Goodwood Kartways/Intrepid Canada, ECKC Event 1 Race Report

Goodwood Kartways/Intrepid Canada kicked off its Eastern Canadian Karting Championship season with all hands on deck recently as National Team members and drivers from the Toronto Racing Association of Karters combined to put 39 on the grid at Goodwood Kartways. Represented in all categories, the group produced podiums in seven of nine classes and wins in both Rotax Max and Briggs & Stratton. Four podium results came Saturday, while five followed on Sunday with a couple being extra special.

“It was awesome to see JC on top of the podium in DD2 Masters for the first time,” said Team Manager Marco Di Leo of John Cariati’s win. “He’s worked really hard in DD2 and raced in ECKC events with us since the beginning. He got a great podium here at Nationals in 2013, but this time he was finally on the centre block. It was excellent. The whole team was just so excited for him and to see how happy he was to be up there. It was a great way to wrap up the weekend, for sure.”

After missing Friday practice and getting up to speed with tuner Alex Mankovski Saturday, Cariati qualified his ‘Orange Crush’ second on Sunday and sat third after the Prefinal. The reigning TRAK Masters Champion then spent the shortened opening half of the Sunday Final in a classic three-kart scrap for the lead. Primed to pounce as the race hit its second half, Cariati capitalized in turn five to take over, and established a gap as drivers behind him continued to squabble. In the end he ran eight clear laps to the house, crossing over three seconds up on the chase and just missing the fastest lap as all three posted 35.9 with their best effort. A great day for Cariati indeed, and a great closing act to the weekend for the team.

The decisive win also completed bookend victories for Goodwood/Intrepid as the team won the first race of the day as well. Having qualified P4 and moved to P3 with the fastest lap in the Prefinal, Tanner Hamilton executed perfectly in the Final, and on the final lap, to take his first National win with Intrepid. Denied the opportunity a day earlier when a red flag ended the Briggs & Stratton Junior race early, Hamilton worked in tandem from second to get free of the field in race two and after a fantastic final pair of laps, emerged from an epic last-lap tussle with the winning pass in the turn nine hairpin. The win set the tone for the day, as four more podiums followed: Marco Di Leo third in Rotax Senior, Xavier Harris second in Mini-Max, Max Preston second in DD2 and the closing win by Cariati.

A day earlier Di Leo put the first team win on the board with a final lap that was equally impressive. Having started from pole, the racing Team Manager was knocked back on multiple occasions before working to finally establish himself in second place late in the race. While the gap to the leader looked insurmountable, a near-perfect final lap led to a scissor move at the hairpin and after emerging grass stained from a drag race up the hill and around the final bend, Di Leo had his sixth-straight Rotax Senior win at Goodwood and his first of this season.

Russell Boyle also had a great run to the podium on Saturday. After taking pole and winning the Prefinal, a rough start to the Final saw the Rotax Junior driver having to recover from fourth, just as Di Leo did. Keeping his eyes on the prize, Boyle quickly worked back to third and was duly rewarded for his efforts late in the race when good fortune brought an opportunity for second to him. The Intrepid driver quickly upgraded his podium position on the final lap, putting P2 on the board with the fastest lap in the field as well. Dave Anderson matched the result in Briggs & Stratton Masters, and the fourth podium result of opening day came from Tyler Kashak in DD2 after he finished third. Full Goodwood/Intrepid results from ECKC Races 1 and 2 can be seen below.

The Eastern Canadian Karting Championship resumes next weekend, June 13/14, at Circuit ICAR in Mirabel, Quebec. For more information on Goodwood/Intrepid and to learn how the team can assist you there, please email marco@goodwoodkartways.com, visit the new goodwoodkartways.com and like it on Facebook.

John Cariati’s win was a popular one in the paddock Sunday at Goodwood. (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

Goodwood/Intrepid Driver Results – ECKC 1, Goodwood Kartways

Rotax DD2 Masters
John Cariati – 4th, 1st
David Nevin – 6th, 4th
Andrew Calabrese – 5th, 5th
Paulo Gomes – 8th, 9th

Rotax DD2
Max Preston – 5th, 2nd
Tyler Kashak – 3rd, 4th
Aaron Attard – 8th, 7th
Enrico Menotti – 9th, 9th

Rotax Senior
Marco Di Leo – 1st, 3rd
William Campbell – 13th, 13th
Miguel De Ryck – 17th, 20th
Nate Spinks – 18th, 21st

Rotax Junior
Russell Boyle – 2nd, 4th
Jordan Slipacoff – 13th, 15th
Cole Hooton – 10th, 9th
Lucio Masini – 19th, 19th

Rotax Mini-Max
Xavier Harris – 4th, 2nd
Ginaluca Savaglio – 6th, 4th
Simone Masini – 10th, 11th

Rotax Micro-Max
Austin Boyle – 10th, 4th
Anthony Sardellitti – 7th, 12th
Marcello Paniccia – 8th, 8th
Lorenzo Morsillo – 11th, 10th

Briggs & Stratton Masters
Dave Anderson – 2nd, 5th
Anthony Castro – 8th, 13th
Alessandro De Luca – 9th, 12th
Steve Attard – 16th, 11th

Briggs & Stratton Senior
Christopher Proietto – 17th, 7th
Tom Cadiuex – 15th, 14th
Kyle Rennie – 31st, 27th

Briggs & Stratton Junior
Tanner Hamilton – 5th, 1st
Khloe Drummond – 13th, 5th
Sebastian Fazzina – 6th, 12th
Gavin Saunders – 18th, 10th
Mason Twigger – 11th, 13th
Sheyla Basalic – 19th, 20th
Logan Ploder – 12th
Marco Cossetti – 17th
Antonio Trabucco – 25th

*Team Facts: Goodwood Kartways is in Stouffville, Ontario, Canada, where drivers can progress from turning rental kart laps to world championships. The Goodwood Kartways race team annually represents the facility at National and International Championships like the Florida Winter Tour, Eastern Canadian Karting Championship, Canadian National Championships and SKUSA SuperNationals.

It has also had drivers contest the Pan-American Rotax Max Challenge, the World Karting Association Manufacturer’s Cup, the Rotax European Championship, the Rotax International Open Championship and the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. Goodwood Kartways operates in conjunction with Intrepid S.r.l. in Verona, Praga Kart, HRS Racing Engines, IMAF Racing Seats and Vega Tires.