49 Canadians Heading to Las Vegas for ROK the RIO!

Canadians have every category covered in the upcoming Rok the Rio event in Las Vegas. 49 drivers from north of the border will travel to Sin City to compete in the second annual event by the staff at Rok Cup USA. Our Rokkers will contend in each class that takes the track, from Micro Rok all the way to Shifter Rok and 100cc Masters.

Over 300 drivers from around the world are registered to race, including representation from Brazil, Columbia, Italy, Jamaica, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Junior Rok, Senior Rok and Shifter Rok all sold out and feature more than 40 drivers apiece.

Taking to a temporary circuit set up in the rear parking lot of the RIO All-Suites Hotel and Casino, a venue very familiar for kart racing, racers will be on track from Wednesday through to Saturday, celebrating Halloween in the process.

This turnout is a statement for Marco Di Leo of Rok Cup Canada, who had this to say about the progress of the program across the country.

“Canadians flocking southwest to participate in the 2019 edition of Rok the Rio is proof that the Rok Cup Canada program is very strong and continues to grow and gain support across the country.

The transition to the Vortex engine program has been seamless and now fully established the credit must go to the performance, equality and reliability of the product. Add to that, competitive pricing and one of the best warranty campaigns in the industry and success was inevitable. Countless hours and a huge investment put forth by Goodwood Kartways and the OTK group has helped get the program to where it is today. Rok Cup Calgary has seen growth and huge interest, especially in the new, crave VLR engine and the Challenge of Americas Rok Cup program continues to thrive.

The teams and drivers are clearly more excited than ever for the Rok the Rio season finale in Las Vegas! An early but well deserved congratulations to Rok Cup USA, Garett and Ursula for putting together such a huge event and continuing to give Canadian Rokkers amazing events to compete in with familiar equipment. Let’s keep Roking!”

Last year, Ryan MacDermid and Zachary Claman DeMelo finished 1-2 in the Rok Senior division. Claman DeMelo is back again, searching for victory while MacDermid is sitting this one out and will not defend his title.

Click here to order your Rok the Rio Photo Package!

Across the board, we have three drivers in Micro Rok, four in Mini Rok, eight in Junior Rok, ten in Senior Rok, nine in Shifter Rok, three in Shifter Rok Masters and two in Master Rok. In addition, we have some Canadians trying their hands in the 100cc classes, with two in Junior, two in Senior and seven in Masters. Most of these drivers jumped at the opportunity to try a Vortex VLR engine for free thanks to Rok Cup USA.

With the strength of the Rok Cup Canada program, the majority of our racers are coming from Ontario. But there is a good representation from Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia too. Canadians chose 13 different chassis manufacturers for the event as well. Canadian race teams Prime Powerteam, PSL Karting, Racing Edge Motorsports, Catalyst Driver Development, Team VSR, K&K West, Powerhouse Racing, Vemme Kart and Goodwood Kartways have all made the journey to be a part of the event.

CKN will be in Las Vegas to cover all the action as our Canadian drivers seek out victories on Saturday. We will do our best to have photos uploaded each day, as well as reports and updates throughout the week.

To view the official entry list from Rok Cup USA, visit http://bit.ly/19-rio-entry2.