The final major event of the 2013 Canadian karting season is on track this weekend at the Jim Russell Karting Academy in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. Saturday featured the season finale for the Coupe du Quebec, where drivers duked it out under cool and cloudy conditions for championship glory, and ahead of Sunday’s Eastern Canadian Karting Championship finale.
Riding the momentum from a podium finish at the recent Canadian Championships, Christophe Paquet (KCR/CRG) was the man in control all day in Rotax Junior. Qualifying third, Paquet simply drove away from his competitors in the prefinal. Behind him, a great drive by Clay Van Eerd (TonyKart) saw him finish second in the prefinal ahead of Jeff Kingsley (TonyKart) while polesitter Natael Cantin
The final once again saw Paquet get out front early with Van Eerd slotting into second and Kingsley third. It didn’t take Kingsley long to move into second and bring Anthony Tolfa (Summit GP/TonyKart) with him, but Paquet was already checking out on the field as Van Eerd fell down the order. Coming back through the field, Cantin was up to fourth by lap four, and looking to chase down Tolfa and Kingsley.
Out front Paquet cruised away with the lead until heartbreak with two laps to go. Exiting over the rumble curbs in corner seven, he would toss a chain and his race over. This moved Kingsley into the lead and onto victory with Tolfa crossing second. Cantin completed the podium with Alex Couturier (SH Karting/Zanardi) fourth and Van Eerd fifth. Interestingly, Gianfranco Mazzaferro (Ferrolati Corse/TonyKart) was only able to manage a seventh place result after starting from the rear of the 15-kart grid in the Final.
Even after the tough finish to his race, Paquet earned enough points to the class championship at the Coupe du Quebec.
