.

As Qualifying came around, we thought that we were definitely making progress and tightening up the gap on the fastest times. However, the one variable that we had no control over definitely seemed ready to bite us. The weather! During the first 45 minute qualifying session it seemed there were only about three laps of actual dry track, and the key was to be out running on good tires to maximize a lap while you had the chance. For us, timing was everything and just as we were changing to new tires we missed the dry track window and wound up qualifying a heart breaking 13th. Still, all was not lost as we had another qualifying session to better our time. The rain gods however, were not going to let that happen as it was raining much more heavily in Q2 and the track conditions simply didn't allow anyone to better their earlier times. The only hope was to put the car on the pole for the session to guarantee yourself a front row start. We certainly tried hard to do that, but wound up a few positions short in fourth place for Q2 which meant I would really have my work cut out for me in the race starting deep in the field at 13th spot.

Le Circuit Mont Tremblant is an inherently difficult place to pass, so I knew that my start and the first couple of laps would make or break my race. As the lights went out for the start I got a good launch off the line and was able to pass three cars by the exit of the first chicane, and I got by a few more in the next couple of laps to run 7th. But once I caught the pack of cars of Hinchcliff, Summerton and Cameron it pretty much became a game of follow the leader as none of us could get close enough to make a move on the car in front. At the checkered flag, I crossed the line in 6th place which was certainly an improvement from starting in 13th, and I earned a bonus championship point for the most positions gained during the race.

While I was very disappointed with the overall finish for the weekend, there still was a sense of accomplishment by getting the most out of the tough situation we were put in. The City Centre airport circuit in Edmonton, Alberta is the next stop on our schedule, and as it's a double header on July 25 and 26 this will be the most important race weekend so far. If you are fast, having two races back to back can have a huge impact on the championship points race.

Finally, I want to wrap up this diary by thanking the Mathiasen Motorsports team for all of their hard work and dedication up to this point. It's a pleasure working with everyone.

Photo Credit: Augie Hermenegildo