#CoupedeMontreal
Sunny Start to the Season at SH Karting
The summer of karting has officially begun.
This weekend, we were trackside at the impeccable SH Karting for the start of the Coupe de Montreal season, an action-packed weekend of competition where more than 210 racers took to the track and competed for glory.
The updated format for the 2026 Coupe de Montreal season will feature 10 of 12 official categories at each of the first six races, before all seven combine for the season finale and crown the champions. For the opening round, Shifter and Shifter Master were on the sidelines while the full lineup of Briggs 206 and Rotax Max categories were on track.
Beautiful weather to kick off the season
As we mentioned at the start, SH Karting continues to shine with facility upgrades every time we visit the circuit just east of Montreal.
However, for as far as we can recall, the season-opening race at SH has always featured unfortunate weather, that is, until this past weekend, where beautiful, blue and sunny skies and relatively warm temperatures allowed most to shed the jackets and enjoy the spring weather.
Thankfully, this also meant no wasted practice days, and aside from some gusty winds, a really enjoyable weather weekend.
Baillargeon swoops in and takes Rotax Senior victory
Read our Rotax Senior story here.
Belanger remains unstoppable at home track
Read our Briggs Senior story here.
Da Silva unfazed in Junior Final
In the Junior Rotax division, two Canadians with plenty of international experience this off-season were back home competing at SH. Fresh from the Rotax Euro Trophy, Olivier Chasse (Prime Pwerteam/OTK) put himself on the pole position, while the US Rotax Winter Trophy Champion Leo Da Silva (REM/Kosmic) chased down and overtook Chasse to win the PreFinal.
The pair were joined by local rising star Jayden Colligan (PSL/BirelART) in the Final as the trio broke free from the pack.
For 15 laps, the three drivers matched each other’s pace without mistake, maintaining a close gap. Chasse started to fade with five laps remaining, and Colligan pounced, but now had to close the gap to the race leader. Colligan posted the fastest lap of the race to catch Da Silva on the final lap, but just ran out of time to make a move as Da Silva led every lap from start to finish to notch the victory. Chasse completed the podium.
Rotax Junior podium: Jayden Colligan, Leo Da Silva and Olivier Chasse (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
In the Mini-Max division, Francesco Cosco (CS Motorsport/TonyKart) pulled away to score the victory while Giulio Berlinguet (BCR/BirelART) and Adam Bentaleb (BCR/BirelART) finished second and third.
The Rotax DD2 Final was very similar as Alex Marcil Perron (HM Propela/Kart Republic) dominated the race day, pulling away to a massive margin of victory. At the checkered flag, Perron was 9.3 seconds ahead of William Boisvert (SAAS Racing/Mac Minerelli) and Matthew Bertleff (PSL/BirelART).
BCR Drivers Win Briggs Cadet and Junior Finals
Two drivers from the Ben Cooper Racing camp showcased impressive efforts in their Final races, capping off a strong weekend for the team.
In Briggs Cadet, Zackary Losier (BirelART) dominated his fellow cadet racers, pulling away to an 8.5 second margin of victory. On the podium, he was joined by two more of his BCR teammates after they battled hard for 18 laps to determine the runner-up finisher. That position would go to Tom Gagnon (BirelART), who just edged out William Irwin (BirelART) and Julien Victor (SodiKart) at the finish line.
The Junior Briggs Final started with five karts in contention for victory but eventually two drivers separated themselves from the pack to settle on their own.
Privateer Jackson Cadney (BirelART) and BCR’s Giordano Marateo (BirelART) broke free from Justin Michaud (BirelART), Thomas Bernier Brandao (CompKart) and Victoria Nikolaieva (Stealth Kart) around the halfway mark and then waited until only a few laps remained to trade the top position.
At the finish line, Marateo just edged out Cadney by 0.062 seconds to secure his first victory of the season. In the battle for third, Bernier Brandao held off Nikolaieva to earn himself a step on the podium.
Massive grids in all three Master’s divisions
All three Masters divisions taking to the track this weekend featured larger grids than expected as Rotax DD2 Masters lined up 26 drivers, Briggs Masters featured 23 drivers, and Rotax Max Masters had 23 drivers of their own as all three delivered great races.
In DD2 Masters, we saw a battle amongst last year’s Canadian Open Champion, Sebastian Bernier (HMR/OTK) and former Rotax Grand Finals Champion Pier-Luc Ouellette (PSL/BirelART), along with many others.
Unfortunately for the pair, contact on the opening lap relegated both of them down the running order early. This opened the door for Zephyrin Dupain (PSL/BirelART) to take advantage, and he drove a lights-out race from there, never relinquishing the lead until the checkered flag.
Just behind, Tyler Givogue (CEF/Formula K) worked his way up to P2 in the race, battling with Yannick Hurtubise (HMR/OTK) until Ouellette recovered to overtake both drivers. Unfortunately for Ouellette, his chances of a podium were dashed with a pushback penalty that moved him back to P8 in the final results.
Three wide-finish in Briggs Masters (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
In the Briggs Masters division, Eric Lessard (Intrepid), David Bergeron (OTK) and Jessica Plante (OTK) worked together until the final lap to settle their score. Battling hard on the final circuit, the trio emerged from the final corner in a three-wide drag race to the finish line. Lessard just narrowly managed to maintain his lead, edging Bergeron by 0.043 seconds while Plante was only 0.064 seconds behind the race winner.
In Rotax Masters, Dominic Legrand (PSL/BirelART) was just too much for his fellow competitors in the Final. He overtook early race leader Michael McLean (HMR/OTK) at the halfway mark and then pulled away to a two-second victory. McLean held on for P2 while Sebastian Cloutier (SC Performance/OTK) took home the third position.
CKN Photo Galleries Now Online
We have uploaded a massive photo gallery from the weekend onto our new photo gallery section. Be sure to visit http://canadiankartingnews.stubhub.com to check out all of the photos we captured this weekend. We did our best to capture everyone.
Take advantage of our online specials, where you can purchase 5 digital images for $75.00 or an official Coupe de Montreal photo print for $50.00.
Next Up: Karting Trois-Rivieres on June 5-7
The Coupe de Montreal returns to action in just a few short weeks when the series marks its first visit to the Karting Trois-Rivieres circuit. The track received a fresh layer of asphalt during the off-season and is excited to host the Coupe de Montreal.
We will see the Shifter and Shifter Masters division make their first official start of the season, while the Rotax Max Masters and Rotax DD2 Masters will have the weekend off.
Registration for the event will open soon on Race Select.
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