SRFKC - Holy Hamilton! - Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship
HAMILTON, ONTARIO - There are many karting stars involved in the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship presented by Toronto Star Wheels - now a facility can be added to the 'stars' list. Cameron Motorsports Park in Hamilton, Ontario hosted rounds 9 and 10 of the series this past weekend, and clearly most of the talk surrounded the newest star of the series - the facility. The combined track layout provided the drivers with numerous passing opportunities and the fans with some great racing action. Kicking off the weekend was Formula Junior on Saturday. The battle between Guelph's Robert Wickens and Markham's Daniel Morad was back in full swing. Wickens took the Pfaff Motorsports pole, and the round 9 win by a scant. 133 of a second over championship rival Morad. Morad bounced back to win round 10, while Wickens was second. Third and fourth in both rounds were West Hill's Keaton Doerksen and Quebec's Jesse Labbe. Fifth in round 9 was Richard Boake, and fifth in round 10 was Michael Vincec. Sunday brought with it rain, which caused several delays and the officials decided that there was only time to run one of the two scheduled rounds. RotaxMax Challenge was the first up on the wet track and home track favourite, Paris' Mark Kitchen took the pole. Kitchen went on to lead every lap, but there was a problem. As the drivers went out on the warm-up lap on the very wet track, Kitchen spun and then cut through one of the parts of the track that was not in use to regain his position at the front of the field - before the race started. Officials had no choice but to disqualify the Paris youngster for 'cutting the track'. It was a bitter disappointment for Kitchen. "What can I say, I feel sorry for all the people who have helped me this year," a very dejected Kitchen said of the ruling. Kitchen's disqualification moved Toronto's Jason Keen, who started 14th up to the top step of the podium. Burlington's Kris Martin, who was running his first ever Rotax race, came from 30th on the grid to finish second. Third was Brampton's Trevor Daley, who started dead last - 35th. Canada Senior polesitter Calvin Reid never took the start as a mechanical problem left him stranded at the side of the track. Marco Di Leo came from ninth on the grid to take the win on the track, only to be disqualified for a problem with his exhaust pipe in post race technical inspection. This moved Pickering's Rob Oakman up to the top step of the podium. Second went to Kris Martin and Jennifer Rempel - who came from 15th on the grid - finished third. Canada Junior went to Markham's Daniel Morad. He was followed by Guelph's Robert Wickens, Markham's Michael Vincec, King City's Richard Boake and Shanty Bay's Patrick Baier. Polesitter Chris Holman didn't fair well in the drying conditions and came home fifth. World Formula gave Rob Oakman his second win of the day, as he took a dominant win. Behind him came polesitter, Toronto's Jason Abrams and Toronto's Brian Guest -who both managed to get by Ajax's Jason Bradimore in the dying laps of the race. The headline Formula Senior race saw Barber Dodge Pro Series driver Dan Di Leo take the lead from polesitter Frank Launi in the early going. Pfaff Porsche driver Mike Roth finished a solid second and Launi came home third. "It's good to come back to my roots," Di Leo said. "I was a little worried in practice on Friday - I was a second off - but First Kart gave me a good ride today. It was fun." Rounding out the top five were Brampton's Trevor Daley and Embrum's Tyler Givogue - who came from the back of the pack after failing to complete a lap in qualifying. Givogue - who is in the thick of the championship - had extremely good luck in the race as his water line blew off his engine with four laps to go. The badly overheated engine just made it to the checkered flag before Givogue could shut it off. SRFKC Quick Hits; Racing for Travis - Travis Carter a five year old Hamilton boy that has been diagnosed with Batten's Disease via muscle biopsy October 22, 2002, a disease which affects the muscular system, which includes the heart. On the Hamilton SRFKC weekend, there was a prize draw, plus all the proceeds from the event T-shirt sales went to the Travis Carter fund. Plus there was over $2000.00 donated to the fund from various donors at the event. Travis was there to see part of the event along with his family. For more information on the Travis Carter Fund, please visit www.travisbattle.com, or call them toll free at 1-800-546-7682. The GM Racing Award The GM Racing goes to the driver who displays outstanding competition skills and sportsmanship. The round 9 and 10 winner was Daniel Morad, who took two wins and a second place finish on the weekend. Morad is known for his close battles this year with Robert Wickens in both Formula Junior and Canada Junior. The Pratt & Miller Award The Pratt & Miller Award goes to the team judged to exhibit the highest levels of teamwork in the areas of presentation, preparation and results. The round 9 and 10 winner was Hurricane Racing, who week in and week out field top quality equipment for their drivers. The award was accepted by Hurricane Racing owner, Andre Champagne. 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. At the end of the season, eight drivers will be selected from the series, plus two drivers from the ASN Canadian National Championships. They will be invited to a one-day evaluation test at the Bridgestone 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 2004 Bridgestone / FormulaCar Magazine F2000 Racing Series.