2013 CKN Year in Review Awards: International Driver of the Year

Looking back at the successful year that 2013 was, we here at Canadian Karting News decided to create our own set of awards, all pertaining to categories we feel worthy. Throughout the final weeks of 2013, we will highlight an award for categories such as Junior and Senior driver’s of the year, helmet design of the year, Canadian event of the year, best appearing kart among many others.

While these are all the opinion of CKN, you can let us know who you think deserved each award. Using the comments below each article, let us know who you feel was worthy of the award and a short blurb why you believe so.

*International Driver of the Year*

Winner: Ben Cooper

Nominee’s:
– Ben Cooper
– Devlin Defrancesco
– Antonio Serravalle
– Lance Stroll
– Parker Thompson

This year saw a handful of Canadian racers travelling to Europe to compete with the best karters in the world on the International stage. Whether it was the WSK Euro and Master Series, CIK Euro and World Championships, Rotax Euro Challenge, CSAI Italian Championships or the CIK Academy trophy, there was also at least one Canadian flag on the entry list. Add in a large selection of Canadians competing in the United States and it’s needless to say Canadian’s were impressing all around the world in 2013.

Selecting a winning driver for this category was very challenging to say the least. Alberta’s Parker Thompson impressed so many in his debut season in Europe while competing with the factory Energy Corse team, while Ferrari Driver Academy’s Lance Stroll, of Quebec, raced against the best of the best in the premier KF division, standing on the podium on occasion. But ultimately it was Rotax DD2 pilot Ben Cooper who takes home the CKN hardware.

Cooper is a converted Canadian now living in Mont-Tremblant, and he faced plenty of adversity in

2013. He started off the year with another Florida Winter Tour Championship, then scored a huge come front behind championship in the Rotax Euro Challenge, surprising a few on hand. But his performance at the 2013 SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas may have been one of his best ever, and proved why he is one of the best kart racers on the planet. And you have to remember he broke his hand only 6 weeks before the Rotax Grand Finals, a race he was leading before being taken out of contention. Oh yeah, he was also the DD2 Champion in the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship.

It is yet to be determined who will fly the maple leaf around the world in 2014, but whoever it may be, we will be there to cover them in our CKN Euro Report.

Ben Cooper, 2013 Florida Winter Tour Champion, Rotax Euro Series Champion and SKUSA SuperNationals Champion
(Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)