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| July 27, 2008 News |
| Race Report: Le Monaco de Trois-Riviéres - Sunday |
 | When the anthems cue main events, it's standing room only in Trois-Rivieres
(Photo: Jason Holland - EKN.ca) |
Simply put: this race must be on your list of ‘to-do’ before you finish karting. Sure, there are longer tracks, there are faster ones and there are those that will test your skill much more intently - but Le Monaco de Trois-Riviéres is so much more than a kart race, it’s a kart racing spectacle! Thousands upon thousands turn up, drop a toonie, and have every foot of the railing lined by the time the national anthems are sung - and that’s the railing that spans nearly the entire St. Lawrence straightaway... on two levels! It is a sight to behold. People are on the exterior in grandstands, on the interior in grandstands, and if they put seats in the tunnel they would surely be filled. If you ask why they’ve turned up on a Sunday, they tell you it’s for the karting, amid a strange look as if to say, why else?
The track itself does prove a challenge, with its tight chicanes and the unique tunnel. But also because it offers asphalt, concrete and brick as a racing surface. Not to mention the psychological test of having the St. Lawrence Seaway two metres to your left, and a five-member dive team suited up during racing looking a little too anxious to get the chance to get your kart back for you should it take a dive. The marshalling is unparalleled, as volunteers log hours working their way to the pinnacle - Formula 1, and if all of that weren’t enough, Martin Houde and Jacques Duval provided race calls that had the crowd electrified: Think Rob Howden levels of volume and excitement, only in French and with music playing in the background from start to finish. Full marks to all involved, and then there was the racing!
 | Clair was charging through the field in Rotax Senior, here about to get Martin Mondou
(Photo: Jason Holland - EKN.ca) |
If it was the goal of organizers to end on a high note and leave the crowd craving more, the Rotax Senior field certainly delivered on Sunday. Weather had pushed the senior qualifying session to Sunday and Mathieu Demers took the head of an eleven-kart field with Daniel Richard alongside and Amelie Lafontaine and Sylvain Clair on row two. The prefinal saw the quartet swap spots when hometown boy Richard edged Demers for the win and Clair moved to third ahead of Lafontaine, but it was all just an appetizer for the closing act. When the final race of the day took the waved green, Demers tried to stay side-by-side with Richard through the opening chicane and clipped an inside bale. He was knocked sideways, collecting Clair, Lafontaine and a host of others in the process. Richard then had a massive lead through one, with Francis Mondou in second from seventh, and Guillaume Champagne in third from eighth. But beginning lap two Champagne clipped a bale allowing Francis Mondou to podium position! The race was well and truly on.
Richard led the field to half distance in the fifteen-lap final but Francis Mondou took over to begin the second half while Martin Mondou had worked to third. Clair though, had arrived in fourth and was taking a half-second or more out of all those in front on each lap. He took third working lap nine, and took four more laps to take second working lap thirteen. The penultimate lap brought him to the bumper of the leader, and the atmosphere was incredible as nearly everyone was in touch with what was going on. With a race call breaking the sound barrier, Clair was on Mondou’s bumper through the opening chicane the final time and sliced to the inside around the Wast end turn the final time and into the tunnel. He led coming out the other end, and scored a titanic-sized win! Mondou was second, with Richard completing the podium. It was a fantastic conclusion to the event, a yet another wild scene for the fans in the West end of the circuit.
 | Dany Trepanier and Marc Flood literally battled it out in F125 Shifter
(Photo: Jason Holland - EKN.ca) |
The first had come in the F125 shifter final, where a mixed field of seniors and masters took a standing start just hours earlier. After qualifying in damp conditions Saturday, the Sunday prefinal had set the order back to the speed charts with Dany Trépanier leading Marc Flood and Josh Adams to the line. François Bellemare worked to fourth after skipping qualifying altogether, and Denis Lachance completed the top five in the heat race. In the final, Trépanier and Flood checked out on the field matching each other with 34.5 second best laps. Trépanier led from the standing start, but Flood was looking quicker as the race entered its final stages. Flood had closed right to the bumper, and it all hit the fan beginning lap twelve. Looking feisty to be sure, Flood bumped Trépanier into the opening chicane and then went for the winning move around the West end. There was contact as he raced for the inside, and in a flash both karts were out as the result of contact. Fans were then ringside for a quick bout of ultimate fighting while through it all came Bellemare with Adams in tow.
Completing a run that began from the back after not qualifying, Bellemare completed the recovery on top of the podium just four short laps later. Adams held for second both in senior and overall, while the masters podium crossed in a heart beat. Denis Lachance had led Daniel Nadeau and Tony DeMarco from the standing start and the trio crossed within a half-second of each other fifteen laps later, DeMarco setting the fastest Masters lap in the field.
 | Martin Rochon, Vincent Cyr and Shawn Dos Santos were the class of the Honda Senior field
(Photo: Jason Holland - EKN.ca) |
Moving from Honda Senior qualifying to heat race action, Shawn Dos Santos, Vincent Cyr and Martin Rochon continued as the top three with Cyr winning the morning run and the trio well clear of eleven others in class. In the main event the field bumped its way through the opening lap and into the middle stages as the threesome once again controlled things at the front. Cyr led through the first pair before Rochon worked his way to the point on three and kept it to the closing stages. Just after taking the two-to-go flags, Cyr looked to set his move exiting the opening chicane and touched the rear tire of Rochon, bouncing to the barriers as a result. Rochon escaped unscathed, and Dos Santos easily picked second. He also set the fastest lap in the final, but there was no way past for the win. Cyr was able to rejoin in time to rescue a podium position in front of Rémi Leblanc and Maxime Ranger.
Contact in the opening chicane also affected a later field, this one being Rotax Junior. After Dominique Legrand won the prefinal Kevin King stole the lead into the chicane at the start of the main event. One lap later, King ran through but Legrand touched a bale running second and spun in front of the remainder of the field. Nick Neri got the worst of it as he was pinched into the barriers, bending his axle in the process and leading to retirement. King then had a free run to the win, while Legrand recovered to second ahead of Kevin Poulin on the podium. It was one of three flag-to-flag runs on Sunday. In Cadet, Lance Stroll was on pole but Santino Ferrucci took the prefinal and then turned even faster laps in winning the main event. Stroll cruised to second, with Pier-Alexandre Labonté completing the podium. In Rotax Mini-Max, Jordan Fiset won the morning prefinal but Jesse Lazare was back on his game in the main and drove to a six second win from Fiset and Domenico Del Balso.
 | Kevin King led Dominique Legrand and Nick Neri early in the Rotax Junior final
(Photo: Jason Holland - EKN.ca) |
Just as the day ended with Sylvain Clair on the top of the podium, so it began in Rotax Masters. After just edging Martin Lachance in Saturday qualifying, Clair then led Michel Vézina and Sébastien Lafond through the prefinal, but Lachance set the fastest lap of all in finishing fourth. The speed then took him to third in the main event where he spent fifteen laps trying to run down Clair and Lafond. The lead karts had been 1-2 since the beginning and in the late stages Lafond was definitely looking for a way past, especially between the two St. Lawrence chicanes. He produced a good run on the second last lap, and had his best run on the way to the checker but Clair held to win by 0.107 seconds! Lachance was third, once again with the fastest lap in the field, while Vézina was fourth and Michel Legrand was fifth.
Le Monaco de Trois-Riviéres was a fantastic event with an atmosphere seldom experienced at a kart race. You can bet eKartingNews will be there in 2009, and perhaps you should be too! |
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