The opening round of the 2014 Coupe du Quebec was on track this past weekend at the SH Karting facility, just east on Montreal. Under beautiful blue skies and near perfect temperatures drivers and those in attendance were rewarded and in turn the action on track was equally exciting.
In Briggs & Stratton Senior, the largest class of the day, there was a familiar feeling on track with many of last years championship contenders right back into the mix, albeit on a selection of new chassis and teams.
Qualifying saw Maxime Couturier (SC Performance/TonyKart) on the pole-position with Mathieu Demers (PSL Moncton/CRG) alongside. Row two had defending class champion Tommy Lemaire-Ouellet (PSL Karting/CRG) and Jean-Francois Lafontaine (Birel). Through the prefinal, Lemaire would advance to score the heat win with Derek Michaud (DMR/FA Kart) advancing to finish second.
The start of the final immediately saw Lemaire and Lafontaine break away as some massive shuffling happened in the opening corners. But only a few laps in, the two leaders tangled allowing Couturier and Demers to resume the lead with Lemaire back to third and Lafontaine much further down the order.
Rolling the halfway distance, another incident claimed the victim of drivers racing for a top-five as Abby Bolton (CRG) and Vincent Cyr (Birel) found themselves stuck together exiting the final corner and were forced to the sidelines.
But through all the action, Demers had worked his way back into the lead with Lemaire on his rear bumper. The two teammates ran a clean pair of closing laps with Demers driving very defensively through the final few corners en route to victory. Dedicating the win to his newborn daughter, Demers was very emotional about the win.
Lemaire would cross in second but would be demoted to fifth after a penalty placed him behind Lafontaine, who had a stellar drive back through the field. Joining Demers on the podium was Couturier and Nathan Gilbert (Zanardi).
