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- Category: Karting
November 29, 2023
Bowmanville, Ontario - For the second year running the Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship (MRFKC) has selected a driver to attend the Radford Racing F4 U.S. Scholarship Award School. This year the driver selected was Nolan Bower of Whitby, Ontario.
As a ‘karts to cars’ initiative, the school is a collaboration between Parella Motorsport Holdings and the Radford Racing School in Arizona. The program brings some of the top kart racers from around the world to get acclimated in a race car by learning the basics of vehicle dynamics, shifting, handling, and car control. The school utilizes a Ligier JS F4-16 chassis, a Honda 2.0 litre engine, and Hankook slick racing tires; the same formula that is used in the Formula 4 United States Championship.
Bower’s karting career began in 2013 with Honda cadet before progressing into the Briggs & Stratton categories. In 2017 he made the jump into two-stroke classes. This season was especially successful for Bower, who won the 2023 MRFKC Rok Senior championship as well as taking home the 2023 Motomaster National Karting Championship title in the same class. After a standout season, Bower was awarded the yearly ‘karts to cars’ scholarship after the final race in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.
“To win the championship, and in turn the scholarship, means everything to me,” Bower said. “It proves to myself and everyone else that we have the ability to compete with the very best.”
Although this won’t be Bower’s first time ever in a race car - he had the chance to test a NASCAR Canada machine in 2020 - it will be in fact his first time driving an open-wheel car. The driver from Whitby says he is looking forward to honing the “key fundamentals when it comes to successfully driving a formula car.”
As the second graduate to attend the Radford School from MRFKC, Bower is in very good company. Last year’s MRFKC Rok Senior champion and scholarship winner Patrick Woods-Toth went on to win the 2023 F4 U.S. driver’s championship. For Woods-Toth the long journey to his unlikely championship season began last December at the Radford School.
For many young drivers in the MRFKC and in Canada - Bower included - Woods-Toth’s success has been an inspiration.
“With Patrick being the F4 U.S. champion in his debut year it has brought so much attention to Canada within the open-wheel categories,” Bower said. “Patrick and I are former teammates, and having him there to help me get accustomed to the Birel and further my development has been extremely helpful.”
Bower sees Radford as the first step on the road to a motorsports career and looking past this weekend he’s hoping he will have the opportunity to compete in the 2024 F4 U.S. championship season.
“One step at a time, we will see how everything goes,” Bower said.
Bower now leaves for Arizona where we he will participate in the three-day school and “cut his teeth,” so to speak, in F4 U.S. equipment.
“I want to thank my mom and dad for all of their support and help over the last decade that we’ve been racing. I want to thank Trevor Wickens too for all his help this year as well as Tyler Ripani, and Ron and Lynda Fellows, for this opportunity.”
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- Category: Karting
June 8, 2023
Running at the front of the Junior field south of the border with Speed Concepts Racing, Canadian Anthony Martella moved to Senior for a pair of events in Canada. Taking on the Motomaster Ron Fellows Karting Championship, Martella has earned a pair of top-five results and four top-ten finishes in four races and now shifts his focus to the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour and the annual SpringNationals.
Competing with the Racing Edge Motorsports outfit in Canada, Martella earned a fifth-place result in his ROK Senior debut after qualifying sixth. Round two saw a P7 classification on the results sheet after crossing the line in fifth, despite starting the main event from 15th on the grid. Race three was Martella’s strongest performance with a front-row qualifying effort earning the second-fastest lap of the session before finishing the main event in fourth while race four saw him cross the line again in fourth before being relegated to sixth after post-race penalties.
“It has been a good start to my Senior career in Canada,” expressed Martella. “It is a different form of racing with how aggressive it is and how much smarter drivers are to defend their position. All in all, it was a great start, and I am excited for the future.”
With two events in Canada now in the books, it is now a trip south to the Utah Motorsports Campus and the second event weekend in the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour. Moving back to the Speed Concepts Racing program for all United States events as per the plan, Martella will join a strong field of drivers in the X30 Junior category as he continues his quest for podium results.
Martella added, “I need to thank all my family, friends, and supporters, including the huge support from NIN Transport. Without the support of everyone, I would not be where I am today. I have my goals set for this weekend and look forward to the opportunity.”
Stay tuned for more news from Anthony Martella and Martella Motorsports in the very near future.
