On a very cold and windy day at Mosport International Karting for the first race of the 2014 Eastern Canadian Karting Championship, those in attendance who braved the weather were rewarded with some excellent racing in all classes.
In Rotax DD2, Fred Woodley (Maranello) set the pace in Qualifying, but a penalty for scrubbing his tires resulted in his fastest lap being taken away, along with the second fastest driver, Alessandro Bressan (J3 Competition/TonyKart) of Italy. This moved Dante Lerra (Energy Kart Canada) to the pole-position while Bressan’s fastest lap placed him second and Jeffrey Kingsley (PSL/CRG) third with Woodley all the way down in seventh.
Lerra got the jump into the first corner of the Prefinal, but it didn’t take long for Bressan to gain the lead and he didn’t look back. Lots of shuffling through the heat changed the order, including an incident the claimed Darren White (Energy Kart Canada) and Brendon Bain (Maranello). Bressan scored the win ahead of Kingsley and Milan Dontje (PSL/CRG) of the Netherlands.
The Finals kicked off with a five-kart battle for the lead. Bressan led Dontje, Kingsley, Woodley and Bizzotto through the opening lap.
Dontje was shuffled back to fifth while Woodley jumped by Kinglsey to claim second early on allowing Bressan to pull a slight gap. But Woodley tracked down the Italian and just past halfway he made his move for the lead in the final corner.
Woodley led up until four laps to go where Bressan returned to the lead after feeling pressure from Dontje and although Woodley tried everything to regain the position a mistake allowed Dontje to move into second while Bressan scored the win. Dontje second. Woodley third. Kingsley held on for fourth while Alessandro Bizzotto (PSL/CRG) settled for fifth after running a great race that saw him as high as third.
