Western Canadian Championships: Round One in the Books following Superb Sunday

The first half of the 2014 Western Canadian Championship is complete as Sunday’s action at the 3 Flags Motorsports Park concluded the opening round of the two-event championship series. It was another beautiful, yet windy day in Saskatchewan with blue skies and slightly warmer temperatures.

The final day of competition could be marked as the most exciting as excellent racing was found in all five categories on track. Tire strategy was once again on the minds of the drivers and mechanics in the Rotax Junior and Senior categories, while some drivers delivered dominated their respective classes on the final days to set the championship races into overdrive as the series heads to the far west of Chilliwack, British Columbia in a months time.

The 3 Flags Motorsports Park was a great host to event and the track raced much better throughout the weekend than some expected upon arrival. A great feeling in the paddock as drivers and teams packed up gave organizers a feeling of accomplishment following the first WCC event at the 3 Flags facility.

Qualifying Top-10’s | Prefinal Top-10’s | Final Top-10’s | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2

Here are our reports from Sunday’s racing action.

Vogel Sweeps Weekend in Mini-Max as the podium is repeated for the third straight day

The young BBR Racing drivers Carson Vogel impressively scored his third victory of the weekend in Mini-Max.

Doing what he did on both days prior, Vogel got out front early and allowed his competitors to battle it out behind him as he left them in his dust. Really coming into his element this weekend, Vogel is showing that he can be a Mini-Max threat across the country.

In the battle for second, Griffin Dowler (Apollo Motorsports/TonyKart) and Marco Kacic (CRG West/CRG) once again went at it on track. The two have raced each other in each Final, with Kacic getting the better of Dowler for the third straight day as the arrangement on the podium remained the same all weekend long.

An excellent battle for fourth featured Wyatt Gulash (K&M/Birel), Tyler Kozma (TonyKart) and Levi Schmidtke (CRG). Gulash held the position in the early going, but Schmidtke was able to to overtake at the mid-point to claim the fourth position at the finish. Kozma ended up fifth and Gulash sixth, while Townes Allen (CRG), Jacob Waddell (Arrow), Angelia Amorim (TonyKart) and Mia Schellekens (LH Kart) completed the top-ten.

Carson Vogel (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

Dezell returns to the top in Micro-Max

Rebounding after a tough third place finish on Saturday, Ryan Dezall (Kosmic) was set on returning to the top of the podium on Sunday.

He put himself on the pole-position in Qualifying, but surrendered the position in the PreFinal.

Getting out front early in the Final, he was once again challenged by Jason Leung (PDB). The two raced hard again, with Leung all over Dezall’s bumper looking for any opportunity to pounce.

The opportunity never came as Dezell completed a near perfect run to score his second win of the weekend. Brad Bachalo earned his third podium appearance of the weekend with another third-place effort. Darryen Hliwa, Shawn Kozma and Spencer Perreault rounded out the results.

Jaedin Wright doubles up in Junior 2; Kohl MacLaggan sweeps Junior 1

It came down to the final laps for the third straight day in Briggs & Stratton Junior 2. Jaedin Wright and Christina Dezall completed their weekends with another epic battle for the win. With both drivers having a win in their pockets, it was a must win on Sunday.

Wright made the right move in the closing laps on Sunday to take the win over Dezell as Brendon Breen was once again third.

Kohl MacLaggan completed his weekend sweep of the Junior 1 category with a convincing win on Sunday over Jesse Gibson.

Jaedin Wright (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

Clay Van Eerd Triumphs in Rotax Junior on Sunday

Clearly one of the fastest karts since the event kicked off, Ontario driver Clay Van Eerd (CVE/TonyKart) had found himself in the wrong places at the wrong times through races one and two, forcing him to recover in both of the final races.

Sunday was much different, as a different tire strategy left him as the only driver in the Rotax Junior category with one full set of tires remaining.

Full Race Report

McCaughan Earns His Second Win in Exciting Rotax Senior Sunday Final

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.

Full Race Report

Coltin McCaughan (Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

In just under a months time, the Western Canadian Championship will hit the Greg Moore Raceway in Chilliwack, British Columbia for round two. Bigger grids are expected as the popular track is expecting some added American entries from drivers preparing for the Rotax Can-Am ProKart Challenge event which follows the WCC. CKN will be there, once again providing full coverage of the event along with official event photos and more.