For the second year in a row we present the CKN Year in Review Awards. We here at Canadian Karting News decided to create our own set of awards, all pertaining to categories we feel worthy and throughout the final weeks of 2014, we will highlight an award for categories such as Junior and Senior driver’s of the year in both the Rotax Max and Briggs & Stratton divisions, helmet design of the year, Canadian event of the year among many others.
To see the full list of awards and announcement dates, click here.
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.
**2014 Atlantic Canadian Driver of the Year**
2013 Winner: New for 2014
Nominees:
– Justin Beers
– Robert Conrad
– Kelsey Hann
– Aaron Kennedy
– Steven Oliver
– Graci Young
Winner: Kelsey Hann
Atlantic Canada has been on the rise in recent years producing quality drivers from a developmental standpoint and continually growing thanks to the support and simplicity of the Briggs & Stratton LO206 platform and CKN has decided that it would be appropriate to add an award for Atlantic Canadian Driver of the Year.
Gerald Caseley Sr. of PSL Moncton helps drivers push their abilities and provides a solid base for the Briggs and Stratton karting development in Eastern Canada. Drivers and families coming from Caseley’s program are given a firm background in kart dynamics as well as access to top quality original CRG race parts to aid in their development before competing in some of Canada’s most prestigious events and series like the Coupe du Quebec, Eastern Canadian Karting Championship and ASN Canadian National Championships.
Selecting a single driver for Atlantic Canadian Driver of the Year was quite difficult. For this we selected from a pool of driver who competed outside of Atlantic Canada as well as maintained a strong standing within the Atlantic provinces. Drivers were nominated based on skill development both on and off the track.
From this pool selection it was quite difficult as all drivers had highlights points in the 2014 karting season. All of these drivers had a taste of the 2014 ASN Canadian National Karting Championships in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec which goes to show that karting in the Maritimes is increasing in quality and competitiveness thanks to the programs such as PSL Moncton.
The winner of the 2014 CKN Atlantic Canadian Driver of the Year is Kelsey Hann. This young driver came in strong to her 2014 Briggs and Stratton Junior season by winning a Coupe du Quebec race at SH Karting in May. This was the first ever race in the quicker division for Hann as she just moved up from the Novice devision. From this Hann was able to earn the tittle of Maritime Regional Champion of the Briggs Junior division at the annual 2014 competition and secure a respectable third place finish in her local seasonal CKRA championship. The young driver showed the highest level of improvement throughout the past season as she only began competitive karting at the end of 2012. Over the past few seasons from a development standpoint Hann has shown a massive improvement in driving skills.
Hann’s mechanic is her father Graham, who is no stranger to motorsport after spending plenty of time behind the wheel of a stock car in earlier years. Together the Hann’s have made karting a family event, with plenty of support coming from each member to further the young drivers career. We look forward to see what Hann and her family can accomplish in 2015 as one of the many strong representatives of the Atlantic karting scene.
A special thanks to CKN correspondent Nathan Kelly for helping with this award.
