Lorenzo Mandarino - Courtesy of Pserra/Birel

Andrew Waring - Courtesy of Goodwood/Intrepid

	BSRKC Mosport Rotax Report
	BSRKC Mosport Rotax Report
	The Brian Stewart Racing Karting Championship contested its third round over the weekend and Rotax Max Challenge competitors were over 100 strong in the paddock, this time at Mosport International Karting. Many have now met the requirement to compete for the National Championship, and in doing so they produced the best races of the Saturday schedule. DD2 was the first Rotax class up and Greenspeed/TonyKart driver Darren White earned his third straight pole position in an impressive field of twenty-four karts. Cameron/CRG driver Enrico Menotti was off-pole, and in his return to the seat, Innisfil/GP driver Frank Launi was third. The same trio fought to earn the prefinal win, and were joined by Mosport/CRG driver Mark Woyslaw who came forward from fifth on the grid. White, Menotti and Woyslaw swapped positions in the ten-lap run, but Launi kept the point to win by a half-second. White crossed second, but was issued a penalty for passing on the grass and fell to fourth behind Menotti and Woyslaw. Cory Luciano worked to fifth for Pserra/Birel, but the story of the run was PRKosmic driver Rich Hibbs in sixth. After blowing an engine in morning practice and missing the qualifying session, Hibbs charged from the back of the pack to sixth over ten laps, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. Blown engines would continue to factor in the class later in the day as both Luciano and PRKosmic driver Matt France were taken from the top ten owing to motor malfunctions. Launi held station at the head of the pack when the green waved, and as the others wrestled behind him he slipped to the winning margin early. The remaining podium players established themselves free of the rest beginning the second half of eighteen laps and it was Hibbs leading Innisfil/GP driver Eric Gerrits and Menotti. The CRG driver proved the fastest of the three in the late stages, and after getting by Gerrits on fourteen he closed to Hibbs and took second on seventeen. Hibbs held third, Gerrits fourth, and though each was taking nearly a half-second out of Launi in the closing laps, the GP was still over two seconds up the road when the checkered flag waved. Rotax Senior was stacked for round three as 39 karts were on hand and most major marques were represented at the front. The top three in qualifying were separated by just 0.039 seconds as Pserra/Birel driver Lorenzo Mandarino took pole from Launi and Goodwood/Intrepid driver Marco Di Leo. White was fourth, and Mosport/CRG’s Brad Forbes was fifth. A half-second was the difference from pole to tenth, and being one second off had drivers outside the top twenty. Launi had some jump early to steal the point, but Mandarino took it back in the second half when his Birel came in. Forbes worked his way to second in businesslike fashion, while Di Leo was looking good with third and the fastest lap of the run. Michael Vincec worked his way to fourth in his first run with Pserra/Birel, and Launi crossed fifth in a lead pack that had broken free of the rest. A similar race played out in the main event as after Launi led early, Mandarino took the lead back and a five-kart pack was set to settle things in the second half of the race. Fireworks came the rest of the way, and continued in tech afterwards. They began when Forbes passed from fifth to third working lap fifteen, but when Launi tried to rescue the position back in the final turn, contact saw the GP go up and across the bow of the CRG, snapping the steering wheel off in the process. Forbes was out on the spot, Vincec was then all alone in third, and Mandarino and Di Leo were left to settle matters. The Intrepid ran to the bumper of the Birel working sixteen and took over the lead running to turn one on the next-to-last lap. Di Leo was lapping quicker by a tenth at that stage, and Mandarino had to rescue the position before they headed down the straight a final time. He made his move at the final turn with a well-timed dart to the inside, but the exit was messy and contact was made, ruining Di Leo’s chance at a repeat move running to one on the last lap. Mandarino crossed first, Di Leo second, and Vincec third having set the fastest lap in the field on his way to the checker. Then came tech and rulings. First Mandarino was issued a one-position penalty for rough driving during the Di Leo pass and Launi was issued a three-position penalty for rough driving during his attempted comeback on Forbes. The latter penalty mattered little after the fact, but the first changed the winner as Di Leo was awarded top spot - for a matter of minutes. Asked to remove his engine by a tech official, he did so and was promptly disqualified for removing his carb cap in the process. The fact he did so in front of all drivers and tuners in tech mattered little to the official seeking a disqualification and the ruling stood. Mandarino was then the winner again, Vincec was second, Marc Stehle third and Di Leo out. He was also out for good, as he consequently dismissed the series after the call. As for the rest on the road, Michael Glaze was fourth on a day that began from P18, and Pearce Herder was fifth. Junior Rotax had Goodwood/Intrepid driver Andrew Waring on pole in an incredibly tight field of 31. Pserra/Birel pilot Austin Milwain was second, Greenspeed/TonyKart driver Cameron Morrison third, and Goodwood/Intrepid driver Spencer Todd fourth - each within a tenth of a second! The front row then reversed in the prefinal as Milwain took pole for the main with Waring second, nursing a loose radiator to the line. The second row did the same as Todd was third and Morrison fourth. TopKart driver Garett Grist worked forward to fifth, and five drivers were clear of the rest. No other kart would enter the top five in the main event as all held station in the opening laps. Waring was the first to move, taking back the point on lap four, and afterward it was rare to have the order remain the same across the stripe. Waring led through five, Milwain through six and seven, Waring again through eight and nine before Grist took his turn at the head of the line beginning lap ten. He and Waring would establish the winner as Milwain had radiator problems on his way to third with Todd and Morrison locked to fourth and fifth. The battle for the win was electric with Grist and Waring swapping top spot multiple times. Grist led through the end of thirteen, Waring took the lead back through fourteen, but Grist countered again to lead for another pair. The decisive move came when Waring went outside the Top Kart through one and took the inside line up the turn two hill. It proved a lead he would never relinquish. The BSRKC resumes July 10 when Waterloo Regional Kart Club hosts Regional competitors at Flamboro Speedway.
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