#CoupedeMontreal
Coupe de Montreal: Briggs Finals Roar Right to the End!
Our Coupe de Montreal Round 2 Briggs Race Report
A hot and sunny race weekend at the Circuit ICAR was the perfect condition for the second round of the Coupe de Montreal and the total opposite conditions to the season-opening race.
Another spectacular list of entries for the Coupe de Montreal featured 46 drivers in Briggs Senior and a total of over 250 drivers for the entire event, showing just how far the series has come since its inception.
On the track, the battles were fierce, the competition was extremely close and for the four Briggs & Stratton categories, every Final came down to the final lap and late race battle.
Off the track, the camaraderie that the Coupe de Montreal has become known for continued, with a pizza party held on Saturday night serving up over 300 pies, a jam-packed paddock, fan support and a positive buzz throughout.
Briggs Senior: Perfect pass decides the race win by 0.027 seconds!
Two groups were needed for Qualifying and the PreFinals in Briggs Senior again as 46 drivers entered the event. Qualifying saw group two dominate the timesheet, posting the top twelve times. Just as they did at SH in round one, the session was led by Steven Navratil (OTK) and his teammate Ari Korkodilos (OTK), this time separated by only 0.003 seconds. Leopold Schrevel (Kart Republic) and Antoine Lacharite (Mac Minarelli) also worked together and ranked third and fourth, barely a tenth of a second back.
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Schrevel (701) and Korkodilos (739) at the finish line. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Briggs Junior: Laroche puts his BCR on top of the podium for the first time
There was a breakout weekend in Briggs Junior as Derek Laroche (BirelART) led the field in Qualifying on Saturday afternoon and followed it up with his first victory in Coupe de Montreal competition after a thrilling Final.
In the early laps of the main event, the top three competitors took turns leading the race as Elliot Coulombe (BirelART) and Mindy Croteau (BirelART) started from the front row and traded the top spot.
Laroche positioned himself into the lead on lap four and working together with Croteau, the pair started to pull away while Coulombe came under pressure from Adam Goulet (Kubica Kart) and Jack Stokley (BirelART).
As the laps ticked away, Croteau stuck to the rear bumper of the race leader and waited until the very end to make her move. In a very tense final lap, Laroche defended perfectly and he rounded the final corner with his arm in the air, celebrating his first big race victory.
Croteau settled for second place and a few seconds later Coulombe just edged out Stokley and Goulet for the final step on the podium.
First-time race winner Derek Laroche. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Briggs Masters: Father outsmarts his son on the final lap
There was an epic final lap showdown in Briggs Masters as father and son duo Mathieu (Formula K) and Mario Martin (Formula K) went toe-to-toe for family supremacy while Mike Larouche (Formula K) and Eric Lessard (Intrepid) duked it out for the final podium spot.
The race started with Lessard jumping out to an early race lead until the trio of Formula K karts teamed up on him at the halfway mark. Lessard was forced to lift and lost the lead draft while the front three were glued together to get away from their rival.
As the laps wound down and Mathieu Martin started defending the race lead from his dad, Lessard began to close back in on the leaders and on the final lap, he was right back in the fight.
Mario worked his magic to overtake Mathieu and down the long back straight it was two-by-two. Shuffling the positions, Mario managed to stay ahead while Lessard went from fourth to second to third.
Rounding the final corners, Mario Martin fended off his son and celebrated the race victory while Lessard would beat Larouche to the finish line to take third place in a hotly contested final few corners. Both drivers earned penalties for their actions, contact for Lessard and blocking for Larouche and that knocked them both out of podium contention.
Winning a battle she thought was for fifth turned into a third-place trophy for Jessica Plante (TonyKart) and she beat Anthony Novak (Kart Republic) and Daniel Courtemanche (BirelART) to the finish line.
Mario Martin. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Briggs Cadet: From first to last to first for Colligan
It was an eventful weekend for Jayden Colligan (BirelART) in Briggs Cadet. After posting a blistering lap time in Qualifying to earn the pole position, a mechanical issue plagued him on the out-lap of the PreFinal and he was unable to complete a lap.
Having to start the Final from last on the grid, Colligan picked off half of his competitors in the opening laps and was running in second place by lap five, working his way by Liam Fontaine (Parolin).
Tracking down the race leader took some time as Brodie McDonell (Formula K) was very fast out front but Colligan was patient, closed the gap and made his pass for the race lead on lap thirteen.
Hitting his marks, Colligan was able to pull away from McDonell and showcased a very enthusiastic celebration at the finish line for an emotional race day.
McDonell settled for second at the finish line, however, he had an issue in post-race tech that resulted in a disqualification from the results. This promoted Fontaine up to second place on the podium and Adam Bentaleb (BirelART) to third place, who just edged out William Choquette (Formula K) on the final lap.
Jayden Colligan celebrates his victory (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Next up for the Coupe de Montreal, round three will take place at SC Performance in Saint-Celestin on June 22-23.
