#CanadianKartingChampionships
The Briggs Report: Emotional Day of Victories at Canadian Championships
Five Briggs & Stratton 206 categories took to the Mosport Karting Centre circuit for the 2022 Canadian Karting Championships and as expected, no finish could be predicted and when the checkered flags did fly, those who came out on top were full of emotion.
Making the trip up from Wisconsin, Dan Roche of Briggs & Stratton Racing was on hand to support the racers and answer questions throughout the weekend, but it was great to see that when his classes took to the track for their National Finals, he was out on track as well, keeping a close eye and the first to congratulate each champion.
The average class size for the weekend was only 18, but it didn’t matter how many were on track, the racing was spectacular.
Briggs Senior – Prior back on top as BirelART dominate
Jordan Prior is now a two-time Canadian Karting Champion after a thrilling National Final.
The race started off with Prior (Prime/BirelART) leading Jon Treadwell (Prime/BirelART) and Nicky Palladino (MSR/Ricciardo Kart) getting away from the pack early but just prior to the halfway point, Treadwell went for the lead and the shuffling slowed the group up enough that the chasing pack featuring David Barnes (Prime/BirelART), Logan Ploder (PRO/CL Kart), Ari Korkodilos (REM/Kosmic), Frank Launi (MSR/BirelART) and Brennan Taylor (BirelART), caught up.
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Briggs Junior – Day fends off Morrow for his first Canadian title
The Briggs Junior race was shaping up to be a great showdown as a number of drivers showed the pace to win but when it down to the end, it was a shootout between two racers seeking their first Canadian title.
Getting the early race lead was Sebastian Day (CL Kart) as he had a nice push from Mitchell Morrow (Prime/BirelART) to jump out front with Jaden Harry (TNT Kart) slipping back to third after starting on the pole position.
Laps four and five are when the lead pack broke up as Jackson Pearsall (PRO/CL Kart) came to a quick halt with a broken chain in the hairpin and on the following lap, Jordan West (Prime/BirelART) tried to hold the outside in corner seven but had to take the escape route through the dirt and he lost the lead draft.
From there it was a three-kart race up front until a minor mistake by Harry cost him the lead draft of the lead pair.
Morrow remained on the bumper of Day until two laps to go when he started to look for a way by. He tried in the hairpin but it didn’t work and cost him momentum but he closed that back up as the last lap board came out.
In control all the way to the finish, Day never flinched and Morrow was left no opportunity to pull off a pass.
A very emotional Sebastian Day barely completed his victory interview as the biggest win of his young career while Morrow and Harry supported him on the podium.
Fourth and fifth went to Leopold Schrevel (HM Propela/Kart Republic) and Alberta’s George Deadman (CKRC/TonyKart) after the pair caught up and blew by West late in the race.
Briggs Cadet – Da Silva navigates the wet perfectly to take the win
From eleventh on the starting grid, Leo Da Silva (REM/TonyKart) loved the wet conditions the Briggs Cadet racers had to navigate for their morning Final as he was able to drive to the lead and then hold off Luca Cariati (PRO/CL Kart) for the national title.
Hudson Urlin (Nitro Kart) led the field up the hill to start the race however his chances ended before completing the opening lap as he spun in corner seven and fell to the tail of the field.
Navigating through the spinning karts on the opening lap, Domenico Crupi (REM/TonyKart) had a big lead when the first lap was completed, but a couple of minor mistakes on lap two allowed the pack to close back in.
Da Silva was on a charge early and hounding his teammate for the race lead on lap three. The pair traded the top spot for two laps before Cariati and Cole Medeiros (PRO/CL Kart) were part of the battle.
In the closing laps, Cariati and Medieros took their chances in the lead but Da Silva always came back for the top spot and on the final lap when Cariati was back in the lead, an awesome pass by Da Silva sealed his fate and etched his name into the Canadian karting history books as a National Champion.
Cariati and Medieros joined him on the podium while Marley Chaudhary (KGR/Exprit) and Crupi were fourth and fifth. It was a great comeback drive for Chaudhary, as he slipped back to fourteenth on the opening lap and charged back forward every lap after to earn a top five.
Briggs Masters – Scollard strategically takes the win
Greg Scollard waited until two laps to go to make his move for the lead and once he got out front, he never surrendered it en route to the National title.
Taking the early lead was Stephen Goebel (PRO/CL Kart) with Scollard (TonyKart) glued to his bumper. Kevin May (Ricciardo Kart) ran third early until he dramatically lost a wheel in corner one and Eli Yanko (TonyKart) lost the lead draft because of it.
From there it was just the lead pair out front while the rest battled for third on back.
Scollard pulled out on the main straight with two laps to go and had just enough momentum to get alongside Goebel. up the hill in corner two. They went side-by-side to corner three before Scollard got the advantage.
For the next lap and a half, Goebel looked everywhere for a chance to regain the lead but to no avail. Scollard fought him off and took the race win.
Third place went to Yanko at the finish line, who ran most of the race by himself, but a pushback bumper relegated him back to seventh. This gave third place to Rich Folino (BirelART), who overtook Jamie MacArthur (Ricciardo Kart) on the final lap.
Briggs Junior Lite – Another major win for Theodoropoulos
Aristeides Theodoropoloulos pulled off yet another big win this season in Briggs Junior Lite after he battled to the end with Ethan Chan for the Canadian Championship.
Pole sitter James Tufford (Prime/BirelART) had a tough start and slipped back to fifth place early on as his teammate Theodoropoulos (Prime/BirelART) grabbed the top spot with Keaton Pipe (VSR/TonyKart) and Will McCallum (KGR/Exprit) on his tail.
While Theodoropoulos kept control of the lead for most of the race, the battle behind them was intense. Pipe, Chan, Tufford and McCallum all held the position at some point with heartbreak striking Pipe on lap five when he was forced to pull off the track and end his race early with a mechanic woe after just slipping into the lead.
McCallum was the only driver to take on Theodoropoulos in the second half of the race he grabbed the lead with three laps to go. Theodoropoulos fought back and regained the lead as the last lap board came out and from there he kept McCallum behind him all the way to the checkered flag, celebrating with a huge arm flail.
Chan took advantage of McCallum searching for a way to pass on the final lap and scored second place with McCallum settling for third. Tufford and Noah Modestino (BirelART) completed the top five in a very exciting Junior Lite race.
For Ontario Briggs racers, they will be back to the Mosport Karting Centre for the Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship season finale on Sept 24/25 while others will wrap up their club championships across the province.
