Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
QUYON May 20, 2018
New and experienced racers took to the track on Sunday, living out their Indy 500 dreams as they competed in a go-kart speedway championship, complete with a shot at some snazzy trophies.
Hitting the pavement at Le Circuit Quyon, around 15 racers hopped in a kart and put their pedal to the floor as they competed in the season’s first Ottawa Gatineau Rental Kart Championship on May 20.
“They’re driving the rental karts, so they’re a little bit different than a race-prepared kart,” said Cathy Lalonde, who owns the track with her husband, Paul Lalonde. “But it’s still a lot of fun, they’ll do about 70 km/h and we always have a good group of racers and people that are really eager to get into racing, but just aren’t prepared to make that purchase of a kart, getting all of the tools and everything else that goes along with it.”

Before the race began, Cathy gave the group some guidelines, rules and safety tips – like no bumping other racers and letting faster racers pass – and then let them loose.
Starting with a five-minute warm-up session, competitors then had two races to follow through with – the qualifier and then the actual championship.
Seeing seasoned pros meet hobbyists, racers zipped about, drifting and skidding around corners as they sought to take the podium.
“That’s something that at our track, because we have rental karts, we really try and promote that we also have a rental championship,” said Cathy. “So that’s anybody – they don’t have to own their own karts, they don’t have to have any equipment at all. They can come, and they can race in the rental karts.”
Smiles and looks of determination beaming through visors on their helmets, the group fought hard amongst each other to take the lead.
When it was all over, three racers stepped up to the podium and were awarded a trophy for their efforts. Rebecca Pantalone came in third, with Ralf Kouleib in second and Ivan Beljin taking home the top spot.
Beljin, who considers himself a hobby racer, said that he was impressed with the evenness of the track, appreciating a lack of elevation change while racing.
Rental kart racers can continue to compete in the series by returning next month on June 17, when the next leg of the championship will take place. Racers who continue to take part will have their scores recorded across the season, with an opportunity to take home a grand prize for having the most points at the end of the summer.
Surrounding the rental kart championship, which took place at the noon hour, racers who owned their own kart across four classes filled out the rest of the day in the second of eight races in the Valley Karting Series. A new collaboration, racers switch tracks between Le Circuit and Lombardy Karting, just south of Smiths Falls, Ont., to compete in eight races across the season.
Cathy was confident that as some of the rental racers continue to enjoy the sport, she could look forward to seeing them on the track as a part of those series.
“Every year we’ve been getting new people through [the rental races] and also, just every once in a while, somebody decides to take the rental a little bit further and decides to get into the racing aspect of it,” she said.