The 2013 Coupe du Québec season finally hit the track this past weekend as karters, teams and families all made their way east of Montreal to SH Karting. The facility was in tip-top shape, with lush grass wrapping around the tight and twisting 1KM track. A new format for this years Coupe saw officials toss out the qualifying session and replace it with two inverted grid heat races. With drivers selecting a number at registration, their grid position for heat one would be reverse for heat two, creating lots of action and passing through the entire field of each class. These two heats would be followed up by the usual Pre Final and Final races.
In the Micro-Max division, the battle up front would be between Alexandre Légaré (SH Karting/Zanardi) and Thomas Nepveu (SH Karting/Zanardi). Légaré would win the battle in the heat races, winning heat one and finishing second in heat two. But Nepveu would battle back in the Pre Final to earn the pole position for the Final.
The two quickly broke away as the green flag was waved and would create a fourteen lap battle! Trading the top spot many times in turn one, Légaré just wasn’t able to hold the lead once he got it, as Nepveu countered many of the attacks and controlled much of the race. Slicing and dicing to the finish line, Nepveu would cross the line only 0.2 seconds ahead and win the first round of 2013.
Not to go unnoticed, the fight for the third and final podium position saw four karts battling hard. Coming to grips with his new CRG machine, William Chayer (PSL Karting/CRG) would overcome a slow start to grab the third position on the final lap, overtaking Patrick Woods (PSL Montreal/CRG).
This year, the Coupe du Quebec will only complete five rounds instead of the usual six, including the final race at historic Grand Mere Karting in July. CKN will have more about this in the near future.
Round two takes place on June 15 and 16 at SRA Karting.
