Club News: CKRA Race #5 Report from New Brunswick

CKRA Round 5 was held on a cloudy and very humid day. This was the second event in a stretch of three consecutive race weekends. Rain was a concern, but thankfully the day’s events were able to be completed just in time to remain under dry conditions. However, a swift dumping of rain arrived ten minutes after the last race of the day was completed.

Cadet / Pre-Cadet Class (Ages 8-12)

Eight drivers entered the Cadet class, and a further three ran the seperate Pre-Cadet class for new drivers.

During the early heat races, the day belonged largely to Ryan Musson. He won convincingly in Heat 1, and narrowly won again in Heat 2, but by this time, Callum Baxter, Jacob LeBlanc and Myah Knickle began to challenge. In Heat 3, Baxter was able to sneak through and claim the victory, followed by Musson, LeBlanc and Knickle.

In the Final, Baxter spun early in the race and fell back, so it came down to a three-way battle. With a few laps to go, Myah Knickle passed both drivers and won her second Final of the season.

In Pre-Cadet, Rylan Cousins had a great race day and won all 4 events. Jace Cousins finished second in the Final, and Ethan Lowther third.

The championship leader is currently William Lowther, who had a solid start to the season (250 points). Jacob LeBlanc and Callum Baxter are tied for second (both 240), followed by Ryan Musson (224) and Myah Knickle (216).

Junior Class (Ages 12-15)

The Junior class ran seven drivers on this race day.

Due to the fact that she missed the previous round, championship-leader Kelsey Hann started from the back of the grid in Heat 1. This did not stop her from picking her way through the field and to collect the Heat 1 victory. From there, Hann went largely unchallenged, as the real battle was now for second between (at various points) Isaac Teed, Ben Israel, Devin Wadden and Isla Kants.

In the Final, Kelsey Hann ran away with the win, and Ben Israel held on to second place for the full 20 laps despite constant pressure, and finised runner-up. Isaac Teed finished third to complete the podium.

Kelsey Hann’s dominant race day was enough to double her points lead. She now has 266 points. The battle for second place in the championship is extremely close, with Isla Kants at 236 points,

followed by Devin Wadden (233), Isaac Teed (227) and Ben Israel (220).

Junior Briggs action

Senior Class (Ages 15+)

The Senior class featured 6 drivers, but was missing championship leader Aaron Kennedy.

Heat 1 was a four-way fight for the win between Brett Miller, Stephen Oliver, Alexander Davison and Jared Meade. With a few laps to go, Oliver ran wide exiting turn one and Davison swapped positions with him down the back straight as he tried to rejoin. In their enthusiasm, both drivers clipped each other at the following corner, resulting in Davison’s kart being too damaged to continue. Miller held off Meade to take the victory. Oliver salvaged third.

Brett Miller then won heat 2, Oliver recovered to win heat 3, and the battle between Oliver, Miller and Davison was set for the finals.… and it was a thrilling finish.

In the Final, on the final lap of the race, the three drivers were running nose-to-tail. Davison, running second, got a huge run down the back straight and dove through into turn 3 to take the lead with two corners to go. Going through the final corners, Oliver tried to counter the pass but the three (also including Miller) scrambled in and out of the final corner in a desperate run to the flag. Brett Miller snuck past both Oliver and Davison in the chaos to take the chequered flag!

Thanks to a gritty and hard-fought race day, Brett Miller leap-frogged Kennedy for the championship lead (251 points). Aaron Kennedy is now in second (238) Stephen Oliver is third (233), Jared Meade holds fourth (219) and Alexander Davison is fifth (213).

The championship continues with Round 6 next weekend on Sunday July 24. Racing starts at 10am, and admission is free!

The series runs 9 events from early-May to late-September, all at East Coast Karting at Exit 474 of the TransCanada, on the outskirts of Dieppe, New Brunswick.

For more information and latest news on the series, visit www.ckranb.com , or find “Championship Kart Racing Association” on Facebook!