Alberta Summer Challenge: A long Saturday of racing complete in Warburg

The Second annual Alberta Summer Challenge was faced with a jam packed schedule of racing which went from 9am to 10pm on Saturday. A total of 131 enties showed up to the Warburg Karting facility just outside of Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton. There was a ton of great racing on track and it was paired with a fun and laid back atmosphere leaving drivers and families with smiles all over the paddock. CKN’s Neelan Nadesan was trackside reporting the results from the event.

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Rotax Mini Max & Rotax Micro Max

Shawn Kozma (TonyKart) remained perfect in the Rotax Micro Max category as after taking Pole in Friday’s qualifying session then going on to win heats one and two. The closest competitor to Kozma was Darryen Hilwa (CRG) who finish second in both heat races, while Max Power (TonyKart) was third in heat 1 and Silas Gershman (CRG) rounded out the top three in heat 2.

In Mini Max it was much of the same story up front as Ryan Dezall (TonyKart) was in a league of his own in both heat races. James Altamirano was second in the heat 1 followed by Kiefer Peet. Peet pulled off a second place run in heat 2 followed by Spencer Perreault. Altamirano had a bad start in heat 2, dropping him back to last place. He would only be able to recover to finish in fifth by the end of the race.

Briggs & Stratton Junior 1 & 2

Naila Deen (CRG) was the Fast Qualifier in Briggs & Stratton Junior on Saturday afternoon followed by Matthew Taskinen (Awesome Kart) and Levi Schmidtke (BirelART).

Heat 1 was under wet conditions and coming from a fifth place starting position it was James Altamirano (CRG) whose kart was dialed in for majority of the race crossing the line first ahead of Deen and Schmidtke.

With a quick drying track heat 2 was a completely different race with Deen and Taskinen taking control of the field. Taskinen passed for the lead on lap two in the turn three hairpin. From there the two drivers worked together at the front of the field until the last lap when Deen tried to make a move on Taskinen coming out of turn four, however contact between the two drivers caused Deen to retire and Taskinen to finish second. Colby Wallace (Birel) took complete advantage of the situation and went from an eighth place starting spot to win the heat on the final lap.

Taskinen took the holeshot in the final and was followed by Wyatt Gulash (Birel), Wallace, Tyler Kozma (TonyKart), and Altamirano. The top five worked well to drive clear of the field and stayed in line for the majority of the race. On the final lap Taskinen used a defensive line in turn three and washed out wide allowing Gulash to have a partial run on the outside of turn four. Altamirano tried to take advantage of Gulash choosing a wide line and made a late lunge to the inside of four, ultimately making contact with the Birel driver in front sending both karts off the track. This allowed Taskinen to cruise to victory and promoted Wallace and Kozma to second and third. Altamirano recovered to finish fourth just ahead of Schmidtke.

In the Junior 1 Final Keifer Peet (ItalKart) took the win with August Distefano (Intrepid) second.

Rotax Junior

Griffin Dowler (FA Kart) was the fast qualifier in Rotax Junior on Friday followed by Angelia Amorim (TonyKart) and Levi Schmidtke (TonyKart).

Matthew Taskinen (Kosmic) drove through the field to win heat one after having mechanical issues in qualifying. Christina Dezall (Kosmic) came home in second followed by third place finisher Townes Allen (CRG). Dowler who fell to last at the start of the first heat made amends for the poor heat 1 result by winning heat two ahead of Taskinen who once again was able to drive to the front. Amorim finished the heat in third place.

Briggs & Stratton Senior

In the Biggest class of the weekend, Briggs & Stratton Senior did not disappoint through the heat races as there were drivers jockeying for position all over the track.

Skylar Dunning (K&K) was the Fast Qualifier on Saturday Afternoon ahead of Noel Dowler (TonyKart) and Tanveer Deen (BirelART).

Heat 1 was challenging for the drivers as most went out on slicks on a damp and drying track. Dowler took the lead on lap one and never looked back building just over a one-second lead on pole sitter Skylar Dunning. Adam Dowler (FA Kart) finished the heat in third after climbing up the order.

Heat two had a similar result as heat one with Noel Dowler taking the win over Dunning after taking the lead on lap two. Dunning wouldn’t lose that much ground to Dowler as he kept in the TonyKart drivers draft for majority of the race. Blair Kerenyi finished the race in third.

Rotax Senior & Masters

Rotax Pole sitter Coltin McCaughan (Kosmic) had a flag to flag victory in Rotax Senior heat 1 ahead of Noel Dowler (TonyKart) and Evan White (Kosmic). Heat 2 had a different start as off pole man Garrett Britton (BirelART) took the lead in corner one ahead of McCaughan. Just before halfway McCaughan took the lead of the race and was unchallenged on his way to victory. Skylar Dunning (Kosmic) and Dowler were also able to get around Britton in the final laps putting the BirelART driver in fourth once the dust was settled.

Rob Kozakowski was the class of the Rotax Masters field, winning both heat races after taking Pole in Qualifying Friday. Angelo Amorim and Craig Nernberg both swapped second and third in the two heats with Amorim finishing second in heat 1 and Craig taking the spot in heat two.

Briggs & Stratton Masters & Open Shifter

Kevin Canning (Intrepid) and Rob Kozakowski (K&K) were the drivers to beat in Briggs & Stratton Masters. Canning put in a flyer in Qualifying capturing Pole ahead of Kozakowski and Angelo Amorium (TonyKart).

Kozakowski came back in the heat winning both races with Canning finishing taking a third in heat 1 in the rain behind Amorium then Canning taking second in heat 2 and Amorium finishing third.

In the final Kozakowski got the lead out of the first corner with Canning battling Amorim in the turn one and two complex of the track. After taking second back Kozakowski was way out in front of the Intrepid driver forcing Canning to accept second while Kozakowski was able to cruise to victory. Adam Hughes (PTK) crossed the line in third ahead of Amorium and Rob Scharr (PTK)

In Open Shiter Evan White (Kosmic) was in different area code from the rest of the field dominating qualifying and the two heat races.

With Saturday in the books tune back to CKN on Sunday for Rotax Prefinal and final action after the completion of the Brigg & Stratton Senior and Open Shifter finals in the morning.