Jeff Kingsley, pilot of the Whitby Toyota TRD Tony Kart, headed into the unfamiliar confines of the Warburg Kart Track located near Edmonton, AB as he looked to take on Canada’s best with one goal in mind; a place on Team Canada. Kingsley would show the way throughout the weekend as he led every on track session. The revised 2013 Western Canadian Championships (WCC) was tweaked for 2013 as the once three-weekend, six-race series was position as a one-weekend title chase for a ticket to the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals taking place for first time on US soil. Kingsley and his Rex Roth prepared Tony Kart came to grips quickly with the technical and challenging Warburg facility. The duo would worked a program to set them up for a run for the title. The talented teen would win the all-important prefinal to earn pole position for the prize giving final. Kingsley’s voyage west in seek of success came to a difficult conclusion, but the young pilot will take the momentum created into the next event.
“The result is certainly not what we had hoped for,” shrugs Kingsley. “We set fast times through out the weekend and paced the field in every session. We clearly got caught off guard in the final and that took the championship out of reach. All the starts were within the framework set out by the race stewards until we got to the final. Still it was a good run and to bounce back and at least put on a charge through out the race to try to take on the win we really deserved.”
The duo will now head to Trois Rivieres, Quebec where Kingsley rolls into the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship for round five sitting second in the points. Top drivers from Ontario, Quebec and the East Coast will descend on the temporary street track located in the small community just northeast of Montreal. The Monaco of Trois Rivieres is a fan favorite with local racing enthusiasts and kicks of the GP3R week long race program.
“I am really looking forward to Three Rivers and challenging for the win,” smiles Kingsley. “We are sitting second in points and have a lot of ground to cover. But with two rounds left we still have a good shot to take the title. With Three Rivers and Tremblant both being single rounds you have to be on your game.”
Following the ECKC action this weekend, the series returns to the track for the final round at Mont Tremblant Karting in mid-September.
For more information about Jeff, visit his website at jeffkingsley.ca. For more information about Whitby Toyota, visit their website at whitbytoyota.com.
