Final weekend SRFKC

Championship showdown!
Champagne versus Roth in Formula Senior, while Morad, Mascoll, Walker, 
Wickens and Herder all look for a Canada Junior championship

TORONTO, ON - Just like a 'made-for-TV' movie, the climax to the Sunoco Ron 
Fellows Karting Championship is set to unfold this weekend (Sept. 14-15) at 
Goodwood Kartways in Goodwood, Ontario.
Two championships will be up for grabs as the drivers take to the track 
this weekend. In Canada Junior, no less than five drivers are 
mathematically still alive. Leading Canada Junior going into the weekend is 
Birel's Daniel Morad. Morad has two wins this season, both of which came at 
Goodwood.
Closest to Morad is MBA driver Justin Mascoll, who is a scant 27 points 
behind. Birel's Travis Walker is third in the championship, followed by 
First Kart driver - and Formula Junior Champion - Robert Wickens. Gold 
Kart's Pearce Herder also has an outside shot at the title, but would have 
to be the Pfaff Motors Fast qualifier and win both final rounds, coupled 
with some bad luck from the top-four drivers to win the championship.

In the top-flight Formula Senior class, it is Birel against MBA. Birel's 
Mike Roth will battle the current point-leader, Hurricane MBA Racing's Matt 
Champagne, for the title in their 100mph F125 shifter karts. Champagne 
leads by 59 points over Roth, but Roth is coming off a strong performance 
in rounds 7 and 8.
"Matt is strong at Goodwood, but my Birel is also strong there," Roth said. 
"I have to win or beat Matt in both races to win the title."
For his part, Champagne is focused on one thing this weekend: winning.
"I'm not playing the points game," a confident Champagne said. "I'm going 
with the intention of winning both races; the points will take care of 
themselves."
Champagne swept rounds 5 and 6 at Goodwood with a dominating performance.
"Last time we were here, my Hurricane MBA was awesome," he said. "I think 
it will be as good, if not better this weekend."

Hot Wheels Birel driver, Alex Penfold will be looking to hold off two other 
Birel drivers for third in the championship as Marco Di Leo and Juliana 
Chiovitti are closing in on him. Penfold will need some 'hot wheels' to 
keep third overall.

In the other two classes - Canada Senior and Formula Junior - the 
championships have already been decided with Gold Kart's Kyle Herder 
claiming top honours in Canada Senior and First Kart's Robert Wickens 
taking the Formula Junior crown.

A very interested spectator this weekend will be ALMS Corvette C5-R driver 
and series founder Ron Fellows. "This is a great way to end the first year 
of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship," Fellows said. "It will be 
a battle of the best karters in Ontario.
These karters put on a very professional show. I can't wait to see the 
action unfold. I have seen the championship - as a whole - come a long way 
this year. If you're a racing fan that loves close racing action, don't 
miss Goodwood."

Practice and qualifying (for Formula Junior and Senior) will be run on 
Sept. 15, while rounds 9 and 10 of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting 
Championship start at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15.

Track directions for Rounds 9 and 10
Goodwood Kartway, located approximately 50km (30 mi.) from downtown 
Toronto. From Metropolitan Toronto, take Highway 404 north to Bloomington 
Rd. Turn east, and drive approximately 12km (8 mi.) to Tenth Line. Continue 
east to the first road north "2nd. Concession" (Large sign on right for 
Goodwood Kartway). Head north about 2.5km to four-way stop; club is located 
on the northwest corner.

Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship
News and Notes
SRFKC drivers take advantage of open weekend to help charity

BRAMPTON, ON - Birel's Mike Roth, Hurricane MBA's Matt Champagne and the 
Gold Kart duo of Kyle Herder and Rob Oakman - four of the top drivers in 
the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship - joined in to help BARC 
(British Auto Racing Club) raise money for Huntington's Disease on Sunday, 
Sept. 8. The karters were joined by series founder and Canadian roadracer 
Ron Fellows, who was eager to be a part of the team.

