2014 CKN Year in Review Awards: Helmet Design of the Year

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 Helmet Design of the Year**
2013 Winner: Austin Boyle/Polen Designs

Nominees:

– Alessandro Bizzotto (LSDesign)
– Zachary Claman DeMelo (Lucky Design)
– Max Preston (Creative Edge)
– Kellen Ritter (Censport)
– Elvis Stojko (SMART Race Paint)
– Steven Szigeti (Polen Designs)

Winner: Kellen Ritter (Censport)

It was another great year for drivers to unveil their helmet designs. From local painters all the way to some of the most respected in the world, Canadian drivers flew paint jobs and designs that wowed us at CKN all year long.

We did our best to cover our favourite job from each painter above, but after seeing Kellen Ritter’s new lid in Chilliwack, BC this summer, we were simply blown away. Many know Kellen as the brother of respected driver Hayden, but this was his breakout year in karts and his new helmet made it official, helping him stand on the podium at the Western Canadian Championships. The pictures do no real justice to the artwork and effort put into this helmet.

The beauty was painted by Tyler Cenarussa of Censport Graphics. Censport has been pumping out some very beautiful work over the past couple years, including the likes of Nicholas and Matthew Latifi, Gianfranco Mazzaferro, Garett Grist and among many others. His lines are clean and sharp, colours very vibrant and his chrome work is some of the best we have ever seen.

To all the helmet designers, painters and those aspiring to get into the industry, keep up the great work. We can’t wait to see what you come up with in 2015 and beyond!

Kellen Ritter (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)