PR: Kingsley Cruises to Double Podiums at Monaco de Trois-Rivieres

Jeff Kingsley, pilot of the Whitby Toyota TRD Tony Kart, was looking to bounce back in the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship (ECKC) standings following a strong showing at the Western Canadian Championships (WCC). The talented teen headed east to run the Monaco of Trois Rivieres with a title and a ticket squarely in focus. The storied event would see Coupe de Quebec action on Saturday followed by ECKC round five action on Sunday. Drivers where greeted with great weather and strong crowds as the temporary street circuit hosted some of Canadians top kart racers. Kingsley entered the weekend sitting second in the points tally as the points leader was moved to Senior, having to abandon his Junior points lead. Following the Sunday ECKC racing action, Kingsley now sits atop the title hunt, 21 points up on second place with one round of racing remaining in the 2013 campaign.

“I was surprised to see the points leader dropped out of Junior and be moved to Senior,” smiles Kingsley. “He had a strong points lead on field, but I guess there were some circumstances. Racing is full of surprises and we will take this one for sure. Overall the weekend was good. We know we are lacking in some areas and we are making it up in other parts of our program.”

Kingsley would use the Saturday Coupe de Quebec round as a primer for the main event on Sunday. The magic number for Kingsley on the day was second, as he went P2 in qualifying, grabbed second in the prefinal and ended the day second in the final securing his first podium result of the weekend.

Sunday was set for round five of the ECKC, with drivers having already had had two days of practice and a full race day on Saturday, as they headed into to the all important points paying event. Kingsley kicked off the day by going third quickest in timed qualifying. The Whitby Toyota sponsored driver used the inside second row position to grab second place off the start and would hold that position to the checkerd flag. The final was a tough run for Kingsley as he dropped back off the start and had to battle forward to grab third at the line, taking his second podium on the weekend.

“It was a good points day for us on Sunday,” commented Kingsley. “We stayed ahead of the guys chasing us in the championship. We will take the points lead into the final round at Tremblant. First though, we have the Canadian National Championships at Goodwood Kartways. That’s going to change things heading into Tremblant for sure.”

Following the ECKC action from Trois Rivieres, the series returns to the track for the final round at Mont Tremblant Karting Centre in mid-September. Up next for Kingsley and company will the ASN Canada FIA Canadian National Karting Championships taking place at Goodwood Kartways from August 23 to 25. On the line for the National Champion in Junior is an invitation to Team Canada and trip to the Rotax Max Grand Finals in New Orleans, Louisiana in October.

For more information about Jeff, visit his website at jeffkingsley.ca. For more information about Whitby Toyota, visit their website at whitbytoyota.com.