Club News: OGKC Race #5 Report

On Sunday, July 17th, Le Circuit Quyon hosted Race #5 of the 2016 Ottawa-Gatineau Karting Championship (OGKC). It was another event held under bright and sunny skies, although not as hot as the previous event…but still 30C! Over thirty racers registered for event #5, persevering through the hot and humid conditions to challenge for the top step of the podium in five different classes: Novice Briggs & Stratton, Junior Briggs & Stratton, Senior Briggs & Stratton, Masters Briggs & Stratton, and the OGKC Rental Kart Challenge. This was also Race #3 of the National Capital Kart Club (NCKC) series – thanks to those racers from the NCKC for participating in what turned out to be a really memorable event!

The 2016 edition of the OGKC series is also part of the Briggs & Stratton Weekly Racing Series (BriggsWRS), a track-based series enabling Junior, Senior, and Masters competitors to race head-to-head for the BriggsWRS regional crown. Racers are required to participate in eight (8) races at the same BriggsWRS-affiliated track/club, with the top seven (7) results counted toward the overall championship. Eleven tracks in Canada are participating – may the best karters win! For eligible Canadian tracks and clubs, please visit the BriggsWRS site.

The feature race podium results were as follows:

Novice

Connor Bell
Christian McGuire
Samuel Spurling

This was the first official OGKC Novice race this year, and it did not disappoint. Connor Bell, who placed 2nd in last year’s overall Novice Championship, showed his continuing mastery behind the wheel by finishing in 1st place in both heat races and the Final. Christian McGuire and Samuel Spurling had a close final race finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively, with both drivers matching each others best lap-times and finishing a mere 3.0 seconds apart after the 15-lap duel. Great job by all participants in the Novice category, and we hope to see you all at our next event, which is the Capital Karting Grand Prix (CKGP) in August!

Junior

Vincent Lamothe
Paul Hoffman
Ethan Bell

Vincent Lamothe and Paul Hoffman were thisclose throughout the heat races and the Junior Final, with Vincent taking victory in the Final by less than one second over Paul. Ethan Bell, last years overall Novice Champion, did really well in his first OGKC Junior event and showed awesome skills to finish strongly in 3rd position. The fastest lap times amongst the three podium finishers were a mere half second apart, with the top two matching best laps lap after lap after lap. It made for an exciting duel at the front of the field all the way to the chequered flag – great work Juniors!

Seniors

Charlotte Lalonde
Shane Findlay
Lee Williscroft

Charlotte Lalonde was once again victorious in the Senior category, although both Shane Findlay of the Lombardy Karting Association (LKA) and Lee Williscroft of the NCKC put together strong campaigns to challenge throughout the heat races and the Final. Charlotte took the win in Heat #1, followed by Shane. In Heat #2, Shane crossed the line in 1st place closely followed by Lee Williscroft. All three racers’ best lap times were within two-tenths of a second – and were within three seconds of each other at the finish – that is close racing! It was great to see such a well-fought event, with the top three representing all three karting clubs in the region – great work Seniors!

Masters

Greg Jewell
Sylvain Coulombe
Mike Forget

NCKC racers Greg Jewell and Sylvain Coulombe dominated the field at Le Circuit Quyon, finishing 1st and 2nd in the Final respectively. OGKC series regular Mike Forget managed 3rd position, narrowly beating Darren Mallette and Crawford Kilpatrick in their Margay Brava race chassis. This was the largest class of the day, with nine competitors. The top five racers all had best lap times in the 37.0 second range and were separated by only four seconds at the finish – now THAT is close racing! It is anticipated that the Masters category will be an enormous and extremely competitive class at the next OGKC event, which is aligned with the running of the CKGP on the August 6th-7th weekend.

Rental Kart Challenge

Jonathan Séguin
Michèle-Ann Sauvé
Jason Chen

What a day for Race #4 of the Rental Kart Challenge category! Ten racers showed up for another successful event – braving the heat to complete a five-minute practice, 10-minute qualifying, and 15-minute race. Jonathan Séguin, last year’s overall OGKC rental kart champion, took his second victory of the season over resident hot shoe Michèle-Ann Sauvé. The race between these two rental-kart experts was super close, with only 1.1 seconds between them as they took the chequered flag. Jason Chen, the current points leader in the category, drove a consistent race to finish 7.1 seconds behind Michèle-Ann in 3rd position. With only one race remaining in this category, the overall championship is still up for grabs. Who will be the 2016 Champion, winning the grand prize of driving a Margay Ignite race kart in the end-of-year enduro at Le Circuit Quyon? Stay tuned!

Congratulations to all of the racers that made the podium, and a big thank you to everyone that participated in Race #5 of the 2016 OGKC. Great job everyone! Also thanks to guest Race Director Jamie Bolton, the track marshals, the great support staff at Le Circuit Quyon, and First Aid personnel for working throughout the day in the hot and humid weather to ensure racer safety during the event.

Round #6 of the OGKC is integrated into the CKGP, scheduled for the August 6th-7th weekend at Karters Korners. The OGKC integrated the CKGP into its season schedule to promote and facilitate participation by all three local karting clubs in a great event in Canada’s Capital Region.

The next and final race of the 2016 OGKC Rental Kart Challenge will be held on Sunday, August 21st at Le Circuit Quyon. Please click here for more information on the rental series. Click here to view the current 2016 championship standings.

See you in two weeks at the CKGP! More information on the 2nd annual CKGP can be found at http://www.capitalkarting.com/index.php/en/