Victory for Zachary Claman DeMelo in Rotax Senior Championship Final

The 2013 ASN Canada FIA Canadian National Karting Championships presented by Canadian Tire hit the track for Championship Sunday at Goodwood Kartways, just north of Toronto, Ontario. The final day of competition meant nine new Canadian Champions would be crowned in their respective classes, while 10 drivers would join Team Canada for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, held this year in New Orleans, USA. It was a beautiful day at Goodwood, aside from a brief rain shower during podium presentations. The action on track was tense, exciting and everything it was expected to be as Canada’s best battled for National supremacy.

This week, three drivers have separated themselves from the pack in the Rotax Senior division. Polesitter Tyler Kashak (IPK/OK1), his IPK teammate Zachary Claman Demelo (IPK/Praga) and Pier-Luc Ouellette (PSL Karting/CRG) have taken over the class and Sunday was much of the same.

After a prefinal that saw DeMelo hold off Ouellette, the two went head-to-head once again the Championship Final, while Kashak sat in third defending off the rest. Unlike the Prefinal, DeMelo got away early in the Final and within five laps he and Ouellette were steadily pulling away while matching each other lap for lap. Kevin Monteith (REM/Birel) was able to get by Kashak on lap five to take third, while Olivier Bedard (KMS/Birel) moved up to fifth ahead of Marc Andre Levesque (PSL Karting/CRG) with Chris Glover (Kevin Glover Karting/TonyKart) hanging onto the top-seven.

Up front DeMelo and Ouellette continue to maintain a 3-kart gap, with Ouellette not able to close, Kashak was able to get by Monteith for third a few laps before the REM pilot retired with a mechanical issue while running behind the Friday’s fast qualifier.

Cruising to victory, DeMelo scored his second Canadian Title, and will join Team Canada for a second straight year at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals. Ouellette, who just didn’t have enough in the end, had to settle for second while Kashak completed a great week to finish third. Bedard moved up to the fourth spot at the line while Steven Szigeti (SH Karting/Zanardi) recovered nicely to earn a top-five finish after finishing second one year ago.

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