2019 Canadian Karting Championships – Rok Cup PreFinal Recap

It was a wet start Saturday morning with a heavy fog covering the track at Mosport Kartways. The weather kept everyone on their toes before starting to rain minutes before morning warm-up. Drivers scrambled to get rain tires on and the rain continued to fall throughout the entire rotation.

After a short delay the final round of heat races kicked off and the sun began to peek through and dry the track. Multiple classes found themselves in a position of not knowing what tires to run for their last heat race of the day.

Drivers put on a spectacular showing with limited incidents on the day. The pressure was on to score as few points as possible in the final heat to get a good starting position for the PreFinal.

With the PreFinals hitting the track in the afternoon, here is how they went down.

Open Shifter

Being the only class with a standing start and posting the fastest lap times, Open Shifter had fans racing to the fence. Davide Greco (BirelART) was able to lock down the majority of the race and take the win with his PSL Karting teammate Thomas Nepveu (BirelART) trailing him in second. Justin Luik (BirelART), Zach Shearer (BirelART), and Stefano Lucente (GP Kart) all had a tight battle for third along with Joshua Conquer (TonyKart) and Daniel Morad (GP Kart). Ultimately it was Lucente and Luik followed by Shearer, who initially finished third but received a two-position penalty.

The Shifters also have a Master’s class, which saw Nicolas Bedard (Ricciardo) take the win. John Cuifo (GP Kart) was second being the only two competitors to finish the Prefinal. Tony De Marco (GP Kart) and Dany St-Hilaire (BirelART) were both DNF’s.

Mini Rok

Mini Rok was action-packed with all drivers putting on a first-class drive.

The top three drivers of Caleb Garfrarar (BirelART), Ayden Ingratta (Ricciardo) and Frankie Esposito (BirelART) all put on a show for race fans right until the finish. After leading most of the race, it was Esposito who was able to lock down the win with Garfrarar following in second. Ingratta took home third and in fourth was Jordan Di Leo (Intrepid) followed by Michael Costello (BENIK) rounding out the top five.

Rok Junior

Kicking off the PreFinals early in the afternoon was Rok Junior and the leaders gave us an idea of what to expect on Sunday, pure excitement.  In the end, Andrew Maciel (TonyKart) earned the pole position for Sunday after breaking away from the intense battle for second. Nicky Palladino (Exprit) was followed by Marcello Paniccia (Kosmic) at the finish line while Gianluca Savaglio (Kosmic) was fourth followed by Austin Boyle (Exprit).

Rok Senior/Rok Masters

Running in a combined class Rok Senior and Rok Masters has a massive field here at Mosport. Drivers false-started the first two attempts, but eventually, things got underway with the group flooding up the hill.

Ryan MacDermid (Kosmic) who was ultimately able to take home the victory and secure the best starting spot for Sunday’s Final. Second was Patrick Woods-Toth (BirelART), who advanced from seventh of the grid, with Dale Curran (Kosmic) in third. Just behind them was Mackenzie Clark (BirelART) and Nolan Bower (TonyKart), who will be knocking on the rear bumpers of the leaders on Sunday.

In the Rok Masters, it was Vatche Tatikian (Ricciardo) followed by Joe Crupi (Exprit) and Adrian Donkers. Drivers were battling closely with action taking place all over the field.

For Tomorrow…

Many teams will be up late tonight making last-minute repairs or changes before tomorrow’s National Championship Final races. With the showcase of talent today, tomorrow promises to be an action-packed day.

We wish all drivers nothing but the best and stay tuned for more updates through the day tomorrow!