News & Notes: 2013 Le Monaco de Trois-Rivieres

The 2013 Monaco de Trois-Rivieres has come and gone and once again the event organizers put together a spectacular event that hosted both the Coupe du Quebec and the Eastern Canadian Karting Championships. The event located on the city streets that also hosts the GP3R car event has become a very popular venue and this year provided some excellent racing in all categories. After returning home, CKN has put together a few news and notes bits to wrap up our event coverage.

Honda Open: Ear ringing with excitement

For many in the paddock at Le Monaco, the Honda Open class was a bit of an ear sore when they hit the track. But the special class added to the Coupe du Quebec schedule on Saturday brought nearly 30 entries to the event, with drivers from all over Quebec, and even one from Ontario, to compete in Quebec’s largest kart race. The class rules are almost completely open, with many spending some serious time and money building the perfect package, while others in the class are in it simply to have fun and not worry about the rules. The class even utilizes a standing start for their races, although in the rain they opted for a rolling start. Taking the top honours was Sylvan Clair of PSL Karting, who enjoys getting back in a kart once a year for the year. Coming in second was Ontario’s Wesley Schindel, who learned of the event only a couple weeks before while Francois Bellemare finished third before getting into his DD2 machine for Sunday’s ECKC race.

Standing Start for the Honda Open Class (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

Mother Nature Continues to Plague Canadian Karting Season

Once again this season, Mother Nature played with those in the paddock at a karting race. While it was hot and sunny a majority of the time, all weekend long heavy clouds rolled in and out of the area, sometimes dropping heavy amounts of rain, while other times staying dry. In many races, the decisions were split down the middle with rain or dry setups and tire choices, notably the Briggs & Stratton Senior Prefinal on Saturday that had a 50/50 split with rain and dry tires…dry tires were the right decision.

Shifter Class puts on a show

Another special class added to Saturdays Coupe du Quebec race was the Formula Kart shifter class. Like Honda Open, it has become a tradition at Le Monaco and this year had 18 karts on track, with a massive support from the Innisfil Indy/GP Racing stable. The race saw Louis-Charles Filiatreault dominate in the dry, but when the rain fell just prior to the Final, Frank Launi gave Filiatreault a run for his money, although coming up a bit short and settling for second. A generous offer from Lift Elevator Interiors awarded the winner of the class with an extra $250.00 making Filiatreault’s win a little sweeter!

Coupe du Quebec and ECKC Points Championships coming down to the wire at Mont-Tremblant

With both the Coupe du Quebec and the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship having one event remaining after Le Monaco, many in the paddock figured the championships would be a little more settled after the street race. However, with great racing on both days, the class championships tightened up immensely with Rotax Junior, Rotax Senior and Briggs & Stratton Senior left wide open entering the final event in Mont-Tremblant. It has appeared that the larger the class is this year, the closer the championship chase is, showing just how talented our racers are this season in Canada.

Loads of fans in the paddock and the grandstands to take in Le Monaco

One of the best things about Le Monaco is the fan fare. A street race will always attract spectators to the fences, but the people Trois-Rivieres really appreciate the event and do a pretty good job of filling the large grandstands. The fans also enjoy touring the paddock and asking questions and taking in the show that Le Monaco is all about. These year even saw a fun area for children, to keep them occupied. All in all, it was a great event, and with cheers and claps from the spectators during every race, it really felt like a true spectator event, something our sport really needs to help regrow.

Brendon Bain Accepts chance to race in this weekends GP3R

For the second straight year, a DD2 racer will compete in this weekends Grand Prix Trois-Rivieres (GP3R). After finishing second in Sunday’s ECKC Rotax DD2 final, Brendon Bain accepted the keys to race a Quebec Sportsman race car this weekend at the popular event. Bain also accepted the chance to race last year and was very quick until a mechanical issue sidelined him in the Final.
**Update, Bain was very quick in opening practice on Friday, posting the quickest time in his class.

Brendon Bain Accepts the Steering Wheel to race this weekend in the Quebec Sportsman race at GP3R (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

CKN Nation Proudly Represented in Trois-Rivieres

For the second straight year, we at CKN brought our new T-Shirts to Le Monaco. And once again the support from those in the paddock have shown towards purchasing a t-shirt and wearing it proudly has blown us away. We cannot thank you enough for your support of CKN and making it a ‘sea of CKN red’ at the track and in the grandstands. With the shirts selling out, we hope to have something new for you at the Canadian Championships at Goodwood.

With the event now closed, we cannot wait for next year to return to Trois-Rivieres!