Montreal, Quebec – Ilie Tristan Crisan, from Valleyfield, Quebec will join the CRG Karting Factory Team in Europe in the summer of 2021 for a full season of racing. The young nine-year-old driver, who won the 2020 Coupe de Montreal Cadet Karting Series Championship with his number 20 Black Mirror kart, scored six wins out of six in his class.

After only one season with the TAG Motorsport - CRG Canada Team, he jumps into the world of European karting where he will compete his summer season in Italy the 60 MINI class. The first two rounds of the Italian and WSK European Karting Championships of young Tristan Crisan will be held on the karting tracks of the cities of Siena, located north of Rome and Adria, near Venice in Italy at the beginning of June.

"This is exciting news to see one of the TAG Motorsport - CRG Canada drivers join the CRG brand in European competition," said TAG Motorsport team principal Alex Tagliani. "Ilie is a very talented driver. In the Canadian Challenge Rotax Max championship race held last September in Mont-Tremblant, he won the Canadian Rotax Micro MAX Championship class race that awarded him a ticket to compete in this class in the 2020 Rotax final in Portugal. Because of the worldwide pandemic situation, these races where unfortunately cancelled. As Ilie was already in Portugal, he registered to take part in a Hispanic-Portuguese Championship race held at Braga where he finished second in the Mini Rotax class."

"In the meantime, CRG Italy, along with TAG Motorsport, kept working on a racing program that would promote the young Quebec driver in Europe. First, Ilie will compete in the first two rounds of the 2021 Coupe de Montreal championship with TAG Motorsport - CRG Canada before flying off to Europe in the month of June where he will become part of the official CRG Factory Team. Everything materialized so quickly after the European final cancellation, even though this was part of his racing program to compete against the world's best drivers. We are going to follow on his development throughout the season to see how the young nine-year old adapts to his new racing environment."

The final European schedule for Ilie Tristan Crisan is not yet available, but the Valleyfield driver will start his karting season in Quebec in the month of May in the Mini Rotax class before leaving for Europe. On Sunday, May 2, he will compete in the Coupe de Montreal season opener at Karting St-Hilaire located at Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu. Fifteen days later, he will enter Round 2 at Mont-Tremblant.

"We know that Ilie will be in good hands in Europe. Giancarlo Tinini, the owner of the Italian CRG kart company, is the man behind the early successes of future Formula One champions Max Verstapen, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton who all began their racing career driving CRG karts. This is quite an honour for Ilie to be part of the same winning team," concluded Tagliani.

Ilie Tristan Crisan Career Highlights

2021
* Finishes second at the championship race held at Braga in Portugal

2020
* Classified 4th in the final Florida Winter Tour Series standings in the Micro Rok Class
* Competes in the four rounds of the SKUSA Winter Series with best two ninth place finishes
* Debuts with TAG Motorsport - CRG Canada Karting in the Coupe de Montreal Championship Series
* Wins 6 races in 6 starts with 3 pole positions to win the LO206 Cadet Class Championship
* At the age of 8, wins the Canadian Challenge Rotax Max championship in the Rotax Micro Max class (8-13)

2019
* Rookie year in the Coupe de Montréal Briggs & Stratton LO206 Cadet class
* Five top 5 finishes including a podium in six races
* Finishes fourth in the Coupe de Montréal final standings
* Finished 8th in the Canadian Championship Karting race held at circuit Mnt-Trembant

2018
* Friendly races at Mont-Tremblant (Briggs & Stratton LO206 Cadet) at the age of 6

About Ilie Tristan Crisan, CRG Driver:
Speaks: English, French and Romanian
Born in Montreal and lives in Valleyfield, Québec
Started Kart Racing: Karting school in 2018

About Alex Tagliani and TAG Motorsport: A business partner in the virtual amusement store TAG E-Karting, Alex also races in the NASCAR Pinty's Series with RONA, VIAGRA and St Hubert Restaurants sponsorships.

Alex is also one of the 245 motorsports personalities inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, taking his rightful place alongside driving legends Jacques Villeneuve, his late father Gilles Villeneuve and Gilles brother Jacques Villeneuve, Quebec racing star Richard Spénard, the late Greg Moore and Formula 1 legends and World Champions Jackie Stewart and Nigel Mansell.