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- Category: Karting
February 14, 2023
It was not the weekend that BirelART North America was hoping for during rounds three and four of the Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) Winter Series. After strong runs and podium results during the first weekend of competition, team competitors were only able to muster up three top-ten finishes despite showing speed and battling for podium results until the very final lap in some instances.
“The SKUSA competition is tough and if you miss it by just a little bit, it could be the difference between first and twenty-first,” explained Dominic Labrecque. “We can’t win them all, but I know our guys put in the effort needed to, and we will shift our focus to a new event this coming weekend to regain our winning ways.”
In Saturday’s X30 Senior main event, Matheus Morgatto and Diego Ramos earned top-ten results by finishing eighth and ninth while Timothy Pernod found himself in the 19th position. Sunday saw Morgatto battle for a podium position until the final lap when he was in the third position before being pushed off course and down to the 13th position. It was Ramos who scored the squad's best result in the tenth position while Pernod improved from his Saturday result to cross the line in 15th.
Pulling double duty on the weekend, Christian Cameron would compete in both KA100 Junior and X30 Junior earning his best results in the KA class. With an 11th-place finish on Saturday and a 14th-place result Sunday, Cameron also secured a pair of top-15 finishes in X30 Junior, one of the toughest classes in all of karting.
Cole Medeiros would be the sole BirelART competitor in Mini Swift and despite no teammate to learn from or assist in finding the necessary speed to battle for race wins, Medeiros improved on a disappointing Saturday result to finish 26th on Sunday.
“The speed was there all weekend, especially in the X30 classes but luck was not on our side,” added Team Manager Kevin King. “We will look to turn bad luck into good luck and speed into wins this coming weekend in ROK Cup competition.”
Next up for the BirelART North America contingent will be a return trip to the Piquet Entertainment & Race Park for round two of the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour.
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- Category: Karting
February 14, 2023
Homestead, Florida- It was a difficult yet worthwhile weekend for Thomas Nepveu in Homestead. The young Oka native was on track for rounds 3 and 4 of the SKUSA Winter Series, a major championship that attracts some of the best drivers in America.
Thomas competed in the X30 Senior class over the course of two busy days with the support of Kart Republic. "We had a great kart all weekend," said Thomas. "However, we were a little short on speed in Saturday's race. We spent all day fighting within the top 10 and ended up finishing 10th overall in the final.”
Sunday started off on a better note, as Thomas established himself in 7th place in the pre-final. "We were faster in the final on Sunday, but we got caught up in a crash with two laps to go as I was fighting for 5th place."
Unfortunately, it was a missed opportunity for Thomas, but nevertheless it was still a good weekend overall for Kart Republic, "I think we made some good adjustments and saw solid progress on track. It may not have been our weekend in terms of results but I'm still taking away the positives."
Kart Republic
Founded in 2017 by Dino Chiesa, this Italian manufacturer has been dominating the podium on an international level since its inception. They quickly moved onto American soil, taking their first win at the most competitive event in North America, the Las Vegas SKUSA SuperNationals (1st - X30 Senior class - Nov. 2018). The brand has since recorded a multitude of wins to solidify its position at the top of karting competition.
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- Category: Karting
February 9, 2023
Oka, Quebec - Thomas Nepveu will be back on track at the AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex this weekend for the second SKUSA Winter Series event.
Like in January, the Oka native will return with Kart Republic in the X30 Senior class. If the first weekend didn't go as well as hoped, the driver of the #324 kart is eager to get back in the Top 5 in rounds 3 and 4.
"During the last event, we made some good changes which allowed us to finish in 4th place during the Final on Sunday," explains Thomas. Indeed, he went from 16th to 4th place thanks to a fast and perfect kart.
"We did some testing today, so we have more track time than at the last event," said Nepveu. "Also, the setup was perfect in the final back in January, so I hope to repeat the Top five in each session and climb on the podium."
He concludes by saying, "the talent of drivers on track is remarkable; racing here sharpens my senses for the rest of the season. I will never stop saying it; karting is the best discipline to stay in shape!"
Click here to follow the action live: https://www.youtube.com/c/KartChaser
X30 Sr. Class Schedule
Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15
|Warm-up: 8:56am | Qualifying: 10:50am | Pre-Final: 1:20pm | Final: 4:30pm
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