Aylmer’s Marie-Soleil Labelle races at Trois-Rivière Grand-Prix and champions developmental language disorder awareness
Sophie Demers
Marie-Soleil Labelle, a local young race car driver, competed in the 2024 Trois-Rivière Grand-Prix that took place August 9 to 12. This event is one of the biggest in the sport in Quebec.
Competing in two races took a lot of preparation. “I train a lot on the cardio-muscular side. We prepare the cars, set them up for the weekend,” said Labelle. “I also hydrate myself, eat well and of course, I analyze the track and other racers’ driving.”
The young driver raced in two series. The first was the Nissan Sentra Cup which consists of 30 Nissan Sentras. During the second race, Labelle drove a modified Sportsman in the Chevrolet Urban Challenge. According to the young driver, the weekend brought about unexpected weather and flooding which affected the races. The testing that occurs before the races was disrupted for both series.
During the Saturday races, Labelle’s cars had some mechanical issues. “Saturday was a disappointing day, after running more than half the race in eleventh position, the right suspension of my Nissan Sentra broke, and I unfortunately had to stop. As for the Chevrolet Urban Challenge, the transmission lever on the Sportsman no. 27 broke during the warm-up lap. After three attempts to repair the transmission lever, my chief mechanic decided to stay in the pit because the car no longer had a second gear.”
Thankfully for the driver and her team, Sunday was a better day. With the cars fixed, Labelle started fifteenth and finished eleventh.
On top of her racing career, Labelle is a philanthropist and activist. Diagnosed with a developmental language disorder and dyslexia as a teenager, she has overcome many obstacles and now advocates for others. She is a spokesperson for the Quebec TDL Group, which gathers nine regional associations across Quebec working to raise awareness for developmental language disorders.
“I'd always told myself that “you can't understand,” “you're not going to succeed in life.” said Labelle “So, my message to people who have a disability, always stay resilient. It's not because you have a disability that you can't have dreams. Just persevere.”
In terms of philanthropy, Labelle is an ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She is currently raising money for the organization. She has previously raised $10,000 and accompanied a family to the Canadian F1 Grand Prix weekend. She is once again raising money with the goal of $20,000. Donations can be made on her website.
Labelle started racing in 2018. She is the Co-Founder and racing team leader of the Gilles-Villeneuve Racing Team. She is also a second-year student pursuing a bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa. To find out more about Marie-Soleil Labelle, visit her website: https://mariesoleillabelle.com/.
Photo caption: Jason A. Simmons (left), International Director, NASCAR Competition & Operations on Sunday August 11 with Marie-Soleil Labelle (right) before her race at the Grand Prix Trois-Rivières where she finished in 11th position.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Marie-Soleil Labelle
