The KartStars Canada Nationals at Shannonville Motorsports Park got underway Friday with two feature events to kick off the weekend of racing, and they did not disappoint.
Two non-points classes, dubbed KartStars Junior Pro and KartStars Senior Pro, took to the track following a full day of practice and Qualifying for the Rok Cup Canada classes. The Juniors utilized the Briggs 206 engine with a black slide, while the Seniors dropped to 320 pounds and were set to put on a show, which they did.
In Junior, which paced the 1.08km Shannonville circuit four-tenths quicker than the Senior Pros, Christian Savaglio (TonyKart) set the pace in Qualifying, but the race featured a number of different race leaders.
The final laps saw Braedon Fowler (Intrepid Kart), Sam David (Intrepid Kart) and Gavin Goldie (Intrepid Kart) take turns in the lead, while the lead pack featured seven karts.
As the pack came to the last lap board, David led, but Fowler dove up the inside on the main, as did Goldie, making it three-wide into corner one. Goldie emerged with the lead with a great move, with Fowler on his bumper.
Navigating the back section of the track, the race looked to be Goldies, but coming off the final corner, Fowler closed right in on Goldie and pulled alongside in a drag-race to the finish line, which Goldie celebrated as if he won. In a photo-finish, Fowler claimed the win by 0.008 seconds, while David came third, just behind the two. Fourth went to Elias McKenzie (CL Kart), who chased down the lead pack in the middle of the race and picked off positions late, while Savaglio wound up fifth.
KartStars Canada Nationals Briggs Junior Pro Shootout Results
1
Braedon Fowler
2
Gavin Goldie
0.008
3
Sam David
0.118
4
Elias McKenzie
0.323
5
Christian Savaglio
0.691
6
Michael Ing
0.729
7
Nathan Dupuis
2.402
8
Luka Jakimovski
2.541
9
Talon Clarke
15.267
10
Ethan Pollack
18.384
11
Natalie Parker
18.496
12
Elijah Joshi
18.559
13
Leoluca Dicarlo
22.840
14
Tyler Desrosiers
22.881
15
Declan Black
22.918
16
Max Franceschelli
30.752
17
Carson Bartlett
31.438
18
Michael Schwab
6 laps
19
Scotty Watkins
18 laps
20
Shae Clarke
18 laps
21
Stefano Picerno
18 laps
22
Sebastien Matthews
18 laps
It was a similar showdown in Briggs Senior Pro.
From the front row, Nicky Palladino (Exprit) and Dale Bonham (BirelART) hooked up early and broke the draft just enough to create a gap to third, which was a race between a half dozen karts.
Bonham got into the lead around halfway and that allowed the chasing pack, featuring Gianluca Savaglio (BirelART), Brennan Taylor (Awesome Kart), Jake Cowden (Awesome Kart), Zach Boam (BirelART), Chad Webster (Intrepid Kart) and Kevin May (BirelART), to close in. Cowden tried a few times to gain the third spot from Savaglio, to no avail though.
As the final lap sign was shown, a collision between Cowden, Taylor and Webster for third took them out of the running and left it to Bonham and Palladino.
Bonham held the lead around the final lap and around the long sweeping final corner, but Palladino pulled out the outside with momentum. Even a big thrust from Bonham wasn’t enough to keep him ahead and Palladino scored the win by 0.004 seconds.
Third went to Savaglio, who edged Boam by 0.008 seconds, with May completing the top-five.
KartStars Canada Nationals Briggs Senior Pro Shootout Results
1
Nicky Palladino
2
Dale Bonham
0.004
3
Gianluca Savaglio
0.473
4
Zach Boam
0.481
5
Kevin May
1.934
6
Chad Webster
3.704
7
Anthony Frattaroli
11.211
8
Jake Cowden
13.594
9
Kyle Rennie
16.522
10
Jarvis Noon
16.844
11
JD Savaglio
43.623
12
Brennan Taylor
1 lap
13
Javier Ruiz
1 lap
14
Peter Courteau
3 laps
15
Jelena Latkovic
7 laps
The KartStars Canada National Championship at Shannonville resumes tomorrow with more Qualifying and races for single-day classes, while the Rok Cup Canada classes will run a number of heat races.
