Young Rocco Simone is only seven years old and on Sunday at the Canadian Karting Championships at the Mosport Karting Centre, he made history when he crossed the finish line first in the Briggs Cadet Final.
In scoring the National title, Simone and his father Anthony have become the first parent and child combination to both win a sanctioned Canadian Karting Championship. Anthony was the winner of Formula C in 1999 at Karting Grand Mere in the first Nationals sanctioned by ASN Canada FIA.
The Final started off with a three-kart breakaway as Simone (BirelART) led Keaton Pipe (TonyKart) and Jackson Morley (BirelART). They were able to break free from Jackson Pearsall (CL Kart), Decklan Deonarine (Exprit) Edward Kennedy (Parolin), Boss Patel (CL Kart) and Alexis Baillargeon (CL Kart).
As the race settled in, Morley faded from the lead pair while the pack led by Pearsall chased him down.
Once they got close, Deonarine moved by Pearsall for fourth and then quickly pounced on Morley, relegating him back to fifth on lap seven.
The battle for third continued to heat up between Deonarine, Pearsall, Morley and Baillargeon while Pipe remained glued to the rear bumper of Simone.
Lap traffic would come into play with two laps to go, but both lead drivers were able to navigate around the slower karts.
Pipe set up his pass for the final lap and when Simone defended the inside line of the hairpin, Pipe swung wide for a better exit. Crossing over with momentum, Pipe drove past Simone going back up the hill to corner six to the roar of the crowd.
Navigating the second half of the lap finally in the lead, the race looked to be in Pipe’s favour, but Simone didn’t give up and dove up the inside of the final corner using up every inch of asphalt left by Pipe.
Completing the pass exiting the corner, Simone had enough momentum to stay ahead to the finish line and celebrated the victory to more roars from the crowd.
Behind the leaders, Deonarine pulled off a last-lap pass on Pearsall to score a podium appearance in Briggs Cadet after competing most of the season in Mini Rok.
Both Baillargeon and Morley also worked their way by Pearsall on the final lap to finish in the top-five.
Motomaster Canadian Karting Championships – Briggs Cadet Final Results
