Prior Finally Crowned an MRFKC Briggs Senior Champion

Four years after his first regional karting championship in Ontario, Jordan Prior has been crowned a champion once again.

Following three seasons of coming up just short of the title in the Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship Briggs Senior division, Prior finally wrapped up a title this weekend at Brechin Motorsport Park with a runner-up finish on Sunday.

Prior controlled the championship from round one, taking a pair of championships in the opening weekend and adding two more along the way, missing the podium only once.

On Saturday at Brechin, the Briggs Seniors were caught on the wrong side of the storm as all but three Finals were run on dry track conditions with dark clouds looming. On the Pre-Grid for their Final, the clouds unleashed a heavy downpour that required about an hour delay to ensure the track was in racing condition. The staff worked very hard to ensure the conditions were safe and the final two races of the day were completed without issue.

David Barnes (BirelART) and Maddox Heacock (Awesome Kart) hit the setup for the very wet conditions perfectly and quickly pulled away from the pack as many racers slipped around the circuit, including Prior who slid off the track in corner two and made contact with the barriers.

After having to wait for a few laps to avoid passing under yellow, Heacock passed up the inside of Barnes in corner two and was lights out from there, pulling away to the win, his first of the MRFKC season.

With a late-race surge, Alex Murphy (BirelART) grabbed the final podium spot, finishing ahead of Jon Treadwell (BirelART) and Avery Miller (CL Kart), who passed the most karts in the race after spinning twice and having to claw his way back forward.

Back on a dry circuit, Sunday Prior led the field to green.

Heacock stuck to the rear bumper of the race leader until Treadwell passed him on lap five. Canadian Champion Logan Ploder (CL Kart) also followed Treadwell by and moved into third.

Quietly, Murphy was a charge from the rear after starting 15th. By lap fifteen he overtook Ploder for the third spot and had his eyes set on the race leaders.

A defensive line from Prior on the final lap allowed Murphy to close in on the lead pair and down the back straight to corner six, a little bit of contact resulted in Treadwell spinning and Murphy getting alongside Prior. With the preferred line for the next corner, Murphy gained the lead and finished off the lap with the lead to score the victory. Prior was able to get alongside Murphy in a race to the finish line, with the pair separated by 0.007 seconds with Ploder only 0.051 seconds adrift of the win as well.

For Prior, the Championship is his first as a Senior after capturing the Ron Fellows Karting Championship Briggs Junior title in 2017. He was all smiles to talk about the title when we spoke with him after the weekend.

“It is nice to be rewarded as a result of all the hard work that everyone put in to make it happen this year. The championship is something I have been wanting for a couple of years and so it is nice to have. Going into the weekend I had a good points lead, so coming to a new venue the goal was to just enjoy it and fight for good finishes. A tight race for first on Sunday did just that. I just want to thank Trevor [Wickens], Darryl [Timmers], Curtis [Fox], my dad and everyone else who helps support me throughout the year.”

Click here for the final championship standings on SpeedHive.