The race took place at Formula Kartways in Brampton, and the 
www.autocosmetics.com team took the win in the 136-lap race.
"It was a good race," said lead driver Tony McGrath. "The Sunoco Ron 
Fellows Karting team had some great talent, but I think our kart was a 
little stronger than theirs."
The SRFKC team finished a strong second after starting ninth.
"It was fantastic. We were just getting warmed up - it should be 272 laps," 
Fellows, a veteran of many 24-hour sports car races, joked. "Seriously, it 
is good to come out here with these karters - they are good teammates."
Mike Roth, second in Formula Senior points, echoed the feeling among the 
karters on the team.
"It was great to do, and especially to have Ron [Fellows] on our team," he 
said.
Canada Senior Champion Kyle Herder added, "It was fun, but competitive. 
Even though it was for charity, it was still a race and having teammates 
that don't come to finish second was good."
Oakman described how important the race was to him. "At first we were 
supposed to race on Saturday [not Sunday], and I had a Toronto Kart Club 
race, I was willing to miss it for a chance to be on Ron's team here."

The event raised $20,000 for Huntington's Disease, and all four drivers 
will see action on this weekend's (Sept. 14, 15) season finale for the 
Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship.
"This was fun to do," Formula Senior class leader Champagne said. "Now we 
have to get ready for next weekend."


Champagne and Chiovitti on Mojo Radio

The first annual Guy's Garage Show and Shine at Shoeless Joe's on Saturday, 
Sept. 7 drew a huge number of cars - plus three karts. The karts belonged 
to Birel's Juliana Chiovitti and the Hurricane Racing MBA of Matt 
Champagne. Johnny B, host of the popular show that airs on Mojo Radio AM640 
on Saturdays, was happy to have not one, but two of the Sunoco Ron Fellows 
Karting Championship drivers on the show.
"These kids are the next big Canadian racing stars," he said. "To get them 
both on at the same show was great. It made for a good interview."
Chiovitti brought her Birel USA Formula Senior shifter, while Champagne had 
his Hurricane MBA F125, and an MBA RotaxMax on display at the show.
"We had a good time," Champagne said. "A lot of people came to see and talk 
to us about the karts."
Chiovitti also had fun doing the show.
"JohnnyB's great," she said. "You never know what he's going to ask you."

Wickens hits Raceline Radio

Newly crowned Formula Junior Champion Robert Wickens will join Inside 
Karting's Russ Bond on Raceline Radio on Monday, Sept. 9 at 10:00 p.m. on 
Chum 1050.
"Raceline Radio have always been very good to us," said Bond. "They are 
Canada's premier motorsports news radio show, and for them to put our 
13-year-old Formula Junior Champion on live, coast-to-coast shows the level 
the SRFKC has attained in its first year. Both hosts, Eric [Tomas] and John 
[Massingberd] have been big supporters of the series and we are happy to 
have Robert join them in the studio."
Wickens is excited about going to the Raceline studio.
"I think it will be fun to see how the show is done live," he said. "I'm a 
little nervous, but it should be fun."

The objective of the SRFKC is to help foster a professional environment for 
kart drivers; help create a positive attitude towards appearance, conduct 
and discipline; help foster the employment of the best practices for the 
safe and fair running of competitions; and help kart drivers to move up the 
racing ladder to automobile racing.

The Formula Senior class will feature F125cc shifter karts, which are 
capable of exceeding 100 mph. Both Formula classes will make Formula 1 
style standing starts.
At the end of the season, two drivers will be selected from each of the 
four classes plus the two drivers from the ASN Canadian National 
Championships will be invited to a one-day evaluation test at the 
Bridgestone/Firestone Racing Academy at Mosport, provided they are 16 years 
of age prior to the date of the test.
Out of those 10 drivers, two will earn a full scholarship to the 2003 
Bridgestone/Firestone Toronto Star Wheels F2000 racing series.

Photos available on request, contact: Russ Bond, Inside Karting, 
russ@insidekartingnews.com For more information, please contact: Brad 
Brown, Sunoco Motorsports, www.sunoco.ca (416)-233-8727. ASN Canada FIA, 
Paul Cooke, www.asncanada.com, (905)-403-9000. Russ Bond, 
www.insidetracknews.com, (416)-962-7223

www.asncanada.com

*****Photo - Left to right, Matt Champagne (Formula Senior), Rob Oakman 
(Canada Senior), Mike Roth (Formula Senior), Kyle Herder (2002 Canada 
Senior Champion) and Ron Fellows - Photo by Rob Morton/ITMN