2016 ECKC Season Preview: Part 2

The first National karting event of the summer hits the track this weekend as the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship kicks off their seventh season of competition, inviting the best kart racers from Ontario, Quebec and more to Goodwood Kartways, just north of Toronto, Ontario, for a weekend of jam-packed, close-knit racing. The tight and twisty Goodwood circuit is a favourite among many karters, especially after its repaving in 2012, providing plenty of passing opportunities on its roller coaster style layout.

For the most part it is status quo for the series this year with same four tracks hosting events and the same lineup of Rotax Max and Briggs & Stratton LO206 classes plus the addition of one support class for each round, Briggs Junior Lite in Ontario and Shifter in Quebec. Once again, tickets to join Team Canada at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, held this year in Italy, will also be available for the champions in the Rotax Junior, Senior, DD2 and DD2 Masters categories.

The Ontario rounds will stick to the usual format of two separate race days, while the Quebec rounds will feature a single Qualifying session, heat racing and culminating with two Finals, a welcome change to the race format. Tire strategy will also come into play this year with the primary Rotax Max classes being limited to six tires per weekend, two less than years past.

After keeping an eye on the pre-entry list and doing some surveying ourselves at the CKN offices, we have prepared a class by class preview based on who we expect to be racing this weekend.

Here is part 2, featuring Rotax Senior, Briggs & Stratton Senior and Rotax DD2.

If you missed part 1, covering the Rotax Junior, Briggs & Stratton Junior, Mini-Max and Micro-Max classes, click here. 

Rotax Senior

Marco Di Leo is seeking his fifth ECKC title this year (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

There is an interesting mix of drivers lined up for this years Rotax Max Senior category.

We must begin with the Defending ASN Canadian National Champion Marco Di Leo, who is seeking his fifth ECKC Rotax Senior title this year. It won’t be easy as Cedrik Lupien hopes to defend the ECKC title after his impressive rookie campaign a year ago. Anthony Tolfa and Gianfranco Mazzaferro will also be in the mix along with a handful of rookies, having moved up from Junior. These rookies include Samuel Lupien, Russell Boyle and Nico Seibert.

There are also a few drivers looking to break out this season, including Justin Ovejero, Nicholas Hornbostel, Davide Greco, Taegen Poles and Kris Martin, who is making a return to karting with his new Lenzo Kart operation.

Briggs & Stratton Senior

Simon Belanger won the title in 2015 without a race win. Can he do it again? (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Where do we even start when we look at the Briggs & Stratton Senior category with a list that already features over 40 drivers and hopefully a few more by the time we get racing on Saturday.

So, we will break it down by teams and who is representing each chassis this season.

Defending class champion Simon Belanger is the lone FA Kart from Quebec. There are a selection of BirelART machines this weekend including the likes of Kevin King, Austin Bisschop, and Alex Murphy. On their home track there are plenty of Intrepid karts including new recruit and past ECKC champion Jonathon Treadwell, DD2 driver Max Preston, Tyler McCullough and Jordan Slipacoff, who transfers from Rotax Junior to LO206 action. Margay Karting returns with the same lineup, talented duo Charlotte Lalonde and Mike Forget.

Maranello Kart has three drivers this weekend including their new recruit Zach Boam along with regulars Hunter Gibson and Ryan Kimber. We also cannot count out the Ricciardo Karts with Michael Glaze, Kyle Edgar and Mike de la Plante. Finally we have Pearce Herder and DD2 driver Jeff Kingsley aboard the Awesome Kart this weekend and Frank Launi, Chad Campbell and Melissa Glaze aboard the Launi Kart.

With so many talented four-cycle drivers on track this weekend, the Briggs & Stratton LO206 Senior class will be the show to watch!

Rotax DD2

Jeff Kingsley is aiming for another Rotax DD2 title in 2016 with PSL Karting (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

It’s a very familiar look for the Rotax DD2 class as all of the perennial front runners from a season ago have returned. Although we weren’t sure until last minute, defending class champion Jeff Kingsley and Fred Woodley will continue their excellent rivalry this weekend with the likes of Tyler Kashak, Marco Signoretti, Didier Carre and Alessandro Bizzotto hoping to upset the lead duo.

The class will also welcome a new addition as Indy Lights driver Zachary Claman DeMelo is hoping to add another ECKC title to his resume this season.

Not to be left out are Dev Gore, Austin Riley and Dante Lerra.

Please note: All pre-entry lists are unofficial.