“The new car is quite a nice car but it’s taken a lot of work to get it there,” Wilson acknowledged. “Everyone’s been in the same position. They’ve had to spend a lot of time and a lot of money making it ready. By my thinking it was a bit of a false economy, but I’m not involved in the business side. I’m just a driver and we’re working on trying to get the setups better and nicer. We’re close to the weight limit now, but it’s just taken a lot of hard work to get this new car ready and up to speed.”
Despite his problems this year Wilson remains a true fan of the sport and a pure racer who’s a bit sceptical of many of the modern trappings of racing. Our conversation came to life when the talk turned to the subject of Mt. Tremblant, the great Quebec road course which has been rejuvenated by owner Lawrence Stroll. Champ Car brought a taste of big-time racing back to the track for the first time in almost thirty years this summer and Wilson loved the place.
“It’s a fantastic circuit, very quick and flowing with a lot of elevation changes,” he commented. “Inside the car, it’s like a roller-coaster. It’s cool. I enjoyed the track. It’s a good challenge and a lot of fun.”
Some drivers,
Sebastien Bourdais in particular, complained about the track’s safety shortcomings and the lack of run-off room at some of the track’s fastest points - but not Wilson.
“It bothered me a little when I first went out at the test,” Justin admitted. “But when we went back there for the race someone pointed out that it’s not much different from Elkhart Lake. Actually, there’s more run-off in places than there is at Elkhart. It gets your attention at first, but that seems to be the way most of the road courses are over here. There’s not a lot of run-off.”
