Bolduc: “Awesome” to Win World Finals Title After Near-Miss

Rocky T Bolduc said it was “awesome” to bounce back from the disappointment of narrowly missing out on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America LB Cup title by taking the World Final crown after an “intense” Monza showdown.

Topp Racing driver Bolduc arrived in Italy in the lead of the LB Cup standings but suffered car woes in both of the North American races at Monza, which enabled TB Autosports pilot Philippe Touchette to take the class championship instead.

But Bolduc told Sportscar365 after the brake and driveshaft problems he encountered that “maybe life didn’t want us to win this championship, maybe they want us to be world champions,” and so it proved to be the case.

He won the LB Cup in the opening World Finals contest and second in Race 2 was enough for him to still leave Monza as a champion.

“North America is awesome but I’d rather be a world champion if I had to pick one,” said Bolduc.

“It means the world as my family’s here. Corey Lewis (driver coach and 2015 Pro-Am World Finals conqueror) is by my side and moulding me and two years ago I was only a street driver.

“To take a street driver and putting all the racecraft into it, two years later to be a world champion it shows, if you set your mind to it, you can win anything.”

However, Bolduc’s path to title glory was far from straightforward as, despite starting the second race from pole, the destiny of the title was unclear in the first half of the race as Bolduc slipped down the order and key rival, Scuderia Villorba Corse driver Claude-Yves Gosselin, was in the ascendancy.

“We started P1, all we had to do was hold it but it was stronger than what I could do,” Bolduc admitted.

“Everybody was just so fast and gave it all they had, we gave it all we had but the pace of the race (was strong).

“Before it clicked, we were eight laps in and went from P1 to P2, to P3, to P4 and right outside the pits it just clicked.”

Bolduc’s upturn in performance coincided with Gosselin being spun by Touchette, while Philip Tang — who had been leading the class in the race — went off at the first chicane after contact with Petar Matic.

Suddenly Bolduc’s position was looking much more secure and he even challenged eventual Race 2 LB Cup victor Christopher Koebbe on the final lap.

“We were a second faster than the leading car and we kept catching and catching,” he added.

“The safety car came out and all I needed was one more lap. I tried to get P1 out of Parabolica and it was just so intense and our rear ends were sliding, we had no grip and we wanted a drag race to the finish but he got me by a car’s length.”

Having enjoyed such a strong sophomore season, Bolduc’s thoughts have already turned to next year, when he acknowledged he would unlikely to be eligible for the LB Cup division again.

“In November we have our family meeting,” he explained. “Last night the kids saw the new Temerario (being introduced into Super Trofeo next year) and saw the schedule so I think they’re excited.

“Every year it’s a family affair so they’re going to decide what we do next year, we have a couple of options.

“The kids want to get into go-karting next year and the go-kart schedule doesn’t overlap with the Temerario schedule so hopefully we can do both.”