Sunday Briggs Report: Belanger Finally Wins Again in Briggs Senior

Bright blue skies and sunshine was a pleasant greeting for racers on Sunday morning at the Jim Russell Karting Academy after a week of rain and cloud cover during the second round of the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship.

However the sunshine didn’t last much longer than the round of morning warm up before the cloud cover returned. Shortly after lunch those clouds opened up and a brief but heavy rain shower fell. But in a fashion most have gotten used to this weekend, the wet track didn’t last long as all but one Final on Sunday was run on a dry track and slick tires.

Saturday Results | Sunday Results

Briggs Junior Lite

After a brief but heavy rain shower soaked the track for the final few PreFinals, Briggs Junior Lite kicked off the Finals on wet tires. Saturday winner Connor Pritiko led the way early but Nicholas Christodoulou was hot on his tail. The pressure built up until Christodoulou made a pass in turn three only for Pritiko to counter on exit and regain the lead. As the passing continued for a few laps, the track began showing a dry line and with it, Pritiko’s pace improved much more than his competitors.

Pulling away to his second victory of the weekend, Pritiko notched his name into the championship chase with one weekend remaining while Christodoulou saw his championship lead shrink this weekend.

Finishing third was Nicholas Scarfo who had an uneventful drive for the final podium step.

Connor Pritiko Doubled up in Briggs Junior Lite (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Briggs Junior

Sunday seems to be Zachary Vanier’s day at the ECKC.

It was another three-kart race for the win in Briggs Junior, but this time it was Gabriel Savoie, Jordan Prior and Vanier after a big crash at the start ended the chances for Kelsey Hann, William Chayer and Owen Clarke.

Savoie led the majority of the race until Vanier went to the lead with a push from Prior down the back straight. While Savoie was able to move back into second and heavily pressure Vanier on the final lap, he just couldn’t find a place to get by as Vanier went on to score his second ECKC win of the year with Savoie second and Prior third.

In a drag-race to the finish, Zachary Vanier came across the line first (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

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“In a weekend of challenging weather we enjoyed some great racing.  From a tie in senior qualifying to juniors being decided by thousandths, that’s what 206 racing is all about.  To support the ECKC in tech gave us an opportunity to see so many new and old faces.  We teched new engines and others we’ve seen racers competing with for years.  The professionalism of this event, the staff, and racers are what you would expect from a series of this caliber.  All in all a great weekend to be a part of!”

David Klaus, Briggs & Stratton Racing

Briggs Senior

He was ECKC Champion in 2015 but it had been since 2014 that Simon Belanger had won an ECKC race. That changed during the Final race of the weekend in Mont-Tremblant.

The starting grid for the Final was shuffled after the class ran their PreFinal in the rain. Starting from the front row was Kevin King and Francois Sylvestre but in the first corner Sylvestre ran very wide and into the grass, eliminating all the positions he gained in the PreFinal.

King led early while Belanger was in hot pursuit along with Marco Signoretti and Saturday winner Alex Da Silva. Also in the mix was Alex Murphy and Logan Cusson.

Belanger went to the lead early and it paid off for him. Battling for second, the group was slowed up through the chicane and allowed Belanger to get away with only a few laps left. The next time by, Da Silva’s race ended in the same corner, getting together with Cusson.

Isaac Marritt led the pack for second as the last lap board was shown, but he left the door open for Alex Murphy to slide through coming up the hill. He brought Signoretti with him and that’s how they would finish as Belanger had checked out and became the fourth different race winner in as many races.

Simon Belanger scored his first ECKC win since 2014 (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Briggs Masters

It appeared that Mathieu Demers had secured a weekend sweep in Briggs Masters Final on Sunday as he held off Steve MacVoy to cross the finish line first. However with the Briggs & Stratton technical officials on site this weekend, they found something they didn’t like in post-race tech on both of their engines and they were disqualified.

This meant that the race on track for third turned into the pursuit for victory. Coming across the line first after MacVoy was Corey Walsh after he mixed it up with the Jefferies brothers Scott and Rob for the majority of the run. On the podium in second was Scott Jefferies followed by Rob on third as REM/Kosmic drivers claimed all three spots.

Corey Walsh inherited the Briggs Masters win (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

The 2017 ECKC Season Finale will take place in just over a months time when the series shifts back to Ontario. Racers will tackle the Mosport Kartways track that will also host the ASN Canadian Karting Championships later this summer.