CKN Summer Tour Stop #9: Heading West for the Western Canadian Championships

We’re heading west CKN Nation.

Hopping on an airplane for the second time this summer, were are off to Regina, Saskatchewan for first stop of the Western Canadian Championships. New this year, the WCC is held over two events with each event hosting three separate race days to compile an intense six race championship for drivers in the western provinces of Canada. The WCC is proudly sponsored by K&M Motorsports on behalf of Keith Miller, a long time racing supporter from Saskatchewan.

Not only is the 3 Flags Motorsports Park facility in Lumsden, Saskatchewan new to CKN, it is also new to the WCC. The quick 900m circuit has to be respected by drivers, especially since there are three races to complete this weekend. The event kicks off today, Thursday, with official practice. Friday features race #1 utilizing the standard race format; Qualifying, Prefinal and Final. Rise and repeat for Saturday and Sunday to set the championship into gear before heading off to Chilliwack, BC for the final round in August.

Two tickets to join Team Canada at this Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, held this year in Valencia, Spain, are up for grabs. The champions from both Rotax Junior and Rotax Senior will fly the Maple Leaf this November, where the best five of six races count towards the championship. For the Mini-Max champion, the winning driver will earn a trip to the Canadian Championships in Mont-Tremblant.

Some strategy will come into play for Rotax Junior and Senior as drivers will have two sets of tires for use all weekend, forcing them to manage their usage to get through the three race days. All other classes will have to manage with only one set.

Three classes were cancelled due to lack of pre-entries. Unfortunately Briggs Senior, Briggs Masters and Rotax Masters will all sit on the sidelines this weekend with hopes of a return in Chilliwack.

Breaking down the event, we have not been presented with an official entry list to give you official entries, but here is who we think will be ones to watch. We will have a better look at who is racing when we arrive on Thursday afternoon.

In Rotax Senior, were expecting some good action between Alberta’s Coltin McCaughan, our CKN Brand Ambassador who is coming off a hot ECKC weekend at Goodwood, Garret Britton, the local hot shoe, Skylar Dunning, last years WCC Champion and hopefully Bryce Choquer, who has been competing in the US this season with some strong results. Being the headline class, more drivers such as Jordan Redlin, Travis McDonald, and Kyle Sheilds, are expected to make this division quite exciting in Lumsden.

The other class seeking a spot on Team Canada is wide open. Jeff Fulham made an impression last year as a rookie and he is back for more this year. Ryan Martin is another driver we are expecting big things from. From the east, Clay Van Eerd and Austin Riley have made the trek out west and will be ones to watch. Van Eerd qualified on the front row at the most recent ECKC event. Garett Gulenchyn and Zach Sinclair are strong supporters as well as this class should exceed fifteen drivers this weekend.

Marco Kacic leads our odds in Rotax Mini-Max but he should be challenged by Griffin Dowler.

As for the remaining classes Micro-Max and Briggs & Stratton Junior 1 and Junior 2, we will have to wait and see who is on track to really see who’s will be ones to watch.

Our coverage of the event brings on Friday where we will highlight the immediate top-10 results for each class through Qualifying, Prefinal and Finals. Each day will commence with a daily report and rundown of the racing action. We will also have photo galleries and more throughout the weekend.

To keep up with all the action, we have created a CKN Live event page, where you can ask questions and follow live timing of the event.