With the season coming to a close some of the best kart racers in Ontario descended on the Waterloo Regional Kart Club (WRKC) track at Flamboro Speedway to lay claim to one of the most coveted prizes in karting, an Oktoberfest Grandprix feature win. This plus a history of great prizes ensured the grid was full in every class. As a bonus, this year’s event also featured a junior rotax class. The race was sponsored by Paris Jewellers. The club would like to thank them for sponsoring the day, and for providing the much coveted gift certificates that were awarded to 1 racer from every class. Adding to the excitement for this year’s race was a late announcement that the F1200 Drivers Association would be awarding a test ride for one of the senior or master’s racers.
As could be expected with a winner takes all one day race format the competition would be tough. The start order for the final race would be determined based on finishing order from 2 heat races. By the time the green flag waived for the first feature race the excitement from the first 2 races had created a lot of anticipation for the fans and drivers. In the cadet class it was Ciarra Collison adding her first Oktoberfest Win to the long list of Collison wins over the years. She did so in a convincing fashion with a flag to flag to run. Madison Colling was never far behind claiming the 2nd place trophy; Nolan Quinton was 3rd with Tristan Da Silva in 4th and Austin Wadham in 5th place.
In the Novice class Jordan Howse led from the pole and managed to hang on for the victory. In fact there were no changes in order among the top 3 as Noah Bray started and finished in 2nd, and Kaitlin Neely started 3rd and that is where she also finished. There was a great battle for the next 2 spots between Brandon Lowry who started in 4th, Taylor Wassink who started in 5th and Hudson Turpin starting 6th. When they crossed the start finish line for the last time it was Turpin finishing in 4th with Wassink less than a kart length behind in 5th. The Junior Light race was won by Austin Bisschop who only a couple of weeks before had clinched the season points race for the Novice class. His new competitors in the Junior Light class didn’t make it easy for him with Darren Dryden and Bisschop staging a great battle that saw Dryden lead for laps 1 through 10. It was on the 11th lap that Bisschop managed to get past for the race win. Dryden hung on to finish 2nd, Joshua Shantz was 3rd, Matteus Makos was 4th and Matthew Scannell finished in 5th.
One of the best races of the day was the Junior Heavy race. Justin Collison set the fastest lap of the race and led for the first 4 laps. On lap 5 Scott Nagel managed to get buy for the lead. Collison wasn’t going to let Nagel win without a battle. Despite a number of very brave passing attempts by Collison and some great very close racing it was Nagel who claimed the win. James Moore wasn’t going to just sit back and watch either in 3rd place as he was on Collison’s bumper pushing hard for the last few laps. When the race was over Collison was 2nd, Moore 3rd, with Craig Willis and Dominique Smith 4th and 5th respectively. In Senior Light it was another season points champion moving up a class to take the win. Tristan Gill the newly crowned Jr. Heavy champion moved up to the senior class to find himself starting from the 6th spot on the starting grid. He patiently worked his way up through the field taking the lead on lap 9, and managed to hang on to the lead for the win. Ryan Brutzki with a smart drive from the 4th spot on the starting grid finished 2nd, Eric Rier was 3rd, Jonathon Treadwell finished 4th and the 5th spot on the podium was claimed by David Miller.
The Senior Heavy race was another close hard fought battle, Adrian Stahle was the winner, with T.J. Marshall close behind. Dave Patrick finished in 3rd, David Miller in 4th, and Tristan Gill made his second appearance on the podium with a 5th place finish. The Masters class was won by no stranger to Oktoberfest Grandprix wins as veteran racer Steve Lyons staged a win from the pole position, Paul Draganac finished in 2nd fighting off John Dryden in another close battle, Darryl Skinner was 4th, and James Tait was 5th. The Junior Rotax race was won by Jamie Lockwood. Brayden Seberras claimed the 2nd spot on the podium, Jazmin Webster was 3rd, Dominique Smith also made her 2nd appearance on the podium with a 4th place finish and T.J. Guest was 5th.
In addition to all of the race winners the day ended with 9 lucky racers going home with gift certificates from sponsor Paris Jewellers. The podium finishers from the 2 senior classes and the master’s class were all eligible for the F1200 Test day. The lucky winner was Senior Light racer Eric Rier. The day drew to a close with lots of prizes, smiles, and great racing stories to share. This year’s running of the Oktoberfest Grandprix was a great way to finish a great season of racing.
For more information contact: Brad Buckler 416-209-4058 // Website www.wrkc.on.ca // Email brad.buckler@emerson.com
