PRO Drivers Sweep in Senior; Domination in Junior at RFKC Season Opener

The opening weekend of the Ron Fellows Karting Championship took to the track over the weekend at the Mosport Karting Centre, kickstarting a very busy regional karting season in the province of Ontario.

Competitively, the racing continued to set the bar and showcase many of Ontario’s best two and four-cycle racers. Still, overall, the numbers have slipped in comparison to years past for the series, and that was a consistent conversation throughout the paddock.

For the ROK Cup Canada divisions, there were 59 drivers over four categories. Even with several drivers graduating to new challenges, there was still an impressive 24 in ROK Senior.

Saturday’s Final saw Diego Ramos (PRO/CL Kart) slice his way through the field after being forced to swap an engine after Qualifying and starting the PreFinal at the rear. Ramos made quick work of the early race leaders Joseph Launi (REM/Kosmic) and Ryan Maxwell (REM/Kosmic) and was in control by lap seven, eventually pulling away to a 2.4-second margin of victory. Maxwell held on for second place while Gianluca Savaglio (REM/Kosmic) worked his way up to third place followed by Christian Menezes (JMF/Factory Kart) and Launi.

It looked to be a repeat in Sunday’s main event until disaster struck Ramos on lap twelve. Leading the race from the start and fending off early pressure from Savaglio, Ramos suddenly slowed and eventually had to pull to the side of the circuit with an engine failure, handing the race lead to Savaglio.

Behind the leader, Joshua Soumvalis (PRO/CL Kart) had nicely worked his way up to third place and then second with Ramos on the sidelines. Fending off a battle from Francesco Esposito (Prime/BirelART) became very important at the checkered flag. Savaglio was the first to the finish line only to have a pushback bumper activation and a 5-second penalty. With Soumvalis less than three seconds back at the finish, he was awarded his first ROK Senior victory with Esposito moving up to second and Savaglio standing on the third step of the podium.

Spending some time back home after competing in Europe throughout the winter, Jensen Burnett (REM/Kosmic) decided to race the RFKC opener, and he was untouchable all weekend in ROK Junior.

Burnett topped all six competitive sessions on the weekend and swept both of the race victories. At the race starts he fought off challenges from Pearce Wade (Prime/BirelART), Jackson Morley (Prime/BirelART), Decklan Deonarine (REM/Kosmic) and Olivier Mrak (REM/Kosmic) but ultimately his pace was just no match for his fellow competitors and they had to fight for second place.

In Saturday’s Final, that honour went to Deonarine who battled from as low as fifth place at one point in the race to second place at the finish line with Wade just behind at the finish line. On. Sunday it was less eventful for Deonarine, holding second place for the entirety of the 18-lap main event, keeping a nice gap to Wade, who was once again in third place.

The Lorusso brothers controlled most of the weekend in Mini ROK.

In Saturday’s Final, the pair started on the front row and Nicholas immediately locked onto the rear bumper of Massimo and the two worked together to break free from the chasing pack. The KGR drivers didn’t challenge each other until the final lap where Nicholas tried to find a way by in the final corners of the Mosport circuit that resulted in a drag race to the finish line. Massimo was the first one to get there and edged out his brother by 0.083 seconds to notch the win. Ryker Magro (Prime/BirelART) was a distant third after fending off teammate Ava Cabral (Prime/BirelART) for the final step of the podium.

Sunday’s main event saw Nicholas lead most of the race and get the edge over Magro following a spirited battle in the final laps of the race, however, officials issued Nicholas a 3-second jump start penalty and stripped him of the win, elevating Magro to the top step of the podium with Massimo elevating up to second place and Nicholas third. Kegan Irwin (PRO/CL Kart) and Cabral completed the top five.

Finally, there was only a small class of four drivers in VLR Senior for their one-off race in the RFKC.

Aidan Shimbashi (JMF/Factory Kart) was the class of the field and led every competitive session of the weekend en route to a weekend sweep. Mark Pavan (AMP/LN Kart) finished second in both Finals while Dante Pelaccia (REM/Kosmic) and Luca Possik (PRO/CL Kart) each had a trip to the podium with third-place finishes.

Event two of the Ron Fellows Karting Championship takes place at the TAG Karting Academy in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec on June 29-30.