Eastern Canadian Karting Championship
ECKC Championship Finale: Rotax Classes Almost All Sealed Up
Championship weekend is upon us as this weekend the titles for the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship will be awarded at Mosport Kartways in Ontario. Drivers across all categories will be racing for victories in races five and six of the season to cap off another good year of ECKC action.
We’ve had a look at the championship races and in our first part we review the Rotax classes on tap where all but one class have seen a single driver dominate all the action thus far. For the Rotax Max classes, this round is critical for those hoping to qualify for the Rotax Grand Finals as the ECKC points will be calculated to the results of the ASN Canadian National Karting Championships in a four weeks to determine who will represent Team Canada in Portugal.
With all six races counting towards the championship and no drops, there’s still plenty to fight for this weekend at Mosport.
Rotax Mini-Max
The new life that was breathed into the Rotax Mini-Max category has seen one driver show his dominance as Justin Arseneau has been on a tear, sweeping both events at Goodwood and Mont-Tremblant. It hasn’t been easy for Arseneau as he’s been rivaled by Emmo Fittipaldi, Ryland Duesburry and company. Arseneau’s title bid will be a little easier as we have confirmed that Fittipaldi will be absent this weekend as he will be competing in Italy with the official Intrepid Kart team.
This moves Duesburry up to be the closest contender with Andrew Maciel and Adam Moor within striking distance of the championship podium.
Justin Arseneau (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Rotax Junior
The only Rotax category not to feature a runaway leader is Rotax Junior where there have been three different race winners and five drivers all within championship confines.
Courtesy of two race wins, Patrick Woods-Toth leads the way but it is a slim margin back to Thomas Nepveu who sits back on 33 points. Nepveu brought home the victory in race four and brings the momentum with him. Mackenzie Clark hasn’t topped the podium just yet but he’s been consistently up front and that means he enters the weekend third in points, 133 markers back, while Goodwood winner Xavier Harris had a rough go in Tremblant and fell to fourth in the standings. Back in Ontario, he will be a force to be reckoned with as he looks to salvage the championship.
On the outside looking in, Kai Dalziel ranks fifth and a pair of good results could really move him up the rankings.
A couple notables, Dale Curran will be back in Canadian action and has joined REM to compete in Rotax Junior. He could upset the pecking order as he chases race victories. Also, Emma Delattre will be absent this weekend, relinquishing her sixth place in the championship. Our thoughts and prayers are with Emma and her family after the sudden passing of her father Al.
Rotax Senior
Nobody has even come close to Marco Di Leo this ECKC season in Rotax Senior as the veteran has prevailed in all four races to own a commanding lead. He returns to Mosport where he earned the 2015 Canadian National title in the category will all the momentum.
Marco Signoretti holds the second spot in the standings and does have a chance to match up with Di Leo, but our expectation is to see Signoretti do everything he can to close in on the championship leader in order to have a chance to earn the Rotax Grand Finals ticket next month. Ryan MacDermid, already qualified for the RMCGF, enters the weekend third and would not surprise if he came away with a race victory.
Peering in from the outside hoping to step up to the championship podium are Davide Greco and Ben Maxfield.
Marco DiLeo (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Rotax DD2/DD2 Masters
The only category to award a Rotax Grand Finals ticket this weekend will be Rotax DD2. Tyler Kashak has been in a league of his own so far this season, earning the maximum number of points through four races and looks to be in control of the title. Ethan Simioni has been chasing and closing in on Kashak all season and has the potential to stop Kashak from the perfect season while his teammate Justin Luik enters the weekend third in the standings.
We have confirmed that defending class champion Jeff Kingsley will suit up this weekend in DD2 as well.
It’s a similar situation in DD2 Masters where Joe Crupi is fully in control over Andrew Calebrese and Alexandre Mankovski.
Tyler Kashak (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Practice for the race weekends runs Thursday and Friday with complete race days run on Saturday and Sunday.
