It’s been a hot minute since the second round of the Ontario Inter-Club Challenge took place back in June at the Mosport Karting Centre as the extremely busy summer season filled up everyone’s karting schedules.
Now that September is here, it’s time to refocus on club racing and this weekend, the inaugural class of Ontario Inter-Club Challenge champions will be crowned at the Hamilton Karting Complex.
The first two rounds were two of the largest events in Canada this season, with round two peaking at 221 entries of just Briggs four-cycle competitors, including a massive 76 drivers in Briggs Senior! We’re not expecting to break this record this weekend, but there’s a chance that the Ontario Inter-Club Challenge could host its third straight event with over 200 drivers.
The Hamilton Karting Complex has been a very busy place this season, hosting all the majors. The Canadian Karting Championships were a hit for the second year in a row, the Ron Fellows Karting Championship crowned their champions at the circuit in July, and the new RMC Ontario recently just completed their season with two champions winning tickets to compete in Italy in the Rotax Grand Finals. Closing out the Inter-Club Challenge at Hamilton just feels right at one of Canada’s most popular circuits that has seen an array of track and facility upgrades over the past two seasons.
But this race isn’t about the majors, this one is about the die-hard four-cycle club racers, the ones who don’t quite get the attention they deserve, the ones on the cusp of making a name for themselves, the families whose full efforts are centred on club racing only, and that is what has made the Ontario Inter-Club Challenge great this season.
The competition level at these events has been so intense from top to bottom, that minor mistakes or mishaps can alter a race day in seconds. Drivers have been leading on one lap and barely hanging on to the top five on the next. In Junior and Senior Light, we’ve seen drivers win heat races and not even finish the Final in the top ten. It truly has been two of the most competitive races we’ve witnessed this season.
In round one at Goodwood, TRAK members scored five of the six race wins and in round two at Mosport, MIKA racers went three for six. Will the local HRKC members be able to defend their home track this weekend? This will be one of the stories to keep an eye on.
Another story will be the weather. It appears we will finally have a dry weekend of Inter-Club competition after rain and fog interrupted both the Goodwood and Mosport events.
Don’t forget to sign up for a CKN Weekend Photo Package!
CKN will be present to report on and photograph the action throughout the weekend. This will also be one of the last chances to get yourself a weekend photo package of your driver. The package includes a 13×19 photo print from the race day along with a great selection of high-resolution digital images of your driver.
Sign-up is simple, just visit the CKN Store to place your order.
A sample of a photo print from CKN
The chase the championships
As for the championship within the club racing championships, the Ontario Inter-Club Challenge will award their class champions on Sunday. The drivers in each category who score the most points between all three events will be awarded a championship pennant and a brand-new Briggs 206 engine.
The battles are very close in just about every category. Check out the standings below, including the Junior Light division which sees the top four drivers separated by only 35 points!
The format for the weekend is simple. Practice is open to everyone on Saturday and a full day of racing, featuring Qualifying, two heat races, a Superheat and a Final will take place on Sunday.
Not registered yet? What are you waiting for? Visit http://inter-club.ca to register now.