We’re finally receiving information about the 2017 National Canadian karting season.
Here are the notables:
- The Mini-Max and Micro-Max class has been combined and will utilize the Mini-Max ruleset on the 950mm chassis like the USA
- Rotax Senior will use the Vega Blue ONT tire while Rotax DD2 will utilize the new Max One Purple by Vega; Rotax Mini and Junior will still use MOJO tires
- A claim rule has been introduced for the Rotax classes
- Only seven Rotax Grand Finals tickets up for grabs, one in every Rotax category plus a bonus in Rotax DD2
- More information to come…
Hot off the presses, the following is from SRA Karting and reveals many changes for the five national races on tap for this year (ECKC plus ASN Canadian Championships). Have questions? Please send us an email through the Contact section and we will be sure to forward it.
2017 Rotax MAX Challenge Canada: additional information
Preparations are well under way for the 2017 season. Previews were announced last November; below you will find some reminders as well as new information for the upcoming season.
1. National Events
As was announced by ASN Canada a few weeks ago, the National Calendar is the following:
| ASN Canada FIA 2017 National Kart Racing Calendar |
| Date |
Event |
Track |
Location |
| May 20-21 |
Eastern Canadian Karting Championship Round 1 |
Goodwood Kartways |
Stouffville, Ontario |
| June 3-4 |
Eastern Canadian Karting Championship Round 2 |
Jim Russell Karting Academy |
Mont-Tremblant, Québec |
| July 1-2 |
Eastern Canadian Karting Championship Round 3 |
ICAR Karting |
Mirabel, Québec |
| July 22-23 |
Eastern Canadian Karting Championship Round 4 |
Mosport Kartways |
Bowmanville, Ontario |
| August 25-27 |
ASN Canada FIA Canadian Karting Championships |
Mosport Kartways |
Bowmanville, Ontario |
2. NEW Micro-Mini Class for National Events
As announced, the minimum age for the Junior MAX class will change in 2017, allowing drivers to move up to the Junior class earlier. This along with the introduction of the small chassis in Mini-MAX class is perfect timing to create the Micro-Mini MAX class on a test year basis. This class will allow drivers between 8 and 13 y.o. to compete together based on the Mini-MAX technical regulation for National events. On a club or regional basis, clubs will be allowed to run this new class or to run the Micro and Mini separately.
At this time, we are closely following the Florida Winter Tour series to see how the new rules for chassis and weight are doing before setting the exact final elements on this.
3. Claim Rule
A claim rule will be introduced in the 2017 Canadian regulation for National Events. The idea is to dismiss any and all paddock rumours about “special engines”. As we have witnessed in the past when an engine is sold due to a driver moving up to another category, an average skilled driver using that engine did not suddenly become a star only because of the engine. This will also stop disproportionate expenses on engines. Clubs and regional series will be allowed to either use the claim rule or not.
4. Tires
As was announced last November, Canada has been selected by Rotax to conduct a test season on a different tire brand for the MAX Senior, DD2 & DD2 Master classes. Vega Blue ONT and Vega Max One Purple will be the tires selected for these classes while the others will run on Mojo.
5. Seats for the Grand Finals
Over the years, the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals has greatly evolved. Now with 360 drivers, the Grand Finals attracts a lot of drivers from several countries. Demand for seats from national distributors to Rotax widely exceed the 360 available and attribution of seats by Rotax is based on several criteria, including the participation at the national level for the previous year. For 2017, Canada was granted 7 seats: 1 Micro, 1 Mini, 1 Junior, 1 Senior, 2 DD2 and 1 DD2 Masters.
Awarding the seats for Canada for the 2017 season was a difficult decision because of the size of our country. Taking into consideration that Western Canada is covered by the Can-Am series, the seats will be awarded at the ASN Canada FIA National Karting Championships based on point standings which will include all National events (ECKC + Nationals) for all classes, except for the DD2 class. Point attribution will be the same for each event. This system has been used last year to determine the winner in the Micro and Mini MAX classes.
In the new Micro-Mini Class, the points winner in the 8 to 10 y.o. age group (born in 2007, 2008 or 2009) will win the Micro MAX invitation and the points winner in the 11 to 13 y.o. age group (born in 2004, 2005 or 2006) will win the Mini-MAX invitation.
In the DD2 class, 1 seat will be awarded to the winner of the ECKC championship and 1 seat to the National Champion.
