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Television Host And Driver Benoit Gagnon Returns To The Lombardi Honda Racing Team
The Lombardi Honda Racing Team will return to the Canadian Touring Car Championship this season, entering several cars and drivers. Today, the Montréal-based team confirmed the first of these drivers as Benoît Gagnon, the well-known Québec radio and television host, who will be making his return to motorsports after almost a five year absence.
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« I am very happy to be back in competition. Partly due to a lack of time and partly because the opportunity hasn’t presented itself, I have had to put it on the backburner for a while but a door has now opened for me for the 2013 season with a Lombardi Honda Racing Team B-Spec Honda Fit » indicates Benoît Gagnon, who is currently on air with V-Télé and NRJ radio.
Barring any work conflicts, Benoît will contest all rounds of the 2013 Canadian Touring Car Championship, a series that gains in popularity every year and will once again be part of Montréal’s F1 Grand Prix du Canada and the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. « It will be quite a challenge because competition in this series is very strong. The B-Spec class was created last year and the Honda Fits battled for the victory at every round. My goal will be to do the best possible but I’d be lying if I said that I don’t want to be on the podium » mentions Benoît.
Multi-time champion in the Honda/Michelin series and in the 2009 and 2010 Canadian Touring Car Championship (Super Touring class), the Lombardi Honda Racing Team expects to shine on the track once again this season. Getting re-integrated into this team is the key to Benoît Gagnon’s return: « I am very fortunate and honoured that my return is with Tony Lombardi and Benjamin Distaulo’s team. It’s a great team and I had a lot of fun driving for them back in the days of the Honda/Michelin series. To be honest, I had offers from different teams to make my comeback in motorsports earlier but I wanted to stay loyal to the Lombardi Honda Racing Team. They gave me my chance in this sport and I wanted to drive solely for them » he concludes.
For team owner Tony Lombardi, Benoît Gagnon’s return to competition is phase one of his plans for the 2013 team: « it’s fantastic to have Benoît back with us and in the Canadian Touring Car Championship! Confirmation of the remaining team drivers will be officially announced in the coming weeks » he declares.
The 2013 Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) season will kick off in Ontario, at Mosport on May 18th. On June 8th and 9th, the CTCC drivers will find themselves at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, as part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada. This will be followed by rounds at the circuit ICAR in Mirabel (July 6th and 7th), the Circuit Mont-Tremblant (July 27th and 28th), the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (August 8th and 9th), back at Mosport (as part of the NASCAR Camping World series on September 1st), and at the Calabogie Motorsports Park, near Ottawa, on September 7th and 8th, for a total of 14 races over seven weekends.
PaddockTalk Perspective
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