Tomy Drissi, driving the No. 7 Sea of Monsters Prototype Challenge car, was three laps away from turning over a second place car to co-driver Rusty Mitchell when suddenly he was a passenger heading into turn one at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during Sunday’s American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix.

Tomy had already completed a pit stop for fuel and tires and was preparing to make a driver change for the final hour of the race. Reporting that the front end was a bit erratic in right hand turns, Tomy told the team he was going to stay out and hold onto second place as long as possible.

“The car was great. I’d been running in the top three all day and wasn’t about to get out of that car. With a few more laps, we could pit for fuel and put Rusty in to go the rest of the way. We were definitely on the podium.

“When the front end started feeling a bit skittish, I was suspicious of maybe having some rubber build up that might have been rubbing, then shifting as I would turn in. It was odd… but didn’t feel drastic or unmanageable.

“I came down the front stretch, set up to take the downhill right hand turn into one and heard a rather loud ‘clunk’ … then the front end shifted… but this time it didn’t come back. As I hit the runoff, I thought I could get it back, but there was nothing there. I was heading for the tire wall. Fortunately, I had a bit of an angle at impact, but it was a pretty hard hit.

“I was actually trying to get the car re-fired… then I saw my wheel heading up into turn two. That’s when I knew the day… and a great run… was over.

“I really felt bad for the crew and my co-driver Rusty. We had a great run and it looked like today would be our day. I pride myself on bringing my co-driver a good car ready to go the distance. This was a big disappointment.”

The Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters livery was a big hit with the crowd and, as usual, Tomy had a great turn out from his Canadian fans.

The next race for the No. 7 car will be Round 6 of the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at the Orion Energy Systems 245 at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisc., August 11, 2013. The race is part of a doubleheader weekend with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

Source : Tomy Drissi