#OntarioInterClubChallenge
Ontario Inter-Club Challenge Quickly Becoming ‘Can’t Miss’ Races
Cadets, Juniors, Heavys and Masters show up in big numbers at Inter-Club
If you were a local Briggs racer, Goodwood Kartways was the place to be this past weekend.
For the second year in a row, the Ontario Inter-Club Challenge, a joint effort between TRAK, HRKC and MIKA, kicked off with a massive number of entries, breaking the record for the most Briggs racers in a single competition in Canada with 237 entrants.
Briggs Senior was the standout with 81 drivers on the entry list, but the remaining classes also filled up the grid and the pit spots at Goodwood. 37 drivers competed in Junior, 28 in Junior Lite, 32 in Masters, 43 in Cadet, and 16 in Senior Heavy.
For some drivers, Sunday was the first time they’ve lapped around the historic and challenging Goodwood circuit, and cool temperatures and some moisture in the air added another element to the difficulty. For others, a race with this much competition couldn’t be missed. Regardless, the club racing atmosphere was electric on Sunday, and it was so good to see.
With no shortage of on-track action for everyone, drivers and mechanics were kept on their toes from start to finish and when the final checkered flags flew, here are the drivers who came out on top.
Cadet
With 43 drivers in Cadet, the class was split into two after Qualifying, with the top-6 drivers from the ‘B’ Final advancing to the ‘A’ Final.
Everett Potter (LGK) just narrowly missed the cutoff in Qualifying, but he battled his way to win the ‘B’ and advance. Joining him in the transfer spots were Blaine Donovan (CL Kart), Aston Wood (BirelART), Jacob Ruelens (LGK), Tillerson Chung (LN Kart) and Damien Stirling (BirelART).
It took a couple of starts to get going in the ‘A’ Final, and unfortunately for front row starter Yousef Adi (Kosmic), he was out of his lane before the green flag flew, earning him a 3-second penalty.
Adi and Thomas Du (OK1) traded the lead in the opening laps before breaking free from the pack. Adi kept the pressure on, but wasn’t able to overtake Du on the final lap, who celebrated the victory at the finish line. With such a big margin to third place, Adi’s penalty meant nothing as he kept the second position.
In a tight battle, Aiden Kishun (Exprit) was the next to cross the finish line, but he failed to leave racing room and earned himself a one-position penalty, elevating Hayden Lawson (Parolin), who travelled from Ohio to race, to third place. Kishun was ranked fourth, with Bryson Bound (CL Kart) completing the podium in fifth. Notably, Potter advanced all the way to ninth at the finish line as the hard charger.
Thomas Du (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Junior Lite
The Junior Lite field of 28 drivers was packed full of budding talent, many of whom have graduated from Cadet at their local club and into a full-sized kart for this season. Four drivers stood out throughout the day, battling hard for the race lead in every session: fast qualifier Roy Chang (OK1), Robert Tronchi (BirelART), Melville Dos Santos (OK1) and Marco Fazari (Awesome Kart).
In the Final, the group had the added challenge of navigating some lapped traffic.
Tronchi was the early race leader, before Fazari took his turn in the lead. At halfway, the slower karts needed to be navigated around, and Chang got into the back of Fazari. Fazari had to take the grass route while Chang slipped by into the race lead with Tronchi slotting into second.
After falling back to fifth, Fazari regained fourth spot from Jacob Creed (OK1) two laps later, but the running order was settled from there.
Chang was the first to cross the finish line, but received a two-position penalty for the contact, moving him down to third. Tronchi was declared the race winner with Dos Santos second on the podium. Fazari and Luka Vafaei (Intrepid) rounded out the podium in fourth and fifth.
Robert Tronchi (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Junior
Following an entire day of battling wheel-to-wheel, the Juniors had the best finish of the race day.
Dominating most of the day, Ethan Chan (OK1) was in control until the final lap of the Super Heat, where his kart came to a halt with only half the track left. This forced him to start the Final from tenth on the grid.
Ethan Tyers (Intrepid) and Kaeleb Pinho (TonyKart) led the field to green, and immediately, a hard battle for the race lead erupted between the first four karts, with Brandon Bowden (BirelART) and Hudson Urlin (Kubica Kart) in the mix. Pinho led the opening laps before Urlin took control and opened up a small gap.
Noticing the race leader getting away, Pinho, Tyers and Chan linked up and pushed each other to close back in and caught Urlin with two laps to go.
Pinho made the move in corner four, and all three drivers slipped by Urlin. This set up the great final lap.
As Urlin moved back by Tyers, Chan was all over the rear bumper of Pinho. The four drivers all went deep into corner nine, where Chan was able to cross over Pinho, and the pair raced side-by-side up the hill. Touching more than once as they approached the final bend, neither would give an inch and neither noticed Urlin roaring up the inside with all the momentum.
The three drivers crossed the finish line within 0.02 seconds, with Urlin the first to hit the stripe. Pinho was next, just narrowly ahead of Chan, while Tyers had the unfortunate best view just behind them.
After slipping back from the battle for the win, Bowden completed the podium in fifth place.
Three-wide to the finish line (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Senior Heavy
Senior Heavy featured some great battles this weekend at the front and in the midfield.
The main event started out with Christian Savaglio (OTK) and Vassil Tchiplakov (Synergy) leading the field into corner one. With some bumping and banging on the opening lap, it was Tchiplakov taking the lead with Jason Rothman (Awesome Kart) on his rear bumper, with a small gap back to Savaglio, Tyson Wassink (LGK) and David Anderson (VLR).
The race was quite settled from there, with Tchiplakov pulling away from Rothman as the laps ticked away. The battle for third saw Anderson move into the spot before he was moved out of it by Savaglio, which earned him a penalty.
At the finish line, Tchiplakov was the first to arrive, but he was penalized for his contact on the opening lap with Savaglio.
When the dust settled and the penalties were assessed, Rothman was declared the race winner over Tchiplakov, Wassink, Anderson and Savaglio.
Senior Heavy roars into corner one (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Masters
A full field of Masters drivers put it all on the line at Goodwood. These veterans went wheel-to-wheel like they were Juniors, refusing to give an inch all day long.
One driver stood out from the pack. That was Jon Treadwell (CL Kart), who was pulling double duty on the day.
Treadwell was only beaten in one session, and that was Qualifying, as Jason Rothman (Coyote), another driver competing in two categories, posted the quickest time.
But that was the last time Treadwell wasn’t on top. He controlled the heats and pulled away in the Final to secure the race victory.
Behind him, it was a war.
Sal Ditta (OK1) started alongside Treadwell on the front row, but he was knocked off on the opening lap, falling well down the order. Eli Yanko (OTK) moved into second on the opening lap, but his race lasted only six laps before he was done. Kevin May (OK1) was the next driver into P2, but that only lasted a lap until Levon Beaudin (Intrepid) took the spot.
In the late laps of the race, Rothman was pressuring Beaudin hard, with the pair trading the position. On the final lap, entering corner seven, contact from Rothman resulted in Beaudin being turned around, ending his chances for the podium.
Letting the dust settle after the checkered flag, Treadwell took the win. May was scored in second place after Rothman received a one-position penalty that moved him back to third. Zach Boam (BirelART) quietly stayed out of trouble to finish in fourth while Kevin McCathie ended his day with a solid P5.
Jon Treadwell (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Next up, the Ontario Inter-Club Challenge will compete at the Mosport Karting Centre when MIKA hosts their round on June 29. Registration information is available on http://inter-club.ca and competitors are reminded to PRE-REGISTER before the event.
