MRFKC Rok Cup Report – Goodwood Night Race Closes Out 2019 Season

Under the lights at Goodwood Kartways, the 2019 MotoMaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship came to a close. Fireworks, both on the track and after the race, was on display as racers put all their efforts into closing out their seasons on a high, with some pushing even harder to become an MRFKC class champion.

In the Rok Cup Canada classes, more than just bragging rights were on the line, tickets to the Rok Cup SuperFinal in Italy and Rok the Rio in Las Vegas were available to the class champions and vice-champions, putting a little more pressure on those near the top of the standings.

Rok Junior – Savaglio seals the deal with authority

Entering the weekend, the championship was close as Gianluca Savaglio (REM/Kosmic) entered the weekend with a narrow lead over Canadian Champion Andrew Maciel (VSR/TonyKart) and Marcello Paniccia (REM/Kosmic).

After qualifying pole and scoring 25 important bonus points, Savaglio delivered in the Final in what has become a standard with Savaglio is the second half of the 2019 season. The young driver remained cool, kept his composure, and simply drove away to victory, confirming himself as the MRFKC Rok Junior champion.

In the race for second, Maciel battled with Paniccia early on, before Nicky Palladino (KGR/Exprit) joined the pack. All three held the second spot during the race before Maciel regained the spot for good. Palladino locked down the final step of the podium, while Paniccia and Connor Pritiko (Prime/BirelART) closed out the top-five.

Savaglio will join Maciel and Dale Curran on Team Canada at the Rok Cup SuperFinal in Italy, while Maciel added a ticket to Rok the Rio in Las Vegas as well to his spectacular season.

Rok Cup SuperFinal winners: Savaglio, Espsito, Woods-Toth and Conquer

Rok Senior – Woods-Toth recovers in Final to secure the title

Lots of eyes were on the Rok Senior division as season rivals Patrick Woods-Toth (Prime/BirelART) and Nicholas Hornbostel (REM/Kosmic) took to the track for the title.

Hornbostel closed in on Woods-Toth’s points lead with the 25 points he earned in Qualifying before a major shakeup in the PreFinal. Racing down towards corner two, Hornbostel jumped out to the lead while Woods-Toth and Dale Curran (REM/Kosmic) ran side-by-side. Neither would give an inch and it ended badly for both as contact sent them spinning hard into the barriers, collecting Kai Dalziel (PRO/Exprit) with them. Woods-Toth was able to resume, while Curran stomped off the track, visibly upset. Hornbostel scored the Prefinal win, putting the pressure on Woods-Toth, who managed to recover to twelfth.

Under the night sky and a few lights, the tone was set for the Final. Hornbostel got off to a great start and led the way while Woods-Toth and Curran began to cut their way through the field.

It was a short 14-lap main event and ran relatively quiet until the final laps. Hornbostel was still out front but Canadian Champion Xavier Harris (KGR/Exprit) had clawed his way to the rear bumper of the leader. The last lap board was displayed and after having a peek inside of corner four, Harris waited and dove up the inside in five to get the lead. Hornbostel refused to give it up and tried the same pass in corner six. It didn’t work, as Hornbostel spun over the top of Harris, sending both into the grass and opening the door for Nolan Bower (VSR/TonyKart) to slip through and into the lead.

Harris was able to keep going, but Bower was out of reach and scored the win while Harris settled for second. Robert Soroka (KGR/Kosmic), who jumped back in a single-speed kart for the day, and earned a nice third-place finish. Woods-Toth completed the race in seventh, more than enough to take the title, while Hornbostel ended twelfth.

Woods-Toth earned the ticket to join Team Canada in Italy while Hornbostel was awarded the entry to Las Vegas.

Nolan Bower

Rok Mini – Esposito is a back-to-back champion

All he needed to do entering the race was start. A spectacular season for Frankie Espositio (Prime/BirelART) put him in the perfect position entering the weekend, but that didn’t stop him from going out for one more victory on the season.

Ayden Ingratta (AI/TonyKart) made it quite difficult, challenging Espositio in the Final and eventually crossing the finish line ahead. However, he was presented a penalty for regaining his starting position after the commitment line and that relegated him back to second and Esposito to the top step of the podium. Cooper Simpson (Prime/BirelART) finished third after an early race battle with Jordan Di Leo (Goodwood/Intrepid) and Joseph Launi (Powerhouse/GP Kart).

With his championship crown, Esposito will be heading back to Italy for the Rok Cup SuperFinal, while Joseph Launi scores the ticket to Las Vegas as the vice-champion.

Frankie Esposito

Rok Shifter – Luik scores the win while Conquer confirms the championship

In a similar situation as Esposito, Joshua Conquer (VSR/TonyKart) just needed to hit the track at Goodwood to confirm the title in Rok Shifter, but he too didn’t hold back in going for another race win.

Conquer put his TonyKart on the pole-position but was beat to the first corner on the standing start by Justin Luik (Prime/BirelART). While under pressure from Conquer, Luik remained cool and led every single lap of the Final to score another MRFKC race win at Goodwood, while Conquer secured the title with a runner-up finish. Third went to Stefano Lucente (Powerhouse/GP Kart).

With the title, Conquer now has the opportunity to race in Italy at the Rok Cup SuperFinal, while Luik broke the tie he had with this Prime teammate Zach Shearer to take vice-champion honours, and with it, an entry to Rok the RIO is Las Vegas.

Justin Luik