NICK WITTMER WINS THE HONDA / MICHELIN RACE FROM THE POLE AT THE GRAND PRIX OF TROIS-RIVIÈRES

Trois-Rivières, Québec (August 1, 2004) - Nick Wittmer of Hudson (QC)
won his first race of the season in Round Six of the Honda / Michelin
Series held Sunday at the 35th running of the Grand Prix of
Trois-Rivières. Starting from pole position, the Ste-Rose Honda
driver led all 18 laps of the event to cross the finish line with a
lead of 1.708-second over rookie Alex Penfold of Georgetown, Ontario.
Normand Boyer of Ste. Agathe finished third, six seconds behind the
winner.

Nick made it two Honda series' wins at the Grand Prix of
Trois-Rivières for the Wittmer family. Back in 1978, his father
Patrick, who is now the Honda de Sigi Team Manager, won the Honda
race ahead of Michel Desormeaux. ''I pushed as hard as I could all
the way through the race, staying as close as I could to the cement
walls and I won,'' said Nick. ''I wanted to put in as much distance
between me and Alex (Penfold) to reduce the tension. It worked
because he was never a threat. The car was perfect. All I had to do
was concentrate on my driving, brake at the right places and
accelerate at the right time. I'm very happy with the results.''

As for Penfold, he was confident before the start, but he also wanted
to make sure that he didn't damage the car during the race. ''We have
a big event coming up for our sponsors at Mosport next weekend, and
it was important to bring the car back in one piece,'' said the Pfaff
Leasing driver. When Steven (Laporte) showed up in my mirrors (on lap
2), I didn't even try to block him so I went a bit wide. But a few
laps later, series officials showed him the black flag and he had to
go into the pits. I was back in second place and it was clear
sailing. I could see Nick (Wittmer) pulling away, and there was no
way I could catch him. So, I concentrated on keeping my nose clean
until the end. This was basically supposed to be a learning
experience for us and I guess it was a good one.''

Normand Boyer was surprised to learn that he was still in the hunt
for the championship, only 14 points back of leader Didier Schraenen.
''You mean there are chances that I can still win this thing, said
the Lombardi Honda driver. It's good news. I was delayed in the
second corner of the race and I lost touch with the leaders. As
nobody was really fighting for the lead and wasting time doing so, I
was unable to reduce the gap. It's okay because we are going to
Mosport next weekend and it's my favorite track.'' Boyer won two
races at Mosport this season.

Frédérick Lelièvre from Mont-Joli (QC) finished fourth with his
Rimouski Automobile Honda Civic, one second back of Normand Boyer and
four ahead of Steven Laporte of St. Sauveur. Laporte held second
place from second to fifth lap, but was penalized with pit
drive-through for jumping the start of the race. The Team Lombardi
Honda driver came back in eighth place before climbing back to fifth.

Robert Boyer came in sixth, followed by fellow Quebec drivers Denis
Baillargeon and Didier Schraenen. Ryan Kelly (#36 KelCoatings) of
London, Ontario and rookie Jamie Holtom (#38 Control Microsystems) of
Ottawa round up the Top-10.

After six races, Didier Schraenen is still leading the standings with
134 points. The RDS driver picked up 18 points in Trois-Rivières. His
lead is reduced to five points over Steven Laporte who now shares
second place with Frédérick Lelièvre. Race winner Nick Wittmer moved
from 10th to fourth place in the standings with 121 points, tied with
Ryan Kelly. Second and third place podium finishers in
Trois-Rivières, Normand Boyer and Alex Penfold, are tied for sixth
with 119 points each.

Round 7 of the Honda / Michelin Series will be held next weekend at
Mosport International Raceway as part of the American LeMans Series
Toronto Grand Prix at Mosport.

The Series
The Honda / Michelin series is a 10-race series held over nine
weekends. Six races are contested in Ontario (Mosport & Shannonville)
and four in Québec (Montréal, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Eustache &
Mont-Tremblant).

The stock Honda Civic DX Coupes are equipped with Michelin Pilot
Sport Cup tires, and provide a truly low cost form of motor racing.
The series was re-introduced to encourage young drivers to enter the
sport, but it did not deter some veterans from returning to the
series. The single-make Championship Series gives drivers the
opportunity the showcase their talent in identical cars. The Honda /
Michelin Challenge Series reinforces the fun-to-drive aspects of the
Civic and will be further supported by its reputation for quality,
reliability and durability. The Honda Civic has been the top-selling
passenger car in Canada for the past six years.

The road racing series was originally launched in 1976 with the Honda
Civic hatchback.  During its 17-year run, the series has attracted
more than 400 racers.  Among the Canadian race drivers who have
competed in this series are Richard Spénard, Tony Morris, Frank
Allers, Marc Dancose and Jacques Villeneuve, brother of the late
Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve.

The series is sanctioned by ASN Canada FIA and sponsored by Honda
Canada Inc. The series is co-sponsored by Michelin North America
(Canada) Inc., Alpine, Bosal, CSC, Goodridge and NGK.