#CanadaFinal
Six Burning Questions Ahead of the MKG Canada Final
Check out our weekend preview and entry list!
It’s race week in Western Canada and the Max Karting Group Canada Final is taking place at the Rotax Mojo Raceway at EDKRA in Warburg, Alberta.
The event is just one entry shy, thanks Robby K, of 100 Rotax Max drivers competing for six tickets to the coveted Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals.
The Max Karting Group has done a great job preparing for the event and attracting a great group of racers, including a sell-out in Rotax Senior Max. At event check-in, drivers have been greeted with several great Rotax items, including hats, pens, watches and t-shirts, to start their event off with a smile.
Racers will get two full days of practice on the EDKRA circuit to prepare for two full race days of action to determine the weekend champions.
Following a couple of days of roaming the paddock and visiting our friends from Western Canada, we’ve come up with six burning questions ahead of this weekend’s action.
Will there be a first-time Rotax Grand Finals ticket winner?
The Rotax Grand Finals is a ticket that racers will literally chase around the world to get and this weekend’s event features, by our count, 20 drivers who have been to the RMCGF before. Some of these drivers have competed in the most recent RGF in Bahrain, while some competed all the way back in 2013 in New Orleans and are still trying to race their way back.
With this year’s race taking place in Italy, the home of karting, at the amazing Sarno International Circuit near Naples, racers are even more ambitious to win a ticket.
Can the West defend the titles on home turf?
As usual, there is a strong contingent of racers from Alberta and the neighbouring provinces competing for the wins this weekend, but they have some additional competition from Eastern Canada and the USA.
Breaking down the entries, there are 43 drivers from Alberta, 26 from British Columbia and 8 from Saskatchewan to represent the West. From the East, there are 10 drivers from Quebec, 4 from Ontario and 8 from the USA.
The competition is very strong this weekend and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top!
Who will come out on top in Rotax Senior Max?
This has been the most asked question when walking through the paddock. Everyone here, whether they are racing in Senior Max or not, is excited to see what this sell-out group can do.
There is so much talent on the 36-driver entry list. Many are former Canada Final and Canadian Champions and 9 have been to the Rotax Grand Finals before!
Even for us, predicting who might win this weekend with this group of racers is impossible.
Scrolling through the list and seeing Dowler, Williams, Deslongchamps, Dunning, Carruthers, DeMelo, Newson, Pernod, Patel, Qiu, Finer, Sabourin and Lemieux. They all quickly stand out as contenders and there are many more we know will be right in the mix too.
| 302 | SABOURIN ARNAUD | QUEBEC |
| 304 | KALLIS SAVANAH | ALBERTA |
| 306 | DOWLER GRIFFIN | ALBERTA |
| 307 | PRUSS EVAN | ALBERTA |
| 309 | MELLORS BRYCE | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 311 | BOUMAN TANNER | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 313 | WILLIAMS MACY | COLORADO |
| 315 | SWANSON JULIAN | ALBERTA |
| 316 | OLIVER WILLIAM | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 317 | WASYLKIW DYLAN | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 321 | DESLONGCHAMPS LUCAS | QUEBEC |
| 322 | DUNNING SKYLAR | ALBERTA |
| 326 | MARTENS KAYDEN | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 327 | RILEY CONNER | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 328 | CARRUTHERS AIDEN | ALBERTA |
| 331 | CLAMAN DE MELO ZACH | QUEBEC |
| 333 | MACFARLANE CARLTON | ALBERTA |
| 334 | GELLINGS DEVON | ALBERTA |
| 336 | THORPE-DOUBBLE GRAYSON | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 340 | MCLEAN LOGAN | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 342 | LUDWIG DYLAN | ALBERTA |
| 348 | NEWSON MARK | ALBERTA |
| 351 | PERNOD TIMOTHY | QUEBEC |
| 352 | PATEL BOSS | ALBERTA |
| 354 | BAYE-PEARSON CHARLOTTE | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 356 | WADE JOHN | VERMONT |
| 366 | QIU IAN | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 371 | KYSWATY NICOLE | ALBERTA |
| 375 | TRBOVIC IGOR | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 377 | PERSSON WESLEY | ALBERTA |
| 385 | KACIC MARCO | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 387 | MACKENZIE STERLING | ALBERTA |
| 391 | HAND LUCAS | ALBERTA |
| 392 | FINER JOSH | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 394 | LEMIEUX FREDERIQUE | QUEBEC |
| 395 | BITZ BRADLEY | ALBERTA |
Who will shine in Micro and Mini-Max?
This weekend we finally get to see the Micro Max drivers competing on their own for a ticket and there are a dozen youngsters ready to duke it out.
It’s going to be fun to watch the Jeffrey brothers, Harrison and Heston, battle Mateo Pai, Tyler Chan, Charles Teo and Joshua Wheeler, along with Americans Yutaka Sonoda and Cam Becker.
In Mini Max, there’s an awesome grid of 17 drivers chasing the championship in Warburg including three that are doing double duty; Mateo Pai, Jeffrey Harrison and Joshua Wheeler.
