Makos Motorsports Website -- News Articles 2007

Event Preview: Barrie Grand Prix -- Junior Classes
June 18, 2007

The crown jewel of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship presented by Toronto Star Wheels hits the track this Friday as the Cameron Motorsports Barrie Grand Prix is now just days away. The third race of six comes following rounds at Goodwood and Hamilton, and brings the 2007 schedule to its halfway point. Annually attracting racers outside of the Series regulars, the battle to be King of the Bay promises monster grids, bumper to bumper racing and fabulous fanfare lining the fences along the true street course at the shore of Kempenfelt Bay. Today eKartingNews.ca previews the junior classes with a senior preview following tomorrow.

Ten classes will be in action in Barrie as Rotax, F1-K, and Honda offer three each and Formula Senior/ICC headlines Sunoco Super Sunday. As was the case last year, the traditional schedule is being modified for the famed street race as after a full day of practice Friday, Saturday has practice, qualifying and prefinals, and Sunday has race day warmup leading to main events. While many will be looking to add one of the most coveted wins a karter can bag on the way to glory this weekend, others will be well aware of overall championship implications at the race, perhaps none more so than the field in F1-K Junior.

Of the ten classes on offer in SRFKC competition, none is closer through two rounds than F1-K Junior where defending champion David Ostella leads Vincent Rago by just four points, and Jeffrey May is just five points from the championship lead in third. Ostella and Rago have exchanged wins and thirds through the opening two races while May has crossed second on each occasion. Ostella’s point lead comes completely from qualifying as the teenager from Maple, Ontario, has taken pole in both races to date, earning six bonus points in the process. Rago has taken two points from the timed sessions, allowing for the four-point margin, and May has taken three bonus points in edging one point closer to Rago overall. The trio will surely be at the front this weekend, joined by the only other two drivers clear of the 100 point mark: Addison Rayner and Scotty Laporte. Of the nine remaining Series classes, five have a point leader more than 40 clear of the field, one of which is Ostella once again, this time in a polar opposite situation.

In Rotax Junior competition the lead Cameron Motorsports/CRG Junior has been perfect in sweeping the action through the opening two rounds and heads to the shoreline with a maximum 211 points. First Kart’s Kevin Monteith has been third on each occasion, and despite being 60 points from the lead, is a comfortable 29 clear of third-place karter Jonathon Treadwell. Bolstering the return of Tony Kart to the Ontario karting scene with Team Greenspeed, Treadwell was eighth at the season opener before climbing the podium steps in second at Hamilton a month ago. The very strong fields in both Rotax Junior and Senior are allowing for a manufacturer’s battle as well, and in both classes the top five karts are five different marques. Following the CRG, First Kart, and Tony Kart in Junior are the CMP of Michael Lombardi and the Intrepid of Cory Luciano, who was second at Goodwood.

Another karter to lead in a pair of classes through the opening two SRFKC events is Grimsby’s Garett Grist. Just as with Ostella in F1-K Junior, Grist has been perfect in F1-K 60cc and has a maximum 211 points heading to Barrie. On each occasion, Grist has dominated proceedings as he was over 10 seconds clear at Goodwood and followed by storming over 15 seconds out front at Hamilton. Kenneth O’Keefe is second in points after taking third in both races, and a pair of TKC regulars are on hot on his heels. Artem Korolev is third in points, just five behind O’Keefe, and Giovanni Pizzale-Rhead is fourth, nine behind his club mate.

Many of the same names appear in Canada Junior Light, once again all chasing Grist, who was fifth in Hamilton after scoring a round one win at Goodwood. Pizzale-Rhead is second in points, and heads to Barrie fresh from scoring a big club win with a subbing Hans de Heus on the wrenches at Goodwood Kartways just two days ago. Austin Milwain is third in points and rightfully could be leading after dutiful work at both rounds so far. He pushed the leader clear of the pack before being denied a win at Goodwood, then did the same at Hamilton when he pushed Artem Korolev clear of the field on the way to second. The chase pack in Canada Junior is actually the closest in the Series as after Grist at 161 and Pizzale-Rhead at 128, Milwain has 119, followed by Julius Makos, 115; Nico Fattore, 114; and Artem Korolev, 113.

In the fifth and final junior class, First Kart’s Kevin Monteith has had a dream start in defending his Canada Junior Heavy Championship with a pair of wins. After taking the opener on his home TKC track Goodwood Kartways, Monteith just edged Gary Klutt by less than a tenth at Hamilton and heads to Barrie with 207 points. Klutt has been second at both races to date, and has 176 points from his opening events, while Jonathon Treadwell is third with 124. Dylan Van Tienen has been on pole in both events leading to Barrie, and sits fourth in points, just six up on Taylor Gates.

Friday is a full practice day in Barrie with Pfaff Pole Qualifying set to begin Saturday at 11:30am. Prefinal race action closes the Saturday schedule beginning at 3:45pm, and main events kick off Sunday at 10:45. As always, eKartingNews.ca will be trackside beginning with qualifying.