It was another beautiful day at Goodwood Kartways as the fourth race of the 2013 Eastern Canadian Karting Championship hit the track. Officially the largest entered event in ECKC history, it is great to see the series continue to grow, especially in the Briggs & Stratton divisions. With a more sunshine blazing down on the track, the action also heated up with many shake ups on the championship standings when all was said and done.
The Rotax Micro-Max division continues to display some of the best racing at the ECKC. Even as the youngest class on the track, these youngsters race with so much professionalism and composure on track, even after the rule changes off track, and at Goodwood the grandstands were full every time the Micros buzzed onto the track.
Adding another pole-position to his impressive season Matthew Latifi (Ferrolati Corse/TonyKart) outpaced William Chayer (KMS North America/Birel) and Thomas Nepveu (SH Karting/Zanardi) while Matthew Barry (OK1) and Xavier Harris (IPK North America/Praga) completed the top-five.
Latifi drove away from the pack at the start of the Micro Max Pre Final with a pack of karts battling behind. Chayer would look to regain second but in turn would actually fall all the way to the rear of the field. Harris then held in second ahead of the Zanardi duo of Nepveu and Alexandre Legare (SH Karting/Zanardi), as well as Christopher Chanko (Ok1). Nepveu took second away from Harris going in to corner one on lap 8 as Barry took fourth from Legare. Harris then got by in three to resume second. Up front Latifi scored the Pre Final victory with Harris second followed by Nepveu, Chayer and Barry.
Harris utilized his front row starting spot to move into the lead at the start of the Final. But it only took Latifi two laps to get by Harris and back into his familiar position up front. Harris would then have his hands full as Nepveu looked for the second position. Chayer was also on the move and on lap eight he overtook both Nepveu and Harris for second. Barry did the same the time by as Nepveu and Harris fell back to fourth and fifth.
Leading the way, Latifi cruised to his third victory of the season, building a nice lead in the Championship as well. Chayer was able to hang on to second with Barry completing the podium. Nepveu held off a hard charging Harris at the line for fourth.
The series now shifts to the province of Quebec for remaining races. Round three will be held in conjunction with the Coupe du Quebec at Le Monaco de Trois Rivieres on August 1-4. This street race is a not miss for everyone.
