CKN Driver Diary: Pier-Luc Ouellette at ECKC Goodwood

It was very exciting for me to travel to Goodwood Kartways for the second round of the 2013 Eastern Canadian Karting Championship. It was also the first time I was back in a Rotax DD2 machine since last years Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal. I knew it was going to be a big challenge for me and my PSL Karting team, to race against some of the worlds best DD2 drivers, including last years World Champion Ben Cooper. Most of the top drivers at ECKC did very well at this years Florida Winter Tour too, making it even more of a challenge for me with lots of pressure on myself. But I prefer this, and I am always better under pressure.

Double-Duty: Racing both Rotax DD2 and Rotax Senior
Originally, we were not going to race Rotax Senior, but a late change from PSL and CRG and I was back in the seat of a single-speed kart. CRG and PSL have been working very hard lately on the Rotax Senior chassis and I was asked to run both classes for the rest of the summer. I for sure accepted it as a challenge, but me and my mechanic Coy we knew it wasn’t going to be easy racing in two classes at Goodwood. But Coy is the kind of guy that doesn’t back off when there is a big challenge like this and we went at it 110%!

The new Senior class, lots of new faces
I was excited to run in Rotax Senior because there are so many good young drivers who have moved up from Junior to Senior lately. On the grid, I almost felt like an old man! There is always a good point of being older and with more racing experience, but these new Senior drivers were very hungry and they did an awesome job this past weekend, giving us a hard time too. But it was great racing also, the races up front were clean and competitive. We did not win in Rotax Senior, but me, PSL and CRG will be back for the Nationals at Goodwood stronger and even more prepared and we are going to give it 110% to earn the #1 plate in Senior.

Me vs Ben Cooper: Part Two
Just to be clear with everyone, last year myself and Ben Cooper had a good battle for the lead at Goodwood and Ben’s mechanic did put the race up on YouTube. But that was part 1 between me and Ben, the battle, and that multiple World Champion did not win the war just yet. We had a great race in the Saturday Final, but I did make a mistake and finished second to Ben. So for Sunday’s Final, my mechanic Coy did the right thing before the Final and I was able to pull away from the field, which is not easy with drivers such as Cooper, Di Leo, Bain, Woodley and more. After splitting the finals, I cannot wait for the Nationals.

Physical Preparation
I was not sure before the weekend how hard it was going to be to race two classes. Also, normally over the past couple years I was running the Florida Winter Tour to stay in “karting shape” over the off-season. But I did prepare myself for Goodwood at the gym, but it is very hard to the do all the exercises that we need for karting, as there are some muscles you just can’t work. Overall I was pretty happy with the weekend. My endurance was there, and it’s never easy to race for the win when you are tired. It did not happen this weekend, so I will stick to a similar plan when preparing myself for the Nationals in August.

Overall Satisfaction
We did not win all the races, which is always our goal. But we did show that we can race for the win in two classes and I am happy with the way the CRG kart is working, and also the JVD Tuning engine felt good too. We will try and make it better next time and work hard for victory.

I would like to thank everyone from PSL Karting and CRG for their support, as well as my mechanic Coy. We had a great weekend and can’t wait for the next round of the ECKC in Trois Rivieres.

Pier-Luc Celebrated victory on Sunday at Goodwood. (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)