Bertrand Godin back on the track  

Race car driver Bertrand Godin is back in competition in the Canadian Formula 1600 series, in which he’s been participating full time since the season started. Tremblant Express met him this summer at Circuit Mont-Tremblant (racetrack), as he prepared to compete in a race at the wheel of his Mygale-Honda.

An unexpected return

Bertrand Godin, an experienced race driver and motorsport writer, had not been at the wheel of a single-seat vehicle since 1998. A little over a year ago, the driver was offered the opportunity – by Marcel Lafontaine, promoter of the F1600 Canada series – to get back behind the wheel.

“Why not?” he asked himself.  Bertrand, who works as an instructor at the École nationale de police du Québec, works out every day. He’s physically in shape. And as far as mental acuity is concerned, he practices every day on a simulator and that lets him sharpen his reflexes.

Eleven races, nine podiums and five first places

The driver has had numerous wins since he got back behind the wheel. Quickly, the Groupe À l’infini offered to support Bertrand as a sponsor. The following week, at the Trois-Rivières 2018 Grand Prix, Bertrand and his team took the pole position.

“I was in heaven,” Bertrand Godin confides. “When I was racing in the F1600 series, it was mainly in Europe for Mygale, which makes the car. For me, winning a race in North America, in a Mygale, 25 years later, was like having brought my French friends to Québec. It was very emotional,” he adds.

On the Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Bertrand was able to take the lead throughout the weekend of the Summer Classic. He took three podiums in as many races, ending up with two second places and one third.

A few days later, during the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières – where he enjoyed a much-anticipated return following last year’s win – he took first place as well as being on the podium three more times.

Living his dream… every moment

Bertrand Godin has always dreamed of car racing. He was only 10 years old in 1978 when Gilles Villeneuve won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Montreal. When the officials placed the checkered flag in the champion’s hands, Bertrand, in front of his TV, told himself that he would experience the same emotions one day.

“In 1997, in a Formula Atlantic, we won the race before a crowd of 70,000 on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. There were 39 cars on the starting grid,” he notes. “They came to give me the checkered flag and I re-remembered that little 10-year-old who dreamed of living this moment.”

“Even at 51, I feel like I’m 15 when I get into the car.” – Bertrand Godin

“Winning is important to me, but I don’t think about it anymore,” the driver explains. “It isn’t by thinking of winning that you win, but by enjoying every moment, which I do much more now than I did in the past,” he adds.

“You have to know how to appreciate every little moment, like the next turn or the fact of being attacked by a faster competitor.  It remains to be seen where life will lead me, but one thing’s for sure: I’m going to enjoy every opportunity that life throws my way,” he concludes.