CKN Driver Diary: Jeffrey Kingsley @ ECKC Mont-Tremblant

This past weekend at Mont Tremblant was not only the final round of the Eastern Canadian Karting Championships, but it was also my final chance for a ticket to the Grand Finals. Mont Tremblant is definitely a great track to have the final ECKC event at. It was also a great opportunity for my chance to win the championship as I have lots of time and experience at this venue. I would definitely give the track a 10/10 for its layout, surface, and amenities.

Heading into Tremblant

Going into Tremblant I felt confident that I would do well. I spent a lot of time there last year when I was with the Birel team and they did a really good job on coaching. Even though I was feeling confident I was also quite nervous after looking back on my year. I have had very bad luck this year with a mechanical failure and 2 DNF’s through contact. In saying this I knew that that bad luck could strike again at anytime during the weekend.

Preparation

As soon as school ended on Wednesday my mechanic Wrex and I jumped in the car and were on the way to get to Tremblant. Thursday morning we went to the track and unloaded the trailer in the rain and started to prepare the kart. We did not go out in the rain, as it was not supposed to rain on the weekend but when we finally got on track we were looking strong. On Friday we needed to be on our game to try everything possible to help us improve. We tried many things and thought we had what it takes to have a successful weekend.

Jeffrey Kingsley is the 2013 ECKC Rotax Junior Champion
(Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

Thoughts and Results

I had a very strong weekend at Tremblant. It wasn’t my best result but it was enough for what I needed. We started off with testing on Thursday and Friday and we were looking very strong. To us Saturday’s Coupe du Quebec race was just a test day where we can learn and try things to be ready for Sunday. We hit qualifying with a solid P2 and in the pre-final I finished third. In the final Christophe Paquet got about a 10-kart length gap on me and I tried my hardest to catch up but he was too fast. With two laps to go he broke his chain, which gave me the win.

On Sunday we qualified second again which wasn’t a terrible result. The pre-final was by far the hardest race of the weekend. After getting squeezed at the start I dropped back to eighth. There was lots of clean bumping and hitting between all the drivers in the top five, but I crossed the line in fourth. For the Final all I had to do was finish in a reasonable spot. Right from the drop of the green there was a four kart train consisting of Christophe Paquet in front, Anthony Tolfa in second, myself in third, and Gianfranco Mazzaferro in fourth. Each lap all four of us took turns setting fastest lap but no driver had enough to make a move. In the end I finished third which was all I needed to claim the championship and a ticket to the worlds.

Road to the Worlds

Knowing that I am going to the Worlds really takes a lot of weight off my back. Going into Tremblant with pressure after looking back on the year was quiet nerve racking. Now that I have to ticket I am really looking forward to racing against the best of the best to improve my driving and mental awareness. I am looking forward to represent Team Canada at the Grand Finals this year.

-Jeffrey Kingsley