Manitoba Karting Association – Race Report 2015 Season Finale

November 02, 2015 by PR Wire

Canada

Brad Bachalo

The weather was warm and sunny for the Season Finale (Race 1 Rain Date) of the Manitoba Karting Championship at Gimli Motorsport Park. The last race of the season was a rain date to make up for Race 1 that got cancelled because of snow on the May long weekend. The sponsor for the season finale race was G2 Logistics Inc.

Highlights of 2015 Season Finale Race

Senior Briggs class had Jeff Fulham on pole after winning a very tightly fought Pre-Final. Garrett Gulenchyn got by Jeff on lap 1 to take the lead. Behind them Cole Manning passed Greg Blonski for third and after that Greg had to spend the rest of the race fighting off Victoria Stutsky, Terry Bamford and Michael Copp just to hold on to fourth place. Jeff retook the lead on lap 4 with Garrett on his bumper right up to the last lap when Garrett drafted by Jeff at the chequered flag. Garrett won with Jeff 2^nd, Cole 3^rd and Greg managing to hold off the pack of karts behind him to finish 4^th.

John Buzza

Jaedin Wright had P1 for the start of the Junior 2 Briggs final but Max Jarry really wanted to win the season finale. Jaedin took off into the lead at the start with Max back in P3. By the halfway point Max had got by Bianca Bovino by powering through corner 1. A few laps later he did the same move in corner 1 on Jaedin to take the lead. At the finish it was Max 1^st, Jaedin 2^nd and Bianca 3^rd. Ethan Clace won the Junior 1 Briggs class.

Micro Max had Brad Bachalo on pole and usually he leads start to finish. While Brad already had the Micro Max class wrapped up he is also competing for the overall club championship and would need a perfect score to get ahead of John Buzza. At the start Brad lead until he spun out of turn 2 going into the hairpin putting him into last place. By lap 3 he got by Rebecca Stutsky and on lap 4 he passed Mandy Veselinovich but it took six laps for Brad to get by Silas Gershman. It took Brad another two laps before he was by Tiana Bovino and back in the lead and setting a new track record for the Micro Max class (42.798). At the finish it was Brad 1^st, Tiana 2^nd and Silas 3^rd.

In Mini Max Curtis Veselinovich had pole position and he led flag to flag to take the win with Rylan Despins 2nd and Logan McDonald 3^rd.

Junior Rotax which still has the closest racing had Bryson McDonald on pole and he led up to lap 16 when Victoria Stutsky took over the lead. Bryson regained the lead on the last lap but on the drag race down the front straight Victoria just edged ahead at the finish line to win. At the chequered flag it was Victoria 1^st, and Bryson 2^nd.

Senior Rotax had John Buzza on pole and John led flag to flag while setting a new Track Record for Senior Rotax (36.343). All the excitement was behind John during the race as Garrett Gulenchyn, Morgan McDonald, Jeff Fulham and Colin Farebrother were all battling over the runner-up spot. Garrett held P2 until he dropped out on lap 4. Colin held P2 until lap 10 when Morgan took over the runner- up spot. At the finish it was John 1^st, Morgan 2^nd and Colin 3^rd.

Dale George and John Buzza

The DD2 Rotax class had Jordan Brown on pole position but John Buzza took off to win by nearly 10 seconds. John also set a new track record for DD2 and the fastest lap ever at Gimli (35.501).The previous record was held by 2014 Formula Atlantic Champion Daniel Burkett. Jordan Brown finished 2^nd with Alexis Budel 3^rd. Dale George won the DD2 Rotax Master class.

It was a great karting season with a lot of close and exciting racing. Some of Manitoba Karting Association’s 2015 season highlights were having two drivers finish in the top five out of 500 competitors in the Briggs & Stratton Weekly Racing Series Canadian Region. John Buzza claimed the top prize finishing first in the Canadian Region with Garrett Gulenchyn finishing 5^th and Stephen Bachalo finishing just outside the top ten in 12^th place. For more information on the MKA, visit http://www.manitobakarting.ca

2015 Season Finale Race Results:

Junior 1 Briggs
1^st # 30 Ethan Clace

Junior 2 Briggs
1^st          # 11 Max Jarry
2^nd          # 7 Jaedin Wright
3^rd           # 20 Bianca Bovino

Senior Briggs
1^st           # 743 Garrett Gulenchyn
2^nd          # 631 Jeff Fulham
3^rd           # 927 Cole Manning