Rok Cup SuperFinal Blog
Follow along as Team Canada competes in Italy.
Welcome to the 2022 Rok Cup SuperFinal at Italy’s famous South Garda Karting Circuit.
Saturday Updates:
Rain was forecast for Saturday’s main events and while the weather changed to cooler and windier conditions, nothing more than a few small rain drops fell throughout the day.
After the final round of heat races in the morning, the grids were set for the Trophy Finals in Mini, Junior and Senior, as well as the SuperFinals for all the categories.
Sadly, Quinn Tyers and Matthew Roach were unable to advance to the Mini Finals, both just missing the cut for the Trophy race. Baz Kedairy did not advance in Junior Rok either.
The rest were into the show, and wow was it ever a show. Six main events plus three B Finals were exciting.
We’re working hard on a full recap for each category and will have it up on the website as soon as we can.
Thank you for tuning in on CKN for the 2022 Rok Cup SuperFinal.
Friday Updates:
It wasn’t a pleasant morning arrival at South Garda Karting as dark clouds loomed over the circuit and the conditions were much cooler.
Morning warm-up came and went quickly and then it was right back into heat racing.
A light sprinkle fell for the entire day but never enough to really even consider rain tires, albeit everyone was ready just in case.
In some of the heat races, the Junior and Seniors especially, the conditions got very tricky. Drivers did everything to get heat in their tires before the start and on the opening laps with many struggling for grip.
On Saturday morning, the final round of heats will be completed for Junior, Senior and Mini to determine which drivers make it into the SuperFinals and which drivers are relegated to the Trophy Finals.
Friday Shifter Rok Heat Results:
It wasn’t an ideal day for our Shifter racers as multiple issues hurt our results.
Davide Greco had a mechanical issue plague him in heat one and then after driving forward in heat two, a dive-bomb by a fellow racer forced him to spin in the chicane and it collected fellow Canadian Nicholas Taylor as well, sending them both down the running order.
It was a relatively uneventful day for Dante Lerra, as he causally missed most of the action and kept his nose clean, capping his day with a 17th-place result.
He ranks the highest after the heats and will start the Superfinal tomorrow from P22 on the grid. Greco will line up on the inside of the next row in 23rd while Taylor is all the way back in 32nd.
The lads can only go forward from here, so let’s see how it goes.
Shifter Rok Heat #2:
- 25. Dante Lerra
- 26. Nicholas Taylor
- 33. Davide Greco
Shifter Rok Heat #3:
- 17. Dante Lerra
- 28. Nicholas Taylor
- 30. Davide Greco
Friday Expert Rok Heat Results:
Our Experts have been mixing it up nicely on track this week and staying out of trouble.
In his first appearance at the Superfinal, Sylvain Coulombe looks destined for the Expert Plus podium. He ranked sixth and third for the Plus drivers in his heats and continues to get quicker.
Hot on his heels, Mark Pavan is right there too in contention for the podium. He has finished right behind Coulombe in both heats.
The pair will start deep in the field for the SuperFinal on Saturday, 22nd and 26th, but are surrounded by drivers in the Expert Plus division.
Go get that podium guys!
Expert Rok Heat #2:
- 21. Sylvain Coulombe
- 24. Mark Pavan
Expert Rok Heat #3:
- 21. Sylvain Coulombe
- 23. Mark Pavan
Friday Mini Rok Heat Results:
Our Mini Rok drivers are having to really fight on track in their heat races. The racing is very cut-throat and every battle is intense.
Eddy Kennedy had a great run in the morning heat to finish sixth but he crashed out on the final lap of his afternoon heat and fell all the way to 34th. He’s been consistent in the top ten all week long and hopefully, it’s enough to transfer to the main event.
Decklan Deonarine had a solid day scoring a pair of top-tens. He’s really having to work for them and in both races, he had to battle back forward after some tough opening laps, but he’s a warrior and is making it happen.
Matthew Roach is getting more comfortable with his wrist injury every time he’s on track. He scored 23rd and 19th place finishes to steadily keep moving up the results.
It’s been a rocky road for the trio from Goodwood as Justin Di Lucia, David Zhao and Quinn Tyers are right in the thick of the action. Tyers was part of a big crash in his first heat and that knocked him to the rear while Di Lucia and Zhao have been passing karts and are being passed like they are a yoyo. There is no shortage of wheel-to-wheel action for these three and we’re sure they are loving it.
We will find out tomorrow morning where everyone ranks and who makes it to the two Final races in the afternoon.
