CKN News & Notes: Spectacular CRFKC Summerfest Weekend at Mosport

The ‘Month of Mosport’ is complete following another spectacular race weekend at the famed karting Mosport Karting circuit on the grounds of Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. As the track hosted two Champion Ron Fellows Karting Challenge events along with the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship, it rounded out a busy summer run that featured some of Canada’s largest entry turnouts.

This weekends event had a new twist on the successful CRFKC theme as Saturday was round three of the regional series while Sunday was a Briggs & Stratton exclusive event, deemed the CRFKC Summerfest presented by Pfaff Motorsports with big prizes up for grabs. Weather was a factor all weekend with rain looming in the forecast, but aside from a short but heavy shower on Sunday morning during the drivers meeting, the action was competed under hot and dry conditions.

Here’s a breakdown of our thoughts from the weekend.

Poles runs away with Rotax Senior to earn Saturday DOTD

Taegen Poles was on fire Saturday, especially in the Rotax Senior Final. She jumped out to an early lead and blistered off fast lap times to secure the victory, catching the eyes of the Pfaff Motorsports representatives that nominated her for Senior Driver of the Day.

Taking the honour as Junior Driver of the Day, Mackenzie Clark came up just a few inches short of victory in the Briggs & Stratton Junior Final, but his drive and determination also caught the attention of the Pfaff reps to score him the honour.

Taegen Poles was all smiles as the Senior DOTD (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Drive of the weekend for McCullough scores him the $1000.00 victory

The largest class on Sunday saw 33-karts on the grid in the Briggs & Stratton Senior category. With $1000.00 up for grabs to the race winner we saw the Mosport regulars joined by a few veterans of the sport all vying the big prize.

After making a mistake in one of the heats that took himself out of contention, ECKC race winner Tyler McCullough had to start the Summerfest finale from 16th on grid. After only a couple laps he was up inside the top-ten and looking forward. Advancing up to fourth, McCullough worked with Taylor Gates to close in on leaders Jon Treadwell and Marco Di Leo. Picking off one by one, McCullough pushed himself into the lead and held off a furious charge by Di Leo to score the win and the cash.  Treadwell completed the top-three with Intrepid Karts sweeping the top of the podium.

Along with the nice payday, McCullough took the honour of Senior Driver of the Day, netting him a bonus $250.00 for his hard work.

Tyler McCullough leading Briggs Senior on Saturday (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Summerfest Victory for Savaglio in Briggs Junior

As one of the youngest drivers competing in Briggs Junior, Gianluca Savaglio has impressed us more than once already this year. His victory on Sunday was just another reason why this young driver will be a serious threat for years to come as he managed the race perfectly, including a mid-race restart to beat Clark to the finish line, earning him the Junior Driver of the Day award on Sunday.

Saturdays Junior Briggs Final saw Joshua Conquer nip Mackenzie Clark in a drag race to the finish line while Zach Latimer settled for third after leading most of the race.

Gianluca Bavaglio (l) and Tyler McCullough (r) showing off their DOTD Awards (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Drummond on Fire in Briggs Junior Lite

One driver who may be upset there are no more major races at Mosport this summer in Alec Drummond. The young gun has been on fire this summer, taking victories at the ECKC and sweeping both races this weekend in Briggs Junior Lite.

He had his work cut out for him too as drivers Nicky Paladino, Kai Daiziel, Junior Lindgren and Lily Flintoff kept him honest in each of these races where Drummond reigned supreme.

Alec Drummond (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

MacArthur on top Saturday in Briggs Masters; Stehle Dominates on Sunday

Jamie MacArthur helped K&K Kart back to the top of the podium with his victory on Saturday in Briggs & Stratton Masters in a furious race that saw him eclipse Corey Walsh by only 0.085 seconds at the finish line.

After sitting out the Saturday final with a bent and bruised go-kart, Marc Stehle returned on Sunday and dominated the action to take home the victory and the Briggs Generator that went with it. Eli Yanko and MacArthur rounded the top-three.

The Masters have channeled on a few occasions their inner Juniors as intense and sometimes questionable racing and plenty of post-race discussions continue to be a theme this summer. Here’s looking to Nationals!

Sunday Briggs Senior podium topped by Marc Stehle (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

Shifters show up on Saturday

The Shifter Karts showed up to race on Saturday as many drivers from Innisfil Indy came out to play at Mosport. Taking the victory was Zachary Shearer over Frank Launi and Chad Campbell.

Brayden Lindgren Impressing in Briggs Novice

This weekend featured the largest category of Novice Briggs drivers we have seen to far and one driver took home the honours on both Saturday and Sunday. Brayden Lindgren had his hands full racing with Steven Navaratil, but the youngster was able to score both victories on the weekend.

The Novice Briggs category will make their debut at the ASN Canadian Open Karting Championships in Mont-Tremblant with an interest in the category across the country.

Brayden Lindgren (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

CRFKC Sends Rotax Drivers to the ASN Canadian Open Championships

As part of the prize package for the Rotax racers competing in the CRFKC, series points leaders after round three in Rotax Micro, Mini, Junior, Senior and DD2 earned their registration fees to compete in at the ASN Canadian Open Karting Championships, held in two weeks time in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.

Austin Boyle (Micro), Ryland Duesburry (Mini), Xavier Harris (Junior) and Tyler Kashak (Senior and DD2), have enjoyed great seasons so far to lead their respective categories and will represent the CRFKC at the Jim Russell Karting Academy on Labour Day weekend.

Mechanics Race Puts on a Show

It’s always a great time to see the mechanics line up and jump into race karts to compete for the first time, usually realizing it is much more difficult than they initially thought.

With only five classes competing on Sunday, CRFKC organizers added a Mechanics race to the schedule, with drivers utilizing the Mosport Arrive & Drive karts.

Marshall Kimber, father of Briggs Senior driver Ryan Kimber just barely squeaked out the victory over Tiago Nero, the mechanic from France who is here on a student exchange with Austin Bisschop. John Waterfield, Paul Rhodes and Alan Sanders completed the top-five in a race that was fuelled with excitement.

Mechanics race winner Marshall Kimber

The Champion Ron Fellows Karting Challenge will crown their champions at the TRAK Night Race on September 10 at Goodwood Kartways.