Le Circuit Quyon held its annual end-of-year enduro on Sunday, October 19th. Although the weather was a touch on the cool side (6C), and there was some minor SNOW flurry activity during the Novice/Junior event, everyone had a great time and raced their hearts out for the grand prize – the top step of the podium at the most challenging race of the year! Thirty-five racers took to the track for top honours, with the Novice/Junior Briggs & Stratton race being a 60-minute enduro, while the Senior/Masters Briggs & Stratton race was a 125 km marathon! Le Circuit Quyon hosted racers from the Ottawa-Gatineau Karting Championship (OGKC), drivers from other racing series, as well as former karting aficionados returning to the track to re-live their former glory and rookies looking to make the transition to top-level kart racing! What a fantastic and eventful weekend!
The Novice/Junior enduro was the first event of the day, with racers bundled up as much as possible to stay warm during the hour-long event. There was a one-stop minimum, requiring racers to make a mandatory pit-stop to ensure parity between single and two-driver teams. The start was fast and clean, with the racers understanding that the race wouldn’t be won on the first lap. Skylar Bolton took the early lead, being chased closely by Henry Knox and Paul Hoffman. As the race progressed, the weather and mechanical gremlins affected the drivers differently and resulted in several order changes. At the end of the 60-minute enduro, Vincent ‘the Prince’ Lamothe claimed his very first ever race victory with a seven-second gap back to Skylar Bolton in 2nd place. Henry Knox rounded out the top three, and after 78 laps, the top three were separated by only 17 seconds! Great racing! Tristan Bolton took top spot in the Novice enduro, only nine (9) laps down on the top Juniors. Dezmen Burd claimed a hard fought 2nd position. Well done!
In the Senior/Masters Class, it was a large field of karts taking to the track to challenge for enduro-champion status. The on-track battles were fierce, with some teams competing like it was a 125 km sprint race! There were several off-track excursions, and numerous mechanical breakdowns including seized clutches, broken sidepods, and broken exhausts. By the end of the race, Derek Michaud and Jason Bolton of Team DMR took top honours in the Senior category completing 166 laps of the full-track clockwise configuration of Le Circuit Quyon. Team DMR had a fast, clean, and consistent race enabling them to establish a four-lap lead over Team LCQ, captained by Charlotte Lalonde, by the end of the event. The Smith-Stephens trio finished a strong 3rd, six laps ahead of Team Hynes-De la Plante. In the Masters category, ironman Phil Hall, the 2014 OGKC Masters Champion, drove a smooth and consistent race, staying out of harm’s way and finishing the race in 1st place, completing 158 tours of Le Circuit Quyon. Team NR Kart Store, led by Ché Smith, took the 2nd step of the podium, finishing four laps down on Iron Phil. Crawford Kilpatrick’s team, the Fast Lane Racers, completed 152 laps, good enough to claim 3rd place!
All in all, it was an exciting and successful weekend and hopefully some of the rookie drivers were bitten by the racing bug and will join the club next year! LCQ would like to congratulate the 2014 enduro winners, and also give big thanks to all of the volunteers, spectators, racers, and crew members for contributing to another amazing race day in challenging conditions! LCQ is proud to be the circuit of choice in Canada’s Capital Region, and is eagerly anticipating the 2015 race season with the Ottawa-Gatineau Karting Championship! During the off-season, please continue to visit the LCQ website at www.lecircuitquyon.com, keep an eye on the OGKC and LCQ facebook pages, and follow the track on Twitter @leCircuit_Quyon for more information about next season!
