HRKC Race 4 Recap

We were back in Hamilton for HRKC Race 4, and it turned into one of the wettest weekends we have seen in quite some time.

Saturday practice brought absolutely brutal conditions, with standing water around the circuit and constant rain throughout the day. Despite the weather, many drivers braved the conditions and gained some extremely valuable wet-weather experience ahead of this week’s RMC Ontario Round 1.

Heading into Sunday, the forecast gave us hope for a much drier day, but unfortunately that never fully materialized. While the heavy rain had moved through, a constant drizzle and mist kept the circuit wet throughout warm-up, qualifying, and the pre-finals. Tire choice became the biggest discussion in the paddock as teams debated whether to stay on wets or gamble on slicks as conditions slowly improved.

We also welcomed many visiting Rotax racers to Hamilton as competitors prepared for this week’s RMC Ontario opener, creating some exciting action throughout the field.

One of the highlights away from the racetrack was Sausage Rod firing up the grill and serving hot dogs throughout the day. It quickly became a huge hit — so much so that we unfortunately ran out! A big thank you to Rod for cooking for everyone as part of our way of celebrating all the moms and dads who put in endless hours to get racers prepared and to the track every weekend. Normally HRKC hosts a Mother’s Day & Father’s Day celebration, but with the unusual schedule this year not having racing in Hamilton on either holiday, we thought this was a great way to make sure those efforts did not go unnoticed.

Overall, while nobody truly loves racing in the wet — especially mechanics — wet races always seem to produce incredible racing where driver talent really shines through.

Briggs Senior

The Briggs Senior B Final kicked off the finals portion of the day and marked the first race where several drivers were brave enough to gamble on slick tires. About six drivers made the switch, and the opening laps were anything but comfortable as the field slid and spun their way around the circuit.

However, as the race progressed and the track slowly improved, those who took the risk were massively rewarded. The slick tire runners were lapping nearly three seconds faster than the rest of the field and quickly charged to the front. Their bold strategy paid off with the top finishers transferring into the A Final.

The Briggs Senior A Final produced a special moment for HRKC.

Logan Pacza and Owen McCarthy broke away early and built a comfortable gap over the rest of the field. With four laps remaining, the pair began battling for the win in what was fair but aggressive racing, with the lead changing hands multiple times.

At the finish, Owen McCarthy captured his first HRKC victory, bringing huge cheers from the sidelines. It was a win that many felt was long overdue, and it was awesome to see Owen finally stand on the top step.

Jackson Morley made his return to karting sporting the