Eastern Canadian Karting Championship
Rotax DD2 Free For All at ECKC Opener
In the Rotax DD2 category this weekend at Goodwood Kartways we saw a familiar show on one day and another familiar story on the other as the opening weekend of Eastern Canadian Karting Championship proved that nothing has really changed in the class.
Saturday
Jeff Kingsley and his PSL Karting BirelART machine showed superior pace all day on Saturday, topping the charts in Qualifying and cruising in the PreFinal.
The Final was very much the same with Kingsley jumped out front courtesy of a nice push from Fred Woodley (Maranello North America/Maranello) while Alessandro Bizzotto (PSL Karting/BirelART) was forced wide behind falling from fourth to eighth.
In the race for third, Tyler Kashak (Goodwood/Intrepid) and Zachary Claman DeMelo (Goodwood/Intrepid) made contact on lap two, sending DeMelo back to eighth and allowing Marco Signoretti (Energy Kart Canada/Energy Kart) to advance up to third. But Kashak would regain the position by halfway.
From there the race was in cruise control with Kingsley well out front, Woodley alone in second and Kashak third and that is how they crossed the finish line.
However both Kashak and Signoretti received one-position penalties for contact, moving DeMelo onto the podium after crossing in fifth.
Defending Champion Jeff Kingsley controlled Saturday like he did for most of 2015 (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Sunday
Once again, Kingsley led the way in Qualifying and the PreFinal but when it came to the Final, Woodley still had his two new tires remaining and rolled up to the grid with them, hoping to have something for Kingsley.
Lap one was a melee.
Before the group even got to turn one, Ethan Simioni (Maranello North America/Maranello) and Bizzotto, who started second and third, were sliding through the grass and into the outside barrier after making contact on the front straight. Three corners later, Kashak went well wide in corner four courtesy of contact. This left Kingsley and Woodley alone out front.
Woodley went to the lead on lap two with a dive to the inside of corner one and for the first time all weekend, Kingsley was trailing someone. A lap later DeMelo withdrew when his fuel line became detached.
The two ran nose to tail for four laps until Kingsley dove up the inside of Woodley in corner four. However he didn’t get far enough up the inside and flew over front Woodley as he began to apex. The result saw Woodley battered and out of the race while Kingsley was able to continue, albeit in back in fourth.
Full Results from the weekend
Staying out of trouble allowed Signoretti to move into the lead with American Dev Gore (Ben Cooper Racing/BirelART) second and Dante Lerra (CRG) third.
Kingsley went back on the offence, picking off Lerra and Gore by lap ten but he ran out of time to chase Signoretti who had built up a large lead.
Complimenting his Briggs & Stratton Senior victory from the day before, Signoretti took his first ECKC win in DD2, a feat much more impressive given his team started the day with a new chassis frame and were unsure if they were even going to be able to compete. Kingsley crossed in second, but received a hard penalty from officials resulting in a last place finish, meaning second place went to Austin Riley (PRO/Intrepid) after Gore received a penalty for tire scrubbing.
DD2 Masters
In the Rotax DD2 Masters race within the DD2 race, John Cariati (Maranello North America/Maranello) scored the Saturday victory while David Nevin (Intrepid) topped the podium on Sunday.
John Cariati scored one of the two DD2 Masters victories. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
