2014 CKN Year in Review Awards: Up and Coming Racer

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 Up and Coming Racer**
2013 Winner: Matthew Latifi

Nominees:

– Natael Cantin
– Xavier Dorsnie
– Marco Kacic
– Ryan MacDermid
– Kellen Ritter
– Joe Soranno

Winner: Xavier Dorsnie

For 2014 we have added a second category for our younger drivers simply called ‘Young Driver of the Year’ where we look at the Micro-Max and Mini-Max drivers while in the Up and Coming Racer category we look at all drivers who we feel are on the cusp of breaking out and having a career year in 2015.

After making the transition from Mini-Max to Briggs & Stratton Junior only one month into the Canadian season, Xavier Dorsnie began putting in endless hours of testing at the Jim Russell Karting Academy with hopes of advancing his way to the front of the Junior Briggs category as quick as possible. Working with Rotax World Champion Ben Cooper for driver coaching and having his father turn the wrenches on the kart Dorsnie impressed immediately in Eastern Canadian Karting Championship competition.

When it came down to the Canadian Championships at his home track, his competition grew to almost 30 competitors and even a very scary accident during the start of the Final didn’t hold him back from giving it his all and delivering a gut check performance.

Fast forward a month and in some of the most challenging wet conditions Dorsnie was flawless en route to his first victory at the ECKC/Coupe du Quebec finale in Tremblant. It was this breakout performance that earned him our Up and Coming Racer Award for 2014 as he will be a championship contender wherever he competes in 2015.

Xavier Dorsnie is our 2014 Up and Coming Racer award winner (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)