#CoupedeMontreal
Coupe de Montreal Gearing Up For a Return to SH Karting
After a couple of seasons off of the karting calendar, SH Karting in Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, makes its return to competition karting this weekend, hosting the first round of the 2018 Coupe de Montreal as well as the opening race of the Quebec Karting Championship. The historic circuit has a length of just over 1000 metres and provides drivers with a thrilling mixture of challenging corners on a variety of different track widths and asphalts.
SH Karting stepped away not only as a competition karting race team after the 2015 season, but the track also kept its distance from large competition races as the company went through multiple changes in ownership and management. But with Sacha Gagnon, a man with large motorsports ambitions, back in control of operations, SH is back and has received a warm welcome back to action.
The last time CKN visited SH Karting was in 2014, kicking off our inaugural CKN Summer Tour and ironically we will again kick off our Summer Tour at SH this coming weekend for the festivities.
SH Karting from high above (Photo credit: SH Karting)
We spoke to Mathieu Demers, a Briggs Masters driver, and asked him what SH Karting means to him and karting in Quebec, and as expected he was not only excited to return to racing at one of his favourite tracks but also happy to see some of the SH staff back around the karting paddock.
“Honestly, it’s awesome. Last time we raced there for me was with the CRG and we won, so SH to me is like a home track. Plus my dad bought me my first Swiss Hutless kart from there. I’ve always loved Sacha, Clem, Chris and Alex so I’m super stoked to go back and race there. Plus it’s one of the oldest track if not the oldest kart track in Quebec, so it has a lot of history.”
The Coupe de Montreal will run six events in 2018, including two races at SH Karting and Circuit ICAR, along with single events at SRA Karting and Circuit Mont Tremblant. The Quebec Karting Championship will run seven events starting at SH, followed by races at Saint Celestin, SRA Karting, ICAR, Mont-Tremblant and two event locations still to be determined.
There will be a full lineup of classes on track including Briggs & Stratton 206 Cadet, Junior, Senior and Masters as well as Rotax Mini-Max, Junior Max, Senior, Max, DD2 and DD2 Masters. Open Shifter and Open Shifter Masters will also be taking to the SH Karting facility and we have heard from a number of drivers from Quebec as well as New Brunswick that will be taking part.
Entry forms, series regulations and official event information for this weekends race can be found on the Coupe de Montreal website, http://www.coupedemontreal.com/.
Don’t forget, you can purchase a CKN Summer Tour T-shirt, hoodie or hat at any of the events we attend this summer and are requested to reserve your size before the event by emails sales@canadiankartingnews.com.
