This weekend the CAN-AM Karting Challenge will wrap up their 2017 championship season at one of North America’s most prestigious karting circuits, Pat’s Acres Racing Complex in Canby, Oregon, and a trio of Canadian drivers are chasing the final two tickets available in North America for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.
The two tickets up for grabs are in Rotax Junior where Jason Leung and Marco Kacic are in the running, and Rotax Senior where Matthew Taskinen has a chance to take it.
The three-round CAN-AM Karting Challenge kicked off in Washington in May before trekking north to British Columbia mid-summer, closing out this weekend in Oregon.
Leung and Kacic enter the championship weekend trailing American driver Hannah Greenemeier in the points battle, but with Greenemeier already qualified for Portugal, the two will have to keep another American driver, Cooper Becklin, at bay along with their own inner battle. Separated by 52 points, anything will be possible this weekend.
“I think I’ve been doing quite well for my first year in Junior and to be honest it’s gone better than I expected. With a win at Tri-Cities, I think I’ve proven I can win the ticket. I really want to go to Portugal, especially to help prepare me for next year.” – Jason Leung
In Rotax Senior, the top five drivers are separated by only 64 points. American Mason Buck currently leads the way but only by a mere 8 points over Taskinen. Kyle Dupell sits 11 points out of the lead followed by Kellen Ritter (already qualified) and Kyle Wick. Ritter is already a member of Team Canada and as teammates to Taskinen, will hopefully help a fellow Canadian out.
“Coming into my first Senior year, I was expecting to just learn as much as I could, but I’ve achieved more than I expected, especially winning at Challenge (of the Americas) in my first weekend. I would really like the chance to go back to the Grand Finals, given what I learned last year, and prove to myself I can do better.” – Matthew Taskinen
Championship weekend will put it all on the line with the exciting big weekend format. Qualifying kicks off Saturday morning followed by three rounds of heat races. Sunday will feature a PreFinal and Final race to determine it all.
Live timing, news, photos and updates can be found on CKN all weekend long.
