MONT-TREMBLANT, Quebec — French rookie Franck Perera, driving the No. 11 CJ Motorsport machine, kept his streak of top-five finishes in the Cooper Tires presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda alive by taking his first series victory Sunday at Circuit Mont-Tremblant.
After starting from the pole, Perera made it look easy in leading every lap on his way to a 20.486-second victory over point-leader Raphael Matos. Perera became the third driver in the past four Atlantic events to earn his first triumph in the series.
The performance enabled the Condor Motorsports driver to move into third place in the overall standings and also take over the lead in rookie-of-the-year points. With seven of 12 races completed, Perera remains the only driver in the series to have finished inside the top five in every event.
“It’s a lot of emotion for me,” the winner revealed. “It’s a long time that I needed that, and after my season last year. I want to thank CJ for giving me a chance to race in America and to continue my dream of racing [. . .]. I also want to thank my family. For the first time in a long time, they’re here.”
Despite running out of fuel coming off the final turn on the last lap, Matos picked up his fifth top-two result of the season. James Hinchcliffe, Matos’s Sierra Sierra Enterprises teammate, completed the podium. Matos now leads Hinchcliffe by 33 points, 201-168, with Perera just two points behind Hinchcliffe in third.
The race was slowed by full-course caution only once when Tom Sutherland slid off course and into the turn-14 gravel trap.
The finish:
Franck Perera, Raphael Matos, James Hinchcliffe, Jonathan Bomarito, Robert Wickens, Giacomo Ricci, Simona De Silvestro, Kevin Lacroix, J.R. Hildebrand, Matt Lee, John Edwards, Alan Sciuto, Ryan Lewis, Justin Sofio, David Garza, Adrian Carrio, Adrien Herberts, Mike Forest, Carl Skerlong, Brian Thienes, Frankie Muniz, Richard Heistand, Junior Strous, Tom Sutherland.