Mini Rok A vs C:
- 6. Edward Kennedy
- 27. Quinn Tyers
Mini Rok B vs D:
- 8. Decklan Deonarine
- 19. Justin Di Lucia
- 21. David Zhao
Mini Rok C vs E:
- 23. Matthew Roach
- 28. Quinn Tyers
Mini Rok A vs D:
- 9. Decklan Deonarine
- 34. Edward Kennedy
Mini Rok B vs E:
- 19. Matthew Roach
- 20. Justin Di Lucia
- 22. David Zhao
Friday Senior Rok Heat Results:
A solid day for our Senior drivers overall. Patrick Woods-Toth was nifty on his starts to avoid any drama and that helped him steer to a fourth place and second place finishes after some penalties.
Robert Soroka had two great drives ruined by pushback bumper penalties. In the second heat, he was part of an accordion effect in corner two but then persevered well into the top ten. He has some great speed just needs a little luck.
For Gianluca Savaglio, his day started off with a driver diving up his inside on the opening lap and going up and over him (see below). That knocked him all the way to last place. In his second heat, he had a much smoother drive en route to an eighth-place finish.
One more heat in the morning will determine who makes which Final and hopefully, all three can transfer to the main event.
Senior Rok A vs C:
- 4. Patrick Woods-Toth
- 29. Gianluca Savaglio
Senior Rok B vs D:
- 14. Robert Soroka
Senior Rok C vs E:
- 2. Patrick Woods-Toth
- 8. Gianluca Savaglio
Senior Rok A vs D:
- 12. Robert Soroka
Friday Rok Junior Heat Race Results:
It was an eventful day for our Juniors. After battling back from some tough starts, on row three, Jensen Burnett drove forward to a pair of third-place finishes.
Caleb Campbell and Christian Menezes held their own in their heat races today and both progressed well in their second heat to finish in the top ten. They are going to be on the brink of making it into the main event and will need another strong finish in their final heat race to get it done.
Zachary Taylor and Baz Kedairy, the pair have run into some trouble in their heats. Pushback penalties and tough racing has not been their friends as they have ranked toward the bottom of the results sheet more often.
With one more heat race left, it’s all or nothing for our Canadians on Saturday.
Rok Junior A vs D:
- 3. Jensen Burnett
- 28. Baz Kedairy
Rok Junior B vs F:
- 9. Caleb Campbell
- 17. Christian Menezes
Rok Junior C vs E:
- 29. Zachary Taylor
Rok Junior A vs E:
- 3. Jensen Burnett
Rok Junior B vs D:
- 20. Baz Kedairy
Rok Junior C vs F:
- 9. Christian Menezes
- 10. Caleb Campbell
- 24. Zachary Taylor
Thursday Updates:
The heat races have begun this afternoon and there’s been no shortage of action.
In Parc Ferme just before his heat was about to start, Jensen Burnett’s engine would not start. In a matter of only minutes, a replacement engine was installed on his kart and he was able to make the start of his first heat race. A remarkable feat that saw no less than ten different mechanics helping ensure he made it on the grid in time.
Results from Thursday Heats
Junior Rok A vs B:
- 17. Jensen Burnett
Junior Rok C vs D:
- 32. Baz Kedairy
- 33. Zak Taylor
Junior Rok E vs F:
- 11. Caleb Campbell
- 17. Christian Menezes
Junior Rok A vs C
- 3. Jensen Burnett
- 34. Zak Taylor
After a tough start, Burnett fought back to finish P3 with a great run.
Junior Rok D vs F:
- 20. Christan Menezes
- 26. Baz Kedairy
- 33. Caleb Campbell
Caleb Campbell had a great run in this one but got into some penalty trouble and a 10-second penalty moved him well down the finishing order.
Senior Rok D vs E:
- 5. Robert Soroka
Senior Rok B vs C:
- 3. Patrick Woods-Toth
- 6. Gianluca Savaglio
A really good start for both of our drivers put them in the top 5 early. Woods-Toth was able to break free but unable to catch the lead pair while Savaglio slipped back one spot.
Shifter Rok Heat #1:
- 8. Davide Greco
- 22. Dante Lerra
- 33. Nicholas Taylor*
Taylor initially finished one spot ahead of Greco but came across the scales too light and was disqualified. With their heats being progressive, that means Taylor has some work to do to recover.
Expert Rok Heat #1:
- 24. Sylvain Coulombe
- 26. Mark Pavan
Our Expert Plus drivers were sixth and seventh in their category.
Mini Rok A vs B:
- 13. Eddy Kennedy
- 25. David Zhao
- 26. Justin Di Lucia
Mini Rok D vs E:
- 9. Decklan Deonarine
- 34. Matthew Roach
Mini Rok B vs C
- 21. Quinn Tyers
- 23. David Zhao
- 34. Justin Di Lucia
Official Qualifying Results
Well, the results weren’t what we expected. They have resorted back to results by time overall and not by group so here is how everyone stacks up and which group they will be in for their heats.
Junior Rok
- 13. Jensen Burnett (A)
- 36. Caleb Campbell (F)
- 78. Christian Menezes (F)
- 93. Zackary Taylor (C)
- 94. Baz Kedairy (D)
Mini Rok
- 19. Decklan Deonarine (D)
- 31. Edward Kennedy (A)
- 53. Quinn Tyers (C)
- 57. Justin Di Lucia (B)
- 70. Matthew Roach (E)
- 77. David Zhao (B)
Senior Rok
- 13. Patrick Woods-Toth (C)
- 23. Gianluca Savaglio (C)
- 34. Robert Soroka (D)
Expert Rok
- 21. Mark Pavan
- 29. Sylvain Coulombe
Shifter Rok
- 9. Davide Greco
- 10. Nicolas Taylor
- 26. Dante Lerra
Shifter Rok Qualifying update:
Two Canadians in the top ten!
Davide Greco set his pace early and it held up for the ninth quickest time while Nicholas Taylor was just behind in P10. Speaking to Taylor after the session he mentioned that was the busiest the track has ever been for him when Qualifying and it was really challenging to find space for an entire clean lap.
Dante Lerra was only two-tenths of a second back of Greco and Taylor but that put him down in 26th place.
Expert Rok Qualifying update:
Mark Pavan and Sylvain Coulombe finally got to see where they stacked up in Expert Rok Qualifying and it wasn’t too bad.
Pavan ranked fourth amongst the Expert Plus drivers while Coulombe was eighth in Expert Plus. The pair is about a second off the pace of the overall Expert leaders but should have some finning battling for top-five finishes in class this week.
Shout to Rok Cup USA’s Renato Jader and Derek Wang who qualified third and fourth overall as Expert drivers.
Senior Rok Qualifying update:
The group at the top in Senior Rok is so close!
All three of our Canadians were in Group C for Qualifying and they did not disappoint.
Patrick Woods-Toth went P3 in his group to lead our contingent. It took Gianluca Savaglio half the session to settle in, but when he did, ironically right behind Woods-Toth, he put down a great flyer to go P6 and just behind, Robert Soroka was ninth in group.
There are a few drivers who seem to have just a little extra at the top of the charts, but after them, it is so close for positions 5 to 30.
Now it’s time for the heat races where the Seniors never disappoint.
Mini Rok Qualifying update:
Quinn Tyers and Justin Di Lucia took to the track first as part of Group A for Qualifying.
The pair are still trying to find a little speed and found themselves a second off the pace of the leaders.
Both posted their fastest laps of the week so far in Qualifying and ranked 21st and 23rd in their group, meaning they will be right in the middle of the pack for their heat races.
Our Energy Kart pair in Group B really impressed as Decklan Deonarine put down the third fastest time while Edward Kennedy was also in the top ten, going ninth fastest. Kennedy did have some traffic to deal with that kept him back from showing his best speed, but ninth is nothing to be upset about.
Back in his kart and on track, Matthew Roach is still getting used to driving with the brace on his hand. He could only muscle up the 26th quickest time in his group but will surely keep improving as he gets more comfortable.
David Zhao keeps improving as the lone Canadian in Group C. He was 23rd in his group and 1.5 seconds off the leaders.
When the groups are merged, we will have the official results.
Junior Rok Qualifying update:
Christian Menezes opted to go out on his own and avoided the drama that was the first group of Junior qualifying. He put forth a valiant effort in going P21 in his group, a little over six-tenths of a second off the fastest time.
In group 2, Jensen Burnett found himself in a pack of chaos and could only get one lap clean enough for a flyer. It put him P5 in his group but we know he has more.
Also in that mix of karts were Zackary Taylor and Baz Kedairy. They struggled to find clean space, constantly passing and being passed. They ranked 33rd and 34th in Group B and will have their work cut out for them in the heats.
Finally, in Group C Caleb Campbell was right in the thick of it with the leaders. He mixed it up and was in the top ten for most of the session but wasn’t able to improve on his final laps and settled for 15th in the group.
These results are unofficial as we are still awaiting the merged official results.
