ECKC Finale - Le Monaco
Even though the ECKC season is finished, this year’s racing season is coming closer and closer to its climax, the Canadian Nationals. With that being so, it is time for another update.
The last race I did was the Le Monaco in Trois-Rivières, QC. It was a great experience because this would be the first time that I have ever raced on a street course, especially one with very unforgiving barriers/concrete walls. The practice day went well, and at the end of the day I had gone from being three seconds off to just under a half-second shy of the leaders. I was satisfied with that, but knew I would keep getting better on the race days with more practice. The next day, the feature was a Coupe de Quebec race, instead of ECKC. It didn’t count, but I wanted to do well. Unfortunately, I didn’t do great in qualifying, starting 21st. The field was also really close in timing, and just two tenths would’ve put me all the way up in 11th. That also meant that I had to be consistently fast, because otherwise people would be all over me in the pre-final. Sadly, the pre-final didn’t go so well either. I survived lap one (sort of) and gained lots of positions, but other people weren’t as fortunate, bringing out a red flag just past the mid-point of the race. After the restart, my luck did not hold out and I didn’t make it past the first chicane before hitting the barriers and bending parts – steering column, axle etc. For the final, this meant my starting position was less than stellar, going back down to 24th. But in a race, anything can happen, and this time it did. I was quick on track, and gained 9 positions during the course of the race. I was hoping to have better luck the next day in ECKC – and I guess I did, somewhat. Even though I didn’t qualify well, 21st again, I had another great start for the pre-final and got up to 13th! I was hoping I could have another great start in the final that would earn me another great result, but that didn’t happen. In the end, I crossed the finish line in 14th place. Not terrible, but I definitely wanted better for the season finale. I also finished the overall series in 14th, so a top 15 out of 41 total drivers wasn’t so bad for my rookie season. Next year I will be looking for a stronger result, especially on the road course, since I really enjoyed that whole experience.