Some unfortunate news struck the Rotax Senior class early in the day Sunday as Friday race winner Bryce Choquer (BBR/Kosmic) was forced to withdraw from the event with a rib injury he sustained in the Saturday Final.
A mixed bag of strategies in qualifying saw John Buzza (KGK/TonyKart) just barely nip American Jim McKinney (OverDrive/TonyKart) and Coltin McCaughan (CKN/TonyKart) for the pole position. With the top-three within a tenth of a second, it was even closer as the next five were within that second tenth of a second bracket.
McKinney found his way through in the Prefinal earning the pole-position for the Final with Skylar Dunning (KGK/Kosmic) second and Buzza falling to third. Garret Britton (K&M/Birel) was able to work his way past McCaughan in the closing laps to take fourth.
The final saw Dunning grab the early lead with McKinney hot on his heels. A failed attempt at the lead on lap two by McKinney forced him to try the same move in corner seven a lap later. Braking deep into the corner, contact between the front two sent Dunning spinning into the tire barriers and the lead to Buzza. McCaughan also worked his way past McKinney as the lead group got back up to speed. Dunning was able to return to the track, albeit at the tail of the field.
Two laps later, McCaughan swooped under Buzza for the lead as Britton began to attach McKinney for fourth.
From there it was smooth sailing for McCaughan as he went on to score his second win of the weekend and dazzling everyone after he opted to use both sets of tires on Friday. Buzza cruised on to finish second and Britton completed his weekend with a trip to the podium. An excellent drive by Tristan Merke (TonyKart) saw her cross the line fifth behind McKinney.
For his efforts, McKinney was placed behind Dunning in the final results, moving Merke to fourth and Jordan Redlin (CRG West/CRG) into the top-five.
McCaughan travels to Chilliwack with the championship lead, but it is far from over. Choquer intends to be back in action on his home track and we expect the two to go head-to-head for the title and the trip to Spain as part of Rotax Team Canada.
