What can we say? Rok Vegas got the best of us and we didn’t publish any content during what was one of the busiest weeks for us ever, but here is our report that is so late we can only laugh about it. We hope.
It was a spectacular week of racing in Las Vegas and many of our Canadian drivers shined as more than 300 drivers from around the world converged on a parking lot behind the Planet Hollywood and Paris Hotels to compete for the highest Rok Cup honours in North America.
A last-minute change of venue for ROK Cup USA meant a change in track design that we feel worked out for the best. The racing was great, there was passing in almost every corner, the drivers enjoyed the flow of the circuit and the backdrop was pretty fabulous. It feels weird to say, but having an 11-storey parking garage across the road also had its perks, providing the perfect spot to watch the races for fans and families.
Only one red flag was required all weekend and that itself is an accomplishment we wanted to acknowledge. There was a second incident that did require some attention at the end of one heat race, but it too was all good and the drivers walked away. But all in all, the drivers gave room when needed and were heads up while on track and fist bumps to the marshalls that travelled from Utah to support as well.
Yes, the asphalt took a beating, but kudos to the ROK staff who stayed late every single race night to repair, patch and fill in the gaps as the pavement came up from the intense action all week on the very weathered parking lot. Things should be sorted out for next year to use the lot that ROK Cup USA intended to use.
To see our huge photo gallery from the weekend, head over to the ROK Cup USA Facebook page.
For the full results: click here.
So how did our Canadian drivers do? Here’s what we remember class by class.
Micro Rok – 32 Entries
Our trio of young Canadian drivers represented us very well with two of the three making their international debut. A great drive forward in the final earned Rocco Simone a top-ten result with the pace at the end to be amongst the leaders.
LUCA POPESCU, BC, Kart Republic
Qualifying: 26th
Heats Ranking: 32nd
Final: 27th
EDWARD KENNEDY, QC, Parolin
Qualifying: 30th
Heats Ranking: 24th
Final: DNF
ROCCO SIMONE, ON, BirelART
Qualifying: 19th
Heats Ranking: 20th
Final: 10th
Mini Rok – 40 Entries
It was a final to forget for our drivers in Mini Rok as all but one failed to finish the main event.
A really impressive seventh-place qualifying effort came from Matthew Roach, who made an instant impression during his first international race, while Alex Chartier moved up 15 spots in the final after having a pair of DNFs in the heats force him to start from the final row.
JACKSON LACHAPELLE, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 35th
Heats Ranking: 36th
Final: 29th
MATTHEW ROACH, ON, BirelART
Qualifying: 7th
Heats Ranking: 22nd
Final: 33rd
PEARCE WADE, ON, BirelART
Qualifying: 31st
Heats Ranking: 21st
Final: 38th
GABRIEL BALOG, AB, Magik Kart
Qualifying: 16th
Heats Ranking: 31st
Final: 39th
ALEXANDER CHARTIER, AB, Nitro Kart
Qualifying: 27th
Heats Ranking: 39th
Final: 24th
Junior Rok 23 Entries
VICTORY!
Ayden Ingratta rebounded after having his win in VLR Junior taken away from him with a penalty to dominate the Junior Rok Final and pull away to victory. He was nearly unstoppable all week long and left his mark to close out a very impressive season of Rok competition.
AYDEN INGRATTA, ON, RedSpeed
Qualifying: 2nd
Heats Ranking: 3rd
Final: 1st
LOGAN PACZA, ON, BirelART
Qualifying: 15th
Heats Ranking: 16th
Final: 19th
FRANCO SAVAGLIO, ON, TonyKart
Qualifying: 20th
Heats Ranking: 19th
Final: 17th
Senior Rok – 38 Entries
14 Canadians in Senior Rok kept us on our toes to keep tabs on all our racers in this one.
The competition was very stiff, especially at the top, where the top-30 drivers were covered by less than a second in Qualifying and the heat races were spectacular.
