Innisfil Indy Hosts Exciting Penultimate MRFKC Round

For the first time in series history, the Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship travelled to the Innisfil Indy and the great circuit north of the big city did not disappoint as racers, teams and organizers enjoyed their visit for a weekend of competition.

As the second half of the MRFKC continued, the entries did slide a bit, but the racing was still top-notch as racers navigated the quick and challenging circuit in warm weather conditions.

With some help from Sophia Filice, here’s our roundup of who came out on top in round three of the MRFKC at Innisfil.

Rok Junior – Pacza controls weekend with authority

Logan Pacza (Prime/BirelART) put on a clinic in his first visit to the Innisfil Indy, driving home both race victories on the weekend in Rok Junior and putting himself right back into the championship fight. On Sunday, he pulled away to an 8.3-second margin of victory and may have left his competitors scratching their heads a bit.

Saturday’s race saw Joseph Launi (Powerhouse/Exprit) come through the field to second, and he tried to close the gap late in the race, but he came up 1.5-seconds short to finish second ahead of Frankie Esposito (Prime/BirelART).

It was Callum Baxter (REM/Kosmic) who raced to second place on Sunday with Esposito taking the third step of the podium for the second day in a row, this time after starting the Final at the rear.

Briggs Junior Lite – Sikma and Day share the wins

The class only featured five drivers at Innisfil but in both races, there was a trio of racers in the mix for the win.

On Saturday it was Ethan Sikma (CL Kart) who overtook and then held off Elias McKenzie (CL Kart) and Sebastian Day (CL Kart) to score the win. The trio traded the lead often in the race, but Sikma positioned himself perfectly to get into the lead when he needed to, to secure the win.

After a mix up on lap two of the Sunday Final that ended the race for McKenzie and Muskaan Sattaur (Intrepid), Day found himself with a big lead and he only added to it as the laps ticked away, eventually crossing the finish line 8-seconds ahead of Sikma, who overtook Will McCallum (RedSpeed) for second with five laps to go.

Rok Senior – Great Saturday drive for Soroka; Woods-Toth back on top Sunday

We saw a stellar drive from Robert Soroka (KGR/RedSpeed) to get his first MRFKC victory of the season on Saturday. A little contact at the start of the final saw Dale Curran (PRO/CL Kart) slide off track and into the corner one barriers, but it was pretty uneventful up front for the remainder of the race as Soroka pulled away to a 2.8-second victory over championship leader Patrick Woods-Toth (Prime/BirelART) and Gianluca Savaglio (REM/Kosmic).

On Sunday, Woods-Toth was back to his winning ways, cruising to victory over Curran, who was bouncing back and forth all weekend between the kart track and dirt track to race his sprint car. Savaglio was once again third.

An accident at the start of the Final shuffled the running order and forced Marco Filice (BirelART) and Soroka to recover in the race, making it back to fifth and sixth at the checkered flag with Adam Ali (REM/Kosmic) in fourth.

Rok Mini – New winners and a new championship leader

There were two new race winners in Mini Rok on the weekend as Matthew Roach (Prime/BirelART) and Savio Paniccia (PRO/CL Kart) found the top step of the Innisfil podium.

On Saturday it was an excellent battle between the top-four, featuring Roach, Paniccia, Major Makovskis (PRO/CL Kart) and Pearce Wade (Prime/BirelART).

Roach moved into the lead with two laps to go and held off heavy pressure from Makovskis for his first major victory with Paniccia holding off Wade for third.

Sunday saw Paniccia get ahead of Makovskis early in the race. When the battle for second heated up between Roach and Makovskis, Paniccia was off to the races to not only take his first win of the year but also take over the championship lead. Roach won the contest for second over Makovskis as the trio shared the podium for the second straight day.

Briggs Masters – MacIntyre back on top

A pair of race wins over the weekend helped put Ian MacIntyre (CL Kart) into the Briggs Masters championship lead with one round remaining.

Saturday saw MacIntyre have Rich Folino (BirelART) and Levon Beaudin (BirelART) challenge him after Marc Stehle (Ricciardo Kart) slipped back on the start. It all came down to the final lap with MacIntyre maintaining the top spot all the way to the checkered flag and Folino taking second. Stehle closed back in on the lead pack in the closing laps but didn’t have enough time to make a pass on Beaudin for third.

