It’s October and that means the 2016 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals is less than a month away. The event has been bumped forward a few weeks from its usual date and returns to country of Italy, unofficially known as the home of karting, for the third time in RGF history.
For many drivers in Canada and around the world, qualifying for the Rotax Grand Finals is the goal each season and for seventeen Canadian drivers, they have succeeded. Each will represent the red and white at this years event at the Circuito Internazionale di Napoli. It is one of the largest contingents of Canadian drivers to qualify for the event and is also the first time the Grand Finals officially includes the Rotax Mini-Max and Micro-Max categories in which Canada has one driver in each class.
The format has changed a little bit with everything kicking off on Sunday, October 16 with the world famous chassis raffle. Two days of practice follow before three rounds of heat races. New for 2016 sees each category (with the exception of Micro and Mini) compete in two separate Pre-Finals featuring the top-68 after the heats, with the top-17 from each making it to the Final on Saturday, October 22. It will be a long week for everyone at the event, building up to six Grand Final races to determine the top Rotax drivers from around the globe.
For the fifth year in a row, CKN will travel with Team Canada to the event and keep those at home up to date on all the action. We will introduce all seventeen drivers representing Team Canada with our preview series in the coming weeks and have trackside updates each day from all the action about the event and our drivers once we get to Italy.
The Canadian team is filled with drivers from five different provinces with Ontario leading the charge with seven. Six drivers hail from Quebec while Alberta has two. British Columbia and Saskatchewan each have one driver representing their province. We have a very experienced group travelling to Italy as well as only seven drivers are making their Rotax Grand Finals debut while ten have competed at least once before. Initially there were 18 drivers on Team Canada as DD2 Masters driver John Cariati had qualified through the US Open of Las Vegas last year, however he has withdrawn from the event at the last minute.
Scott Campbell is making his Rotax Grand Finals record twelfth appearance, hoping to secure his second Grand Finals title. Zachary Claman DeMelo is the only other driver on Team Canada this year to have a podium at the event, standing in third place at the 2014 Grand Finals in Spain.
Without further adieu, here are the drivers that will represent Team Canada at the 2016 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Sarno, Italy.
Rotax Junior
- Matthew Taskinen (Alberta)
– CAN-AM Karting Challenge
- Ryan MacDermid (Ontario)
– Eastern Canadian Karting Championship
- Andres De Alba (Quebec)
– ASN Canadian Karting Championships
- Samuel Lupien (Quebec)
– US Open of Las Vegas (2015)
Rotax Senior
- Marco Di Leo (Ontario)
– ASN Canadian Karting Championships
- Gianfranco Mazzaferro (Quebec)
– Eastern Canadian Karting Championship
- Coltin McCaughan (Alberta)
– CAN-AM Karting Challenge
- Kellen Ritter (British Columbia)
– US Open Championship
- Zachary Claman DeMelo (Quebec)
– Florida Winter Tour
Rotax DD2
- Jeff Kingsley (Ontario)
– US Open Championship
- Marco Signoretti (Ontario)
– Florida Winter Tour
- Alessandro Bizzotto (Quebec)
– ASN Canadian Karting Championships
- Tyler Kashak (Ontario)
– Eastern Canadian Karting Championship
Rotax DD2 Masters
- Scott Campbell (Saskatchewan)
– ASN Canadian Karting Championships
- Paul Carvalho (Ontario)
– Eastern Canadian Karting Championship
Rotax Micro-Max
- Anthony Sardelitti (Ontario)
– Most points in ECKC & Nationals
Rotax Mini-Max
- Thomas Nepveu (Quebec)
– Most points in ECKC & Nationals
More to come as the event draws closer.
