ECKC: Claman DeMelo Unstoppable in Rotax Senior at Goodwood

The Eastern Canadian Karting Championship hit the halfway mark of it’s 2014 campaign with the completion of race #4 on Sunday at Goodwood Kartways. It was another hot and sticky day at the facility just north of Toronto, Ontario with high grip levels challenging all competitors.

Saturday Results | Sunday Results | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2 | Photo Gallery 3 (Wednesday)

For Zachary Claman DeMelo (Goodwood/ZCD/Intrepid), it appeared to be just another Sunday drive in Rotax Senior. Posting the fastest time in Qualifying for the second straight day, DeMelo hit marks perfect all day long en route to his second victory of the weekend and the completion of the weekend sweep.

In the prefinal, Coltin McCaughan (SH Racing/CKN/FA Kart) was able to hang with DeMelo, matching his lap times, but a tough start in the final saw him run wide in corner one and ultimately fall to sixth before the first lap was complete. This moved Marco Signoretti (Energy Kart Canada/Energy Kart) to battle with Zacharie Scalzo (KGK/TonyKart) to battle for second with Anthony Tolfa (Pserra/TonyKart) and Kevin Monteith completing the early top-five with a bold move in corner five to gain a handful of positions.

It didn’t take long for McCaughan to fight back through the field as the driver from Alberta easily got by Monteith and Tolfa. With DeMelo out of reach, he set his eyes on the battle for second where Signoretti had opened a small gap to Scalzo.

With the skies opening up and small rain drops falling, everyone in attendance was expecting the worst: rain. But the racing Gods delivered a favour and allowed the Rotax Seniors to finish out their race under dry conditions.

McCaughan finally caught Scalzo and Signoretti with three to go, making two clean passes before coming to the final lap sign. DeMelo scored the win, his third in a row, with McCaughan earning his first ECKC podium and Signoretti capping an excellent breakout weekend with his second podium in as many days.

Scalzo had to settle for fourth and Monteith fifth. Tolfa’s excellent pace lacked in the race as he wound up sixth while Christophe Paquet (KCR/CRG), Tyler Kashak (Goodwood/Intrepid), Didier Carre (KMS/Birel) and Adam Martin (Prime/Maranello) completed the top-ten.

With just over a month until the next ECKC event, drivers have plenty of time to prepare for the very challenging streets of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec as the temporary street circuit hosts races five and six on August 1-3.

Photos by: Cody Schindel/CKN)