On Sunday it was a showdown between MacIntyre and Beaudin after Folino and Stehle crashed out together early in the race.

Once again it came down to the final lap where Beaudin climbed up on the top of MacIntyre going for the lead. Both were able to continue and Beaudin made it to the finish line first but was penalized for the contact, moving MacIntyre to the top of the podium for the second day in a row. Andes Lopez (BirelART) and Greg Scollard (TonyKart) joined him on the podium.

Briggs Junior – Baxter adds two more wins to championship lead

For the fourth and fifth time of the season, Callum Baxter (Kosmic) stood atop the Briggs Junior podium in MRFKC action as the recently crowned Canadian Champion continues to showcase his dominance in the category.

In Saturday’s Final, Baxter was challenged by Prime teammates Nolan Hofrichter (BirelART) and Mitchell Morrow (BirelART). Baxter led the majority of the race, but Hofrichter put himself into the lead with three laps to go with Morrow slotting into second. Baxter took the next lap to work by Morrow and on the final lap when Hofrichter stuck to the inside line for corner one, Baxter swung wide and crossed over the race leader to get the lead. The pass earned him the win and the Motul Smooth Move Award.

On Sunday it was less eventful upfront as Baxter overtook Ryder Hare (Kosmic) on the second lap and then pulled away to a 1.8-second victory over Hare and Jordan West (BirelART), who started last and came through the field.

With five victories to his credit, Baxter has a 179-point lead heading to the final MRFKC race of the year in a few week’s time at Brechin Motorsports Park.

Briggs Cadet – It’s the Pipe and Morley show

Keaton Pipe (TonyKart) and Jackson Morley (BirelART) were the class of the Briggs Cadet field on the weekend, as the pair waged their own battle for the victory, leaving their competitors well behind to race for third place.

On Saturday, Morley led the opening half of the Final until Pipe chose his moment to move into the lead. From there, Morley had a few peeks but couldn’t pull off a pass and the pair crossed the finish line 0.073 seconds apart, while Edward Kennedy (Parolin) was third, 16-seconds adrift.

There was plenty of passing in Sunday’s Final between the two as both drivers wanted to be in control and once again it came down to the final lap. Pulling off a pass in the final corner, Pipe snuck through to sweep the weekend over Morley with Kennedy once again taking third place.

Shifter – Ramnarayan and Masini split the victories

Lucio Masini (RS Kart) ran into mechanical problems on Saturday, opening up the door for Jared Ramnarayan (CL Kart) to take advantage and score the Open Shifter victory with a flag-to-flag win in the Final. Ayden Almeida (GP Kart) and Nicholas Scarfo (CL Kart) stayed on the lead lap to join Ramnarayan on the podium.

On Sunday Masini returned to the top, even after stalling the first start and being forced to the rear for the start.

Jumping in for the Sunday race, Frank Launi held the early lead until he crashed into the barriers and ended his race at the halfway mark. Coming from the rear, Masini inherited the lead from Launi and pulled away to a 6-second win over Ramnarayan and Victor Smialek (Gold Kart).

Briggs Senior – Prior adds to championship lead

Even with a smaller grid than we’re used to in Briggs Senior, these drivers still put on a great showcase.

Saturday’s Final came down to Jon Treadwell (BirelART) and Adam Ali (Kosmic) after the pair were able to break away from the battling pack.

Ali went to the lead with two laps to go, but Treadwell found his way back on top on the final lap. With the two defending, championship leader Jordan Prior (BirelART) was able to close in and while Treadwell held on for the lead, Ali overdefended the position and Prior slid by in the final corner before the finish.

On Sunday it was Prior’s turn back on top. After some great racing in the opening laps, the race settled down with Prior leading Maddock Heacock (Awesome Kart) after the pair pushed by early race leader Logan Ploder (CL Kart).

The race heated up for third with David Barnes (BirelART) moving through the pack to gain the position.

Fending off the challenge from Heacock, Prior notched his fourth win of the season with Barnes winning the battle for third ahead of Ali and Treadwell.

Heading to Brechin, Prior holds in a big lead in the championship, but the race for vice-championship honours has six drivers separated by only 112 points.

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Full results from the event can be found on SpeedHive.

The MRFKC will close out their 2021 championship season at Brechin Motorsports Park on September 25-26. Don’t forget to pre-register. We can’t wait to see how the season wraps up and who are crowned champions.