The nature of a temporary course creates a unique driving atmosphere where certain drivers excel, while others struggle to come to grips with the close quarters racing. When it comes to racing, especially four-cycle racing, the loss of an inch can not only end the race for one driver, but blocking the narrow path that is the racing line can claim multiple victims and break apart a race in the blink of an eye, something we saw plenty of on Saturday in Briggs & Stratton Senior.
Qualifying was once again determined by hundredths of a second, where the top-10 karts were within three-tenths! Tommy Lemaire-Ouellet (PSL Karting/CRG) was only 0.016 quicker than Simon Bellanger (SHR/FA Kart), with David Miller (VSR/FA Kart) third, only 0.077 off the pole.
As the racing began in the Prefinal the grid was shaken with many drivers rolling back to the scales on the recovery vehicle. Lemaire did take the win over Jean-Francois Lafontaine (Birel), with Bellanger third, Maxime Couturier (SC Performance/TonyKart) fourth and Michael Glaze (DMR/FA Kart) up to fifth.
It didn’t take long for the action to heat up in the Final. Lemaire had a rocky start, that ultimately ended with him in the hay bails entering the final corner on lap one. This opened things up for Lafontaine and Bellanger, while Glaze and Couturier were in hot pursuit and the rest of the big pack roared around the streets.
Marco Di Leo (Goodwood/Intrepid) worked his way up to fifth, but he lost the draft from Glaze and Couturier at the halfway mark and became vulnerable to those chasing behind him.
With things calming down up front until the Last Lap sign, all bets were off the table as to who would win, with four hungry drivers all eager to win. Bellanger made his move for the lead, diving to the inside of Lafontaine into the long sweeping final right hander. As Lafontaine tried to defend, contact with the rear of Bellanger sent him into the dusty portion of the track, allowing both Glaze and Couturier to sneak by as Bellanger erupted from the final corner with the victory, Glaze second and Couturier third. A penalty to Di Leo moved him back to sixth and Michaud to fifth while Gerald Caseley, ECKC points leader Jonathon Treadwell, Vincent Cyr and Alexandre Couturier completed the top-ten.
