Steve Côté makes promising debut at GP3R, with 9th place finish in NASCAR Canada

When you are competing in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières for the first time, especially in the NASCAR Canada series with 31 other drivers registered for a 60-lap race (or more) on the temporary 2.4 km street circuit, getting a Top 10 is quite an achievement. That is what Steve Côté accomplished, finishing in 9th position at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières yesterday at the end of an event peppered with incidents in NASCAR Canada.

Steve Côté, at the wheel of the No. 29 Evirum/BKFC car prepared by Allrem Racing, tamed the circuit as the laps went by. 28th in free practice, he had to start among the last for the race. “My goal was to learn the circuit. I had never driven there before, and since we cannot do any testing on this track beforehand, I had to take advantage of the Saturday noon session. Unfortunately, we already had engine problems at that point,” explained Côté.

The team mechanics then had to change the engine. Côté therefore did not take part in the qualifying session while his teammates rushed to Mirabel to get a replacement engine. “I am proud of the team,” said Jonathan Côté, the team leader. “Everyone worked quickly and together to ensure that we could be back on track on Sunday,” he added. “

No driver wants to start from the back of the pack, especially in an event where 31 cars are competing on such a tight circuit. On the other hand, we had a good strategy, so I got to work and climbed the pack with the goal of finishing in the Top 10,” emphasized Steve Côté about the start of the race, which was approached from the last starting line.

Côté began his climb as soon as the green flag waved. In this action-packed race, but peppered with neutralisations, the driver of car No.29 took advantage of the restarts to gain positions. “I’m happy with my 9th position. It was a difficult but satisfying race. Everything came together at the end with the two neutralisations that were involved. We managed to get the Lucky Dog after two attempts. Everyone is happy!” he concluded about this first experience, which started badly but ended very well for the rookie driver in the series.