Coupe du Quebec: Tommy Lemaire-Ouellet Prevails in Briggs & Stratton

The second round of the 2013 Coupe du Quebec hit the track this past weekend at SRA Karting International as drivers and teams entered the beautiful facility north east of Montreal. The second race of the fifth race championship sets the tone for title contenders and pretenders and this weekends action was exciting. The weekend started out with bright sunny skies for Satuday’s official practice, and the sun resumed Sunday morning but for a short time. Clouds rolled in as the first round of heat races hit the track and just as round two was on grid the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down for the remainder of the day. The conditions at SRA are very challenging to begin with, but the heavy rain made for some tense moments as drivers navigated the 1.2km track.

The Briggs & Stratton division grew even larger after the season opener at SH Karting as 32 karts roared onto the track at SRA Karting. The class continues to grab plenty of attention with this round featuring 2012 Rotax Max Canadian Champion and current USF2000 pilot Jesse Lazare join the action among many others.

In heat one, Zanardi Karts took positions one through four with Tommy Lemaire-Ouellet on top and Maxime Couturier, David Laplante and Lazare in tow. All in all, the top-ten karts crossed the finish line within five seconds of the leader. Inverting the entire grid for heat two created all kinds of excitement with the rain falling. Nicolas Michaud (CRG) navigated his way around puddles to score a six-second victory with Jonathon Daigle-Bleau and Couturier completing the top-three.

The two heat winners duked it out in the Pre Final with Lemaire-Ouellet holding off Michaud at the line while Matheiu Demers (CRG), round one winner JF Lafontaine (Birel) and Lazare mixed it up for third.

In the Final, the front two once again broke away to settle it on their own terms as Lemaire-Ouellet and Michaud got away early as the rain poured down. With many slow karts struggling in the conditions the front two would catch lap traffic as the laps wound down and with Lemaire leading it worked into his favour as he would better navigate his way to victory. Michaud would settle for second while Lafontaine held off Lazare and Demers for third.

Round three of the Coupe du Quebec happens July 13 and 14 at Karting Grand-Mere and will be the final event at the facility. A special ceremony will be held in part to celebrate the many years at Karting Grand Mere.

CKN will have a full photo gallery from the event online on Tuesday.

Final Results: