Pierre Has Up And Down Weekend At Watkins Glen
With Pierre Bourque planning on making his NASCAR Busch Series debut next month, the Canadian driver is trying to get as many laps under his belt as possible. And with his Busch Series debut hoping to come on the road course at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he’s trying to get in as much “road course” work as possible. That is why Bourque took advantage of running in the Grand-Am Koni Challenge this past weekend at the historic and picturesque Watkins Glen International road course in the Finger Lakes district of upstate NY.
However, gearbox problems hampered the weekend results. Bourque finished 31st in class and 47th overall in the #42 Driving.Ca/Canada.Com/Working.Com/Dose.Ca Porsche.
“This weekend's results were a bit more mixed for us,” said Bourque, who ran the event for TRG, the same group he raced with at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this year. “The one thing I can say about this weekend is it gave me a chance to gain a lot of track time and valuable experience that will be extremely useful when I am back here with NASCAR in a month's time. The other thing it afforded me was the bittersweet appreciation for the mechanical component of a racing activity. Sometimes even the great cars and teams are stymied by mundane nuts and bolts issues.”
Bourque was strong car right out of the gate on Thursday, clocking in at third fastest of 60 cars during the first practice. But as the session progressed, a nagging gearshift problem appeared and began to persist to the extent that shifting into fourth gear was becoming a problem. While the shifter on the Porsche is a six-speed H-pattern, the primary issue at The Glen is that fourth gear is a critical component needed to go fast.
“We thought we had the problem solved in time for the short 15 minute qualifying session on Friday, but to no avail,” added Bourque. “So we only managed to salvage a 36th qualifying place. And so the TRG mechanics and engineers set to work trying to root out the problem, something that kept them busy into the evening.
“As start time approached, I went over final details with my crew chief and my co-driver. I would take the start and run until the mid-way point, the primary goal being to salvage the car, make as many clean passes as possible, and above all, stay on the lead lap for
the driver changeover. And so I took the green flag for the start of the race, and as soon as I accelerated through the gears; first to second, second to third, and third to... whoops… no fourth. We were in for an awful long afternoon.
“We made two pit stops under yellow caution flags, allowing the pit crew to try and fix the problem on the fly, but to no avail. Still, at the end of my 90-minute stint, I had managed to keep the car clean, pass a few cars, and stay on the lead lap.”
