After years of travelling to major race events in other regions of Ontario and Quebec, Ayden Ingratta was finally able to compete on his home track this past weekend in regional competition as KartStars Canada rolled into Point Pelee Karting in Leamington for stop two of the championship.
Showcasing his talents in Rok Junior over the weekend, he was simply unstoppable from start to finish.
In Qualifying, Ingratta (AI/RedSpeed) set a marker that was more than a half-second quicker than his closest rivals, and he breezed through the heat races on Saturday.
Sunday’s PreFinal was the closest any competitor got to him as Christian Valverde (Goodwood/Exprit) had a great launch at the start to get into the lead. He did his best to keep the round one winner behind, but after three laps of defensive driving, Ingratta pulled off a beautiful around the outside pass in corner five to have the inside for corner six and gained the lead back before pulling away.
Taking the race win by almost eight seconds, Ingratta was near perfect in the Final.
Behind, Valverde managed to keep Ethan Pollack (ProSound/Exprit) at bay to maintain the second position with Pollack joining them on the podium for a second straight event. Braedon Fowler (ProSound/Exprit) was next to cross the finish line ahead of Sara Vico (NBM/Exprit) and Baz Kedairy (Goodwood/Intrepid).
For these five first-year Rok racers, Ingratta’s benchmark may seem far away now, but learning from an internationally talented driver will pay dividends as their experience levels grow.
Jetting off shortly after the event, Ingratta is en route to Mooresville, North Carolina to compete in the US X30 Grand Nationals, hoping to put the Canadian flag on the top of the podium.
