Karting Summerfest A Huge Success
press release
SUMMERFEST A HUGE SUCCESS FOR MOSPORT INTERNATIONAL KARTING ASSOCIATION
Exciting racing, wild weather and great fun highlight excellent weekend of racing at Mosport
The Mosport International Karting Association (MIKA) held their annual SummerFest event presented by International Power Systems this past weekend at their home racetrack located on the outside of turn eight of the famed Mosport International Raceway. The event was highlighted by not only the intense and ever changing weather delivered by Mother Nature, but also by the fun and exciting action on and off the track. The MIKA kart club continues to build momentum as one of the fastest growing clubs in Ontario as more than 85 drivers took part in each day’s racing events.
pic - Autosports Media Group
Saturday kicked off with nearly a full session of dry practice, before heavy showers poured down on the Mosport facility for the second round of practice and qualifying. Whenever it rains at Mosport, the action on track is eventful, and Darren White can account for that, as his first laps in a shifter kart were quite exciting and included a mid straightaway spin due to the large amounts of water flowing down the straightaway hill. However the rains did eventually stop and the sun returned to dry up the track just in time for the final races. For Sunday, a beautiful sunny day was partnered with warm temperatures for the racers, with only a light shower forcing the Honda Masters to tippy-toe around for a couple laps in their final.
Following the racing action on Saturday, the MIKA crew, headed by Ken Flute himself, put on a stellar corn-roast. For many of those who camped out and stayed the night, there was plenty of events on as next-door at the big track, multiple bands hit the stage though out the evening.
pic - Autosports Media Group
Saturdays racing was headlined by a great show in the Honda Sr. class. Although the final started in the dry, a brief shower near the mid-point jumbled the action and order on track. The foursome of Dalton Kellett, Randy Packham, Andrew Campbell and Johnny Flute, all swapped the lead position while struggling to find grip. With the shower lasting only a handful of laps, the track dried up quickly and in the end Flute took the victory on home soil, followed by Campbell. Randy Packham would get his redemption in the Honda Masters class though, as he would lead flag-to-flag to record the victory.
Other victors on Saturday would be: Braedon Alexander in Novice, Brandon Hawkin in Jr. Light, and Trevor Rancier in Jr. Heavy. In the 2-stroke classes, Sasha Aleksic stole the show in Rotax Jr. while Kenneth O’Keefe was in cruise control in Rotax Sr. while Darren White took the Shifter/DD2 class aboard a TonyKart Shifter kart. Finally Grant Cinnamon won the TaG Masters class.
pic - Autosports Media Group
Sunday’s action was highlighted by a wild Honda Masters race. A six-kart pack was formed in the opening laps headed by Saturdays’ winner Randy Packham and runner-up Jamie MacArthur along with Scott Brooks. The group fought through a brief light shower on their slick tires, tippy-toeing around the 1.5km track. In the end, Packham was able to hold on long enough to earn his second victory of the weekend.
In other action on Sunday, Braedon Alexander won again in Novice, Jeffrey Kingsly won in Jr. Light and Sean McPhee won an exciting Jr. Heavy race. Even showing up late and missing qualifying couldn’t stop Taylor Gates in Sr. Honda as he took the win in fine fashion. Finally, O’Keefe, White and Cinnamon doubled up in their respective classes with Sunday victories.
Two track records were also broken on the weekend as Andrew Massey posted a blistering 1:05.559 to hold the record in Honda Masters, while David Shutiak now holds the record in Rotax Masters with his time of 58.03 seconds.
