Breaking News:
Very exciting news from the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship this morning as it is set to give its series’ teams an F1-like class in its 2014 Championship. New for the
season ahead will be a Manufacturer’s DD2 class in which each chassis importer will be able to enter just two drivers per marque. Run in association with Rotax Max Challenge Canada and fielding drivers that will be classified as ‘professionals,’ the top three finishers will each be awarded tickets to the 2014 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals!
“We thought it was a very interesting concept when we first began tossing it around during the Florida Winter Tour at Homestead,” said one ECKC spokesperson during a four-way conference call with CKN Monday night. “Not only because the quality of the field and racing will be so incredibly high, but in that it also now opens up Rotax Senior to drivers who may otherwise not have had the opportunity to compete for the class championship. In theory, it should allow for two new drivers to qualify for the Grand Finals from Senior, getting to the heart of Rotax racing ideology, along with three from the ‘professional’ ranks, many of whom have raced at Grand Finals before. We truly believe it will be the most anticipated class in Canadian karting history and produce some of the best racing ever!”
Twenty-four chassis entries have been confirmed for the upcoming season while CKN has speculated on who may well fill the seats come race one. Many are DD2 veterans with their respective teams, while others are the most senior drivers in their tent and would surely be interested in the high profile of Professional Rotax racing in a class already being dubbed ‘PRotax DD2.’ The class will qualify on Friday afternoons during ECKC events, race its Prefinal just prior to the lunch break on weekends and race Finals immediately following the break. Karts will run numbers that correspond with their class entry numbers and each pair will run identical factory decal kits. Rules will follow Canadian Rotax Max Challenge rules for Rotax DD2, with any changes or updates being announced in traditional fashion. Stayed tuned to CKN in the coming weeks for driver confirmations.
Initial Entry List of 24 for the ECKC Manufacturer’s DD2 Championship:
(Chassis # and Manufacturer/Team confirmed, Drivers are CKN speculation).
Chassis Entry # |
Manufacturer/Team |
Driver |
#1 |
Birel/KMS North America |
Ben Cooper |
#2 |
Birel/KMS North America |
Kevin Monteith |
#3 |
CRG/PSL Karting |
Pier-Luc Ouellette |
#4 |
CRG/PSL Karting |
Jeff Kingsley |
#5 |
Intrepid/Goodwood Kartways |
Marco DiLeo |
#6 |
Intrepid/Goodwood Kartways |
Zachary Claman DeMelo |
#7 |
Maranello/Maranello North America |
Brendon Bain |
#8 |
Maranello/Maranello North America |
Fred Woodley |
#9 |
Alonso/SH Racing |
Steven Szigeti |
#10 |
Alonso/SH Racing |
Coltin McCaughan |
#11 |
Praga/Goodwood Kartways |
Tyler Kashak |
#12 |
Praga/Goodwood Kartways |
Max Preston |
#13 |
TonyKart/Pserra Racing |
Zachary Scalzo |
#14 |
TonyKart/Pserra Racing |
Maxime Couturier |
#15 |
Kosmic/Mosport |
Johnny Flute |
#16 |
Kosmic/Mosport |
Kenneth O’Keefe |
#17 |
Energy/Energy Kart Canada |
Parker Thompson |
#18 |
Energy/Energy Kart Canada |
Darren White |
#19 |
LH Kart/Karts & Parts |
Pearce Herder |
#20 |
LH Kart/Karts & Parts |
Marc-Andre Levesque |
#21 |
Zanardi/PSL Karting |
Alessandro Bizzotto |
#22 |
Zanardi/PSL Karting |
Nathan Kelly |
#23 |
GP/Innisfil Indy |
Frank Launi |
#24 |
GP/Innisfil Indy |
Zachary Shearer |
Further information will be released as made available to CKN, Official Media Partner of the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship. All releases will be time stamped like this one, April 1st, 2014.
Update 04/01/2014, 12:00PM: April Fools, we hope you enjoyed it.