Makos Motorsports Website -- News Articles 2007

National Team: SRFKC Barrie Grand Prix, Junior Report
June 27, 2007

Filling the Junior category of the Barrie Grand Prix presented by Cameron Motorsports were the five traditional Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship classes and in the special format all raced on Sunoco Super Sunday. The kids produced some great racing along the way, thrilling the masses along the lakeshore, and Canada Junior Heavy was the first class up.

Gary Klutt snagged the Pfaff Pole Saturday as only he and Kevin Monteith were able to crack the 50 second barrier in 20-kart field. Andrew Waring and Rui Teixeira made up the second row after posting nearly identical laps and Nicholas Martin matched them at 50.1 in taking fifth. The prefinal swapped the top spot as Monteith had his way with the field in cruising to a six second win, lowering his qualifying time in the process. Additional players showed their cards in prepping for the final as behind Klutt in second, Michael Adams came down to sub-fifty in third, as did Hamilton and Goodwood pole winner Dylan Van Tienen and Nicholas Martin, who would have to fight forward from the back after failing the fuel test.

The order quickly established in the main event as Monteith and Klutt found 1-2 and brought the quickest laps of the day, even dipping into the 48-second bracket. Adams was a consistent third, and tried a pair of draft partners in looking to catch the lead duo. Taylor Gates was fourth early, but not quite quick enough to work with Adams to the front, then came Dylan Van Tienen to give it a shot but once again they came up short. Two drivers who looked like they might run to the front were Reid Arnold and Martin, once Martin reached the bumper in eighth. They couldn’t work together though, and contact in the bus stop put Arnold into the catch fencing while Martin continued on. By this time, the lead four long up the road and over 30 seconds so by the checker. Monteith nearly broke free of the draft on different occasions, but in the end couldn’t crack the draft setting up a thrilling final set. Klutt took the lead in the parking lot section of the track and while Monteith washed out on the marbles he couldn’t muster a return shot. Klutt took the win, Monteith second, Adams third in isolation and Van Tienen fourth in the same fashion. Martin recovered to fifth, just fending off Jonathon Treadwell and Taylor Gates.

While he was denied the crown in Junior Heavy, Monteith was King in Rotax Max Junior, beginning with Pfaff Pole Qualifying where he unloaded a 43.4 second lap that would have put him fifth on the grid in Rotax Max Senior! Treadwell clocked P2, followed in the fast five by Cory Luciano, Michael Lombardi, and David Ostella. In the prefinal Monteith matched his qualifying time in scoring a two-second win while Treadwell and Luciano also repeated their performances. Ostella and Lombardi swapped spots in wrapping the top five, all crossing within four seconds of each other. On track as the second last race of the weekend, the Main Event was excruciating.

Monteith maintained pole from Treadwell and Ostella at the start, only to have a lap one red flag stop the proceedings. Trying again after the mess was cleaned up, Monteith again grabbed the point into turn one, this time followed by Monteith, Ostella and Treadwell, only to once again have a red flag stop the karts. After a tongue lashing from ASN’s Paul Cooke, the third time was the charm as Ostella pounced from the second row to lead from Treadwell, Luciano and Monteith. Treadwell’s Tony Kart had the best setup early and he took the lead working two while Monteith worked to second ahead of Ostella, and Luciano kept fourth. Noone else was in the same area code. As the race wore on, Monteith and Treadwell swapped top spot a few times with Ostella biding his time in third when a the final red flag of the day ended the race. The lead trio approached a pair of backmarkers running through bus stop at approximately 75 miles per hour and after Monteith and Treadwell had gone through the first of the pair did a shoulder check for Ostella, hitting the bales in the process. The second lapper swerved to avoid, putting Ostella into the bales in the process. The subsequent red flag ended the race, with scoring going back a lap to keep it Monteith, Treadwell, Ostella. Luciano was fourth alone with Lombardi fifth in his first start for Cameron/CRG.

Much like Monteith, Reid Arnold fared much better in his second start, beginning with Pfaff Pole in Canada Junior Light. At 51.284 seconds, he only just edged Austin Milwain by 0.006 seconds in the closest session of Saturday. Bryson Schutte was next, followed by Julius Makos and Garett Grist. Milwain then had his way with the field in the prefinal as he cruised to a seven second win over Arnold and Artem Korolev. Rounding the top five in heat action were Grist and Giovanni Pizzale-Rhead. On track in the afternoon for a twenty lap main, point leader Grist was out by half with a chain off while Milwain and Arnold worked over ten seconds clear of the pack. One of the two was bound for a crown, and it all came down on the final lap. Arnold took the lead at turn nine and Milwain looked to respond leaving the parking lot section. He went wide on exit and touched a bale, sending race caller Rob Howden to near hysteria, and Arnold took the checker. Milwain recovered to second, while Selena Ujj had a fantastic run from the back of the pack to secure the final spot on the podium. Korolev was fourth, and Makos fifth.

While his run to the front came up short in Honda, Korolev was on the money in the closing stages of F1-K 60cc. Grist had taken the pole from the Saturday session, nipping Korolev by less than a tenth while Kenneth O’Keefe, Harrison White and Bryson Schutte followed. O’Keefe then took the heat race, followed closely by Grist and Korolev in a three-pack at the front. Schutte was fourth, Giovanni Pizzale-Rhead fifth and Vanessa Ostella sixth in a strong run from the back after a motor change. O’Keefe kept his top spot at the start of the main while Grist slotted second and Ostella hit the hairpin in third. Schutte and Pizzale-Rhead followed while Korolev fell to sixth. Through the middle and into the closing stages, O’Keefe and Grist took care of things at the front while Korolev laid down consistent laps and worked his way into the squabble. Each of the trio led late, but Korolev took the point for the final time into turn one beginning the last lap and managed the contenders for the crown the rest of the way. Grist was second and O’Keefe third in completing the podium positions.

F1-K Junior qualifying had a new pole sitter for the first time this year as Jeffrey May topped a 21-kart field in the Pfaff Pole session on Saturday. Vincent Rago was second, Addison Rayner third, Dylan Oribine fourth and Scotty Laporte fifth on the time sheet. The prefinal saw the lead pair swap spots in clearing the pack while Rayner maintained his P3, Laporte moved to fourth and David Ostella climbed to fifth. Out for the main, May led from the start before Laporte took over working lap three. The next lap Ostella moved to third spot and things looked to be shaping up for a fight at the front when a red flag halted the race working lap eight. May had a great restart to grab the lead while Rago slotted second and Ostella once again third. There they stayed into the closing stages where May held on for the King of the Bay crown. Ostella hit the marbles running wide looking for second, and fell to fourth in the process behind Rago, and Zac Mahoney. It was another thriller on the Barrie waterfront.