Didier Schraenen started his motorsports career in two-wheel competition, before moving to four-wheel vehicles and working as a broadcaster. He raced in regional Quebec motocross events starting in 1975, before moving to the Honda Michelin Series in 1988. Three seasons in the tour were followed by a two-year stint in the Player’s/GM Series, from 1991 to 1992.

Schraenen joined the Quebec-based F1600 Canada series in 1993, starting a decades-long tenure that continues to this day. He’s raced in more than 300 events over 31 years, winning championships in 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2009. He’s the all-time podium record holder at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with 15, and has 20 podiums in the prestigious Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières street race.

For nearly as long as Schraenen has raced, he’s been involved in the media side of the sport. He started as a radio host in Ste-Agathe, QC in 1979 before moving to radio station Energie, where he did 250 motorsports reports per year and covered 30 years of Bike Week in Florida, reporting on Canadian racers.

Schraenen joined RDS as a TV commentator in 1992, serving as an analyst on 130 programs per year, ranging from snowmobiles and karting to NASCAR and IndyCar. He’s also held the role of pit reporter on RDS, using his experience behind-the-wheel to explain the nuances of the sport. In addition to RDS, he covered CART/IndyCar, Indy Lights and Formula Atlantic for the Player’s racing team, from 1993 to 2013, and has 25 years of experience as a writer for Pole Position magazine.