NORMAND BOYER WINS THE HONDA / MICHELIN BATTLE OF MONT-TREMBLANT

Mont-Tremblant, Québec (September 26, 2004) - Starting third on the
grid, Normand Boyer of Ste. Agathe, Que., took the lead on lap 1 of
15 to win Round 9 of the Honda/Michelin Challenge Series held Sunday
at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant. The Team Lombardi Honda driver won his
third race of the season - his first since Round 3 at Mosport on June
30. Alex Penfold finished second to earn his fourth podium of the
season. The Georgetown, Ont., rookie took over second place on lap 4,
passing polesitter Didier Schraenen of Mont St. Hilaire, who went on
to finish third. Penfold pursued Normand Boyer in vain, looking for a
mistake, but the veteran never put a wheel off, crossing  the finish
line two-tenths of a second ahead.

With the two front-runners well ahead of the pack, the real battle
was for third place in the Fall Classic, with four drivers trading
for position. Penfold was third on lap 1; Kuno Wittmer replaced him
on lap 2; then it was Didier Schraenen on lap 4. Points leader Steven
Laporte moved into third on lap 6 before being supplanted by Wittmer
again on lap 11. Schraenen finally took third place back from lap 13
to the checkered flag, finishing 11 seconds behind the winner.

Only one second separated third from seventh place. Kuno Wittmer of
Hudson, Que., finished fourth ahead of Steven Laporte of St. Sauveur,
brother Nick Wittmer and Robert Boyer of Ste. Anne-des-Lacs.
Montrealer Denis Baillargeon finished eighth followed by rookie
Emmanuel Boivin-Moreau of Longueuil, Que., and Jeff Pabst of
Schomberg, Ont.

Boyer was happy to finally get back into the winner's circle. ''It
was a good race for Team Lombardi,'' said the three-time series
champion, who had started third. ''My race strategy was to wait and
see what would happen at the front, but I was already into second
place coming out of the first corner. Then I drafted Didier
(Schraenen) on the long straight and took over first place. On the
last lap, (Alex) Penfold almost pushed me off the track, so when we
came into the last corner, I did not give him any room to try any
move on me. The Lombardi team put used Michelin tires on the car for
the race and they held well until nearly the end of the race. If we
had put new ones on, no way would Penfold been able to challenge me
at the end. All in all, it was a good race.''

As for Penfold, he had a bumpy ride as he made his way from sixth to
second in four laps. '' We had a great race,'' said the rookie
driver. ''On lap four, I out-braked two cars at the end of the back
straight to take over second place. After that, I pushed real hard to
catch Normand (Boyer), but then the syncromesh gears became
capricious and I had trouble shifting. That's why I was unable to
keep a steady gap behind Normand. At the end I had a good draft, but
I could not catch him. The Pfaff Leasing Honda was terrific and well
balanced, and the Michelin tires were amazing. I'm very happy about
the outcome of the race.''

Third place finisher Didier Schraenen was a bit frustrated coming out
of his Énergie/NAPA/RDS Honda Civic after the race. '' I have nothing
against drivers fighting for positions, but I fell as low as sixth
place with drivers trying to push me off the track on every lap,''
said the race polesitter. '' Of all the cars that passed me, only
Normand (Boyer) made a clean pass on me. But I fought back to third
place and kept it until the end.''

After nine races, Steven Laporte still leads the championship with
204 points, but his lead is down to three points over Didier
Schraenen. With the win, Normand Boyer moves from fifth to third
place overall with 197 points, two points ahead of Nick Wittmer.
Fifth place belongs to Kuno Wittmer with 180 points, followed by Alex
Penfold with 175.

The 2004 Honda/Michelin Series champion will be crowned at the
conclusion of the final round of the season held October 3 at Mosport
International Raceway.

The Series
The Honda / Michelin Challenge Series is a ten-race series held over
nine weekends. Six of the races are contested in Ontario (Mosport &
Shannonville), with the balance 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 has also attracted several veterans. The single-make
Championship Series gives drivers the opportunity to showcase their
talents in identical cars. The Honda/Michelin Challenge Series
reinforces the fun-to-drive aspects of the Civic, the top-selling
passenger car in Canada for the past six years, and will be further
supported by its reputation for quality, reliability and durability.

The road racing series was originally launched in 1976 with the Honda
Civic Hatchback.  During its 17-year run, the series attracted more
than 400 racers, including Richard Spénard, Tony Morris, Frank
Allers, Marc Dancose and Jacques Villeneuve, brother of the late
Formula 1 driver Gilles Villeneuve.

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