A last-minute offer to drive for PSL Karting put Samuel Lupien back in the driver’s seat and he made the most of it. Staying inside the top ten all weekend, he was the highest-ranking Canadian in the Final, taking sixth place.
Credit to Gianluca Savaglio who qualified in sixth and held his own all week, finishing 12th at the final checkered flag.
Kudos also to Adam Ali, who had a remarkable drive forward in the Final, moving up 19 spots to finish fourteenth. He also had a very scary crash after a brake failure that he thankfully walked away from with only a few scratches.
GRIFFIN DOWLER, AB, TonyKart
Qualifying: 28th
Heats Ranking: 17th
Final: DNF
PATRICK WOODS-TOTH, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 27th
Heats Ranking: 23rd
Final: DNF
MARCO FILICE, ON, BirelART
Qualifying: 12th
Heats Ranking: 37th
Final: 28th
RYAN MACDERMID, ON, RedSpeed
Qualifying: 19th
Heats Ranking: 22nd
Final: DNF
AUSTIN BOYLE, ON, EOS Kart
Qualifying: 26th
Heats Ranking: 30th
Final: 20th
THOMAS NEPVEU, QC, Kart Republic
Qualifying: 13th
Heats Ranking: 26th
Final: 11th
LAURENT LEGAULT, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 25th
Heats Ranking: 12th
Final: DNF
DALE CURRAN, ON, CL Kart
Qualifying: 21st
Heats Ranking: 9th
Final: 17th
DANIEL ALI, ON, Kosmic Kart
Qualifying: 23rd
Heats Ranking: 25th
Final: 24th
LUCAS PERNOD, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 22nd
Heats Ranking: 35th
Final: 25th
GIANLUCA SAVAGLIO, ON, TonyKart
Qualifying: 6th
Heats Ranking: 19th
Final: 12th
SAMUEL LUPIEN, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 8th
Heats Ranking: 7th
Final: 6th
ADAM ALI, ON, Kosmic Kart
Qualifying: 15th
Heats Ranking: 33rd
Final: 14th
MATHIEU COUSINEAU, QC, Kosmic Kart
Qualifying: 24th
Heats Ranking: 15th
Final: 21st
Shifter Rok – 50 Entries
The big show was nothing but a showcase every time these monsters hit the track. Filling up the grid with 50 karts, it was pure chaos their engines roared, but so much fun to watch at the same time.
After struggling for pace through most of the week, Remo Ruscitti passed 12 karts in the Final to finish eighth overall. Evan Arnold deserves a lot of credit for keeping his nose clean all week and was awarded a 23rd place finish, up ten spots from where he started the main.
Devlin Defrancesco announced his Indycar ride during the event and then threw down with some of the best shifter drivers in North America, showing he still has what it takes to wheel a shifter kart around.
Credit to Danny Formal and Jake French, the top-two finishers in the final. They were lights out all weekend and looked like Verstappen/Hamilton, on another level compared to the rest.
MARIO GIL, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 25th
Heats Ranking: 47th
Final: 36th
REMO RUSCITTI, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 21st
Heats Ranking: 20th
Final: 8th
EVAN ARNOLD, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 39th
Heats Ranking: 33rd
Final: 23rd
TJ MADONNA, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 41st
Heats Ranking: 42nd
Final: 38th
DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, ON, GFC
Qualifying: 29th
Heats Ranking: 27th
Final: DNF
RYAN MARTIN, AB, CRG
Qualifying: 17th
Heats Ranking: 26th
Final: DNF
SCOTT HARGROVE, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 33rd
Heats Ranking: 39th
Final: 28th
NICHOLAS SCARFO, ON, CL Kart
Qualifying: 44th
Heats Ranking: 37th
Final: 44th
ANDREW BYRNE, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 47th
Heats Ranking: 49th
Final: DNF
Shifter Rok Masters – 37 Entries
A pair of top-tens for our Canucks as both Nicolas Bedard and Jake Thompson impressed all week. The pair wound up seventh and eighth at the finish and really had the pace to stick with the leaders. For his first international race in forever, Thompson showed no signs of rust and had a smile every time we saw him rolling onto the grid to hit the track.
JAKE THOMPSON, AB, Formula K
Qualifying: 13th
Heats Ranking: 11th
Final: 8th
NICOLAS BEDARD, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 7th
Heats Ranking: 5th
Final: 7th
FRANCESCO VASSALLO, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 34th
Heats Ranking: 18th
Final: 27th
VLR Junior – 35 Entries
Ingratta deserved the win in VLR Junior after making a pair of great passes on the final lap of the race, but a penalty for contact knocked him back to third in the final ranking. Just like in Junior Rok, he was almost unstoppable in the VLR and continues to prove that he is one of the best Junior drivers in North America at the moment.
Antonio Constantino enjoyed his week in Vegas and scored a sixteenth place effort while Lemieux and Ulinder had their eyes opened up to international competition for the first time.
AYDEN INGRATTA, ON, RedSpeed
Qualifying: 1st
Heats Ranking: 1st
Final: 3rd
FREDERIQUE LEMIEUX, QC, BirelART
Qualifying: 31st
Heats Ranking: 29th
Final: 32nd
DYLAN ULINDER, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 26th
Heats Ranking: 33rd
Final: 33rd
ANTONIO COSTANTINO, BC, ITALKART
Qualifying: 20th
Heats Ranking: 12th
Final: 16th
VLR Senior – 39 Entries
Quietly, Daniel Ali stayed out of trouble every time he took the track and progressed forward in almost every session. After qualifying 23rd, he worked his way into the top ten in the final with a well-deserved result.
His brother Adam had a roller coaster of a weekend. Qualified P2, but had his rear bumper come off in the first heat race. Started heat two from last and pushed forward in the remaining heats to get back all the way back to fourth in the final heat race. A tough start in the Final forced him to charge again and he made it all the way back to 13th when the dust settled.
We haven’t seen him in a kart much, but Stefan Rzadzinski finished right behind Adam in fourteenth, mixing it up with the leaders once he sorted out some engine woes.
Credits to Mackenzie Milwain as well, as he made his first VLR start, graduating from Briggs. His Final result doesn’t quite showcase the speed he had all week.
STEFAN RZADZINSKI, AB, ITALKART
Qualifying: 31st
Heats Ranking: 20th
Final: 14th
MACKENZIE MILWAIN, ON, Kosmic Kart
Qualifying: 17th
Heats Ranking: 15th
Final: 21st
DANIEL ALI, ON, Kosmic Kart
Qualifying: 23rd
Heats Ranking: 12th
Final: 8th
MARK HILLIER, AB, COMPKART
Qualifying: 35th
Heats Ranking: 31st
Final: 29th
ADAM ALI, ON, Kosmic Kart
Qualifying: 2nd
Heats Ranking: 13th
Final: 13th
VLR Masters – 19 Entries
John Kwong just missed the top ten in the Final but nonetheless had a blast in Las Vegas and showcased his talents from the CKRC in Las Vegas.
His running-mate Jimmy Gregory was the talk off the track as per usual, sharing a good time just about anyone who would let him, regardless of where they were from.
JOHN KWONG, AB, Praga Kart
Qualifying: 11th
Heats Ranking: 14th
Final: 11th
JIMMY GREGORY, AB, RedSpeed
Qualifying: 19th
Heats Ranking: 19th
Final: 16th
ROK Cup USA now shifts back to Florida as they prepare for the 2022 Florida Winter Tour. The schedule will see two temporary tracks in Pompano Beach and St. Petersburg leading up to the return to the Orlando Kart Centre to crown the winter Rok Cup champions. For those on the west coast, the Challenge of the Americas will have races in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona before heading to Sonoma, California for their winter championship finale.