We know Sebastian de Moissac is hungry for another trip to the Grand Finals but it won’t be easy with the likes of Dylan Lambert, Christian Sanguinetti, and Pieter Hoogland in the mix. There are also four very strong contenders from the East hungry to steal a ticket this weekend; Brando Londono, Olivier Chasse, Massimo Lorusso and Nick Lorusso.
| 3 | SONODA YUTAKA | WASHINGTON |
| 6 | JEFFERY HESTON | ALBERTA |
| 8 | PAI MATEO | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 9 | JEFFERY HARRISON | ALBERTA |
| 12 | SOMFORD FLORIAN | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 16 | BECKER CAM | COLORADO |
| 17 | SOMFORD LUCA | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 20 | CHAN TYLER | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 25 | DOWLER RHETT | ALBERTA |
| 28 | KLYM JACK | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 33 | WHEELER JOSHUA | ALBERTA |
| 97 | TEO CHARLES | SASKATCHEWAN |
| MINI MAX | ||
| 106 | JEFFERY HARRISON | ALBERTA |
| 107 | LAMBERT DYLAN | ALBERTA |
| 108 | PAI MATEO | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 111 | LONDONO BRANDO | QUEBEC |
| 118 | KROEGER WYATT | ARIZONA |
| 121 | SANGUINETTI CHRISTIAN | ALBERTA |
| 131 | DE MOISSAC SEBASTIAN | ALBERTA |
| 133 | WHEELER JOSHUA | ALBERTA |
| 140 | CAMPBELL LENNOX | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 148 | MEYERS MATTHEW | ALBERTA |
| 157 | HOOGLAND PIETER | ALBERTA |
| 163 | CHASSE OLIVIER | QUEBEC |
| 168 | LORUSSO MASSIMO | ONTARIO |
| 187 | NAVARRETE MARCELO | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 192 | MEYERS SAMUEL | ALBERTA |
| 198 | THORPE-DOUBBLE COLTON | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 199 | LORUSSO NICHOLAS | ONTARIO |
What will happen in Junior Max?
It’s going to be a very interesting weekend in Junior Max.
This is a great group of up-and-coming racers packed full of potential.
We’re expecting to see a great duel between Antoine Lemieux and Gabriel Balog at the top, but we can’t count out the likes of Toby Lien, Grayson Talaba, Jeremy Zsamboki and the Bodenstab siblings, Teryk and Danyka.
There’s also a bunch of drivers we have yet to see compete that could very well surprise us this weekend.
| 201 | LUINENBURG CARSON | ALBERTA |
| 203 | BOSCHMANN LUCAS | ALBERTA |
| 207 | LAMBERT DYLAN | ALBERTA |
| 208 | LIEN TOBY | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 210 | CAMPBELL ADILYN | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 211 | DONNELLY MANNIX | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 212 | BODENSTAB TERYK | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 213 | BODENSTAB DANYKA | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 215 | TALABA GRAYSON | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 217 | ZSAMBOKI JEREMY | ALBERTA |
| 224 | CORMIER LIAM | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 234 | LEMIEUX ANTOINE | QUEBEC |
| 247 | ANTONIUK KINGSTON | ALBERTA |
| 270 | KOZAKOWSKI EVERLEIGH | ALBERTA |
| 278 | GONZALEZ KAROL | ALBERTA |
| 288 | BALOG GABRIEL | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 293 | PRIOR NATHANIAL | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
Can the small fields in DD2 and Masters still provide the action?
Of course, they can! Have you seen the Rotax DD2 driver list?
Okay, we answered our own question here. There may be only 10 drivers in Rotax DD2 but every one of them is a contender to win this weekend.
The top three finishers from the Canadian Open are here. Former Western Canadian champions are here. Two hot shoes from the USA are entered and there are a couple of drivers capable of upsetting them all.
Rotax DD2 is going to be great!
As for Master Max, we could be in for a great show here too. Many of them are regulars in DD2 Masters and they have switched back to single-speed karts for the weekend as a change-up from MKG.
Laplante, Freeston and Cleavelin all have Rotax Grand Finals experiences on their extensive resumes, but we’re not counting out Juan Pfeiffer and Angelo Amorim.
| 406 | DOWLER GRIFFIN | ALBERTA |
| 413 | LLOYD RILEY | SASKATCHEWAN |
| 414 | WILLIAMS MACY | COLORADO |
| 442 | LUDWIG DYLAN | ALBERTA |
| 448 | WILLIAMS DAVID | COLORADO |
| 451 | MACKAY BENNETT | ALBERTA |
| 457 | PERNOD LUCAS | QUEBEC |
| 480 | SABOURIN LUDOVIC | QUEBEC |
| 498 | TASKINEN MATTHEW | ALBERTA |
| 499 | SAVAGLIO GIANLUCA | ONTARIO |
| MASTERS MAX | ||
| 600 | AMORIM ANGELO | ALBERTA |
| 606 | COWAN MATTHEW | ALBERTA |
| 621 | PFEIFFER JUAN | ALBERTA |
| 655 | TARARAKSIN ANDREY | BRITISH COLUMBIA |
| 658 | CLEAVELIN BILLY | CALIFORNIA |
| 680 | DAVID LAPLANTE | ONTARIO |
| 688 | FREESTON JARED | ALBERTA |
The action starts on Saturday morning for the first of two race days at EDKRA. If you’re close by, be sure to come to check it out, otherwise, we will do our best to keep you updated on CKN all weekend long!
Racers, don’t forget to sign up for your weekend photo package from CKN!
We are the official photographers for the Max Karting Group Canada Final and you won’t want to miss out on a great opportunity to get professional photos of your driver this weekend.
Our weekend photo package includes a 13×19 official event photo print, along with a minimum of 15 high-resolution images from the weekend of your driver and costs only $150.00.
To order, simply place an order on the CKN Store. https://www.canadiankartingnews.com/store/2024-Single-Race-Photo-Package-CKN-Summer-Tour-p652081259
