ProLon - Hot Start for Jean-Philippe Bergeron at New Smyrna Speedway
New Smyrna, January 4, 2021—Jean-Philippe Bergeron made his first laps of the year on American soil this weekend as part of the Red Eye 50/50 at the New Smyrna Raceway in Florida. The driver from Saint-Donat, Lanaudière, ran in a Pro Late Model car owned by Race Cars Solutions (RCS). “From the moment I put my foot on the gas, I knew right away that we were a long way from the Late Model vehicle that I am used to driving in Quebec. The Pro Late Models are very fast. Luckily, the car behaved well and was stable.” — says Jean-Philippe Bergeron. Indeed, the #51 Pro Late Model car that was provided to him for the weekend was nothing like the Late Model or ACT cars that Jean-Philippe had driven before. A Pro Late Model car develops more than 500 hp. On the ½ mile circuit of the New Smyrna Speedway, the driver was able to reach top speeds of almost 130 mph. From his first practice laps, Jean-Philippe clocked times of around 18 sec. 60/100, 0.20 sec. slower than the leaders (including former NASCAR champion Mike Skinner). On Friday evening, during the official practice sessions, car #51 presented bearing problems on the right front wheel. The RCS team immediately took the necessary steps to fix the problem and allow Jean-Philippe to get back on track quickly.
During qualifying, Jean-Philippe obtained the 8th starting position with a time of 0:18,549, a difference of 0:0.364 with the pole position held by #3 Will Cox. The 50 laps were run at lightning speed without a single yellow flag. Jean-Philippe managed three passes that allowed him to finish in 5th position, three positions behind RCS star driver Mike Skinner who finished on the second step of the podium. “We set a top 5 as our goal, we got it!” said Martin D’Anjou, President of Festidrag Development. Jean-Philippe is now part of the Festidrag Development team and will benefit from full support in terms of communications and sponsorship research.
““The weekend that just ended was very constructive for me. I quickly familiarized myself with the car. I learned how to work with the RCS team, as well as my spotter Mike Lina. Communications are good, which bodes well for the World Series of Asphalt week!””
He also had the benefit of sound advice all weekend from Mario Gosselin, owner of DGM Racing (the team in which Quebec driver Alex Labbé competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series). “When Martin D’Anjou offered me a ride to New Smyrna to meet Jean-Philippe and his parents, I immediately accepted. It’s always nice to see young French Canadian competing in our sport in the United States. Jean-Philippe had a great adaptation to do, and despite that, the youngster did a very good job!” says the man who no longer counts the number of starts in the biggest American stock car series.
The driver from Lanaudière will be back on the track at the same location and with the same team at one of the most important stockcar events of the year, the 55th World Series of Asphalt, which will be held from February 4 to 13. Jean-Philippe will then compete in a series of 8 races in 10 days.
About Race Car Solutions
Race Car Solutions is a reputable racing team with state-of-the-art cars that specializes in driver development, track and shop services, manufacturing and car rentals. The owner, Jamie Skinner, himself a professional race driver, competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the age of 19, and then went on to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity series. He is the son of NASCAR champion Mike Skinner. The RCS team is well-known for winning numerous podium finishes each year at the World Series of Asphalt in New Smyrna, Florida.
About Jean-Philippe Bergeron
Jean-Philippe Bergeron made his first laps in a kart at the age of 13. In 2015, he participated for the first time in the Cup Lites series on the ICar road circuit where he was crowned Rookie of the Year. Thus began a promising career for the Quebec native. In 2017, he will experience an LMS car in the ACT series with the support of Mr. Claude Leclerc. That’s all it would take to convince the driver to purchase his own LMS car to race in the CSCC series one year later. Once again, Bergeron finished with the title of Rookie of the Year. In 2019, Marc Bergeron (Jean-Philippe’s father) and Martin Perreault founded Prolon Racing Team. Surrounded by enthusiasts such as Denis Valiquette, Alain Fortier, Michel Patry, and Richard Forget as team leader, Jean-Philippe started the 2020 season with an all-new car entirely rebuilt with a chassis updated by renowned manufacturer Dale Shaw. Despite the shortened season due to the COVID-19 events, Bergeron still accumulated three podium finishes, including one on the top step to end the season on a high note at Autodrome Montmagny.
Calendar 2021
Jean-Philippe will take part in the LMS championships at Autodrome Chaudière de Vallée-Jonction and Autodrome Montmagny which will begin on May 15 and 22 respectively, both in the province of Quebec, Canada. For these two championships, he is aiming for nothing less than the title! “All the ingredients are in place to have a good season. If you add to that luck, there’s no reason not to finish in the top,” concludes Jean-Philippe Bergeron. The team would also like to thank its valued partners who, through their loyal support, made this 2021 season possible: JCPerreault, Technoflex, Prolon, NeuroVision, CTSR, Hamel Honda, Rousseau Metal, Silverwax, Hipertech, VP Racing Fuels / DL Performance, Groupe GBI, Globocam, Permatex and Festidrag.TV.
Fans can follow Jean-Philippe Bergeron throughout the 2021 season on Festidrag.TV at www.facebook.com/festidrag, on YouTube www.youtube.com/c/FestidragTV and on TéléMag. You can also follow the activities of Jean-Philippe and the Prolon Racing team on Facebook www.facebook.com/JPBRacing18, on Instagram @jpbergeron18 as well as on the website www.prolonracing.com.
Next races :
What ? World Series of Asphalt
When ? February 4-13, 2021
Where? New Smyrna Speedway, Florida
Information :
Martin D’Anjou
Festidrag Development
418-732-4263 | mdanjou@festidrag.com