The coach showed his students how to get it done at Shannonville Motorsports Park on the weekend during the KartStars Canadian National Championship.
Dale Bonham has been busy this season coaching a number of drivers at Goodwood Kartways and helping get the scholarship team drivers up to speed, but he jumped at the opportunity to race at Shannonville and showed his prospects that he can still wheel a go-kart to victory.
After missing out on the win Friday night by 0.004 seconds, Bonham suited up Saturday in Briggs Senior and once again it was a head-to-head battle with Nicky Palladino (Exprit Kart) for the win.
With an early race battle for third slowing up the chasing pack, the two broke free and Palladino smartly stayed glued to the rear bumper of Bonham to push away.
With nobody else to worry about, Palladino waited until the final lap to seek out his second victory of the weekend, but Bonham had revenge on his mind.
Driving right down to the edge of the asphalt on the main straight as the pair received the final lap board, Palladino swung wide entering corner one. Bonham parked himself right in the middle of the apex to block any pass through the first sector. The defensive driving continued into the back sweeper and this left it up to a drag race to the finish line out of the final corner.
Bonham opted for a half defensive line, leaving Palladino the inside. Getting up alongside, the pair were separated by 0.027 seconds at the line with Bonham ahead by a couple of inches.
The intense race for third featured Jake Cowden (Awesome Kart) winning a three-wide race to the finish line, narrowly edging out Zach Boam (BirelART) and Javier Ruiz (Intrepid Kart).
KartStars Canada National Championship – Briggs Senior Final Results
1
Dale Bonham
2
Nicky Palladino
0.027
3
Jake Cowden
5.996
4
Zach Boam
6.014
5
Javier Ruiz
6.081
6
Ryan Brutzki
6.234
7
Kevin May
6.580
8
Chad Webster
6.850
9
Jelena Latkovic
6.969
10
Ethan Waters
7.067
11
Brennan Taylor
7.311
12
Ciarra Collison
7.760
13
Anthony Frattaroli
11.560
14
Brodie Myer
12.946
15
Jarvis Noon
14.357
16
Alex Chong
21.748
17
Logan Prince
22.801
18
Daniel Rampino
25.104
19
Tommy Latkovic
32.548
20
Dale Lajoie
10 laps
21
Jayden Elphage
6.753
With Palladino opting to focus on his Rok Senior ride on Sunday, Bonham had other drivers to contend with in the KartStars Senior race.
A little chaos in the PreFinal took out a number of contenders including David Patrick (BirelART), Kevin May (BirelART) and forced them to start the final from the rear.
The action continued early in the Final as Cowden got caught up with Brodie Myer (SodiKart) and Daniel Demaras (Intrepid Kart) exiting corner three on the opening lap, ending their chances.
A four-kart train formed upfront with Brennan Taylor (Awesome Kart) leading Steven MacVoy (Ricciardo Kart), Bonham and Boam.
They settled in for the first five laps until Bonham dove up in the inside of MacVoy to steal second, and he did the same the following lap to gain the lead from Taylor, bringing MacVoy with him.
The race was on from there and the leader Bonham defended the inside on the straights.
MacVoy tried to get under Bonham on the final lap, kicking up a bunch of dust, but he just didn’t quite get alongside and had to back out going into one. This allowed Taylor to pass on the outside before corner two.
A little contact slowed the pair up enough that Bonham was free and half a lap later, Bonham crossed the finish line with a fist pump and a leg in the air to celebrate his second win of the weekend.
Taylor edged out MacVoy at the finish line for second, while Boam could only watch it all in fourth. Ciarra Collison (BirelART) won the battle for fifth against her Collison racing teammates Kris Martin (BirelART) and Steve Lyons (BirelART).
KartStars Canada National Championship – KartStars Senior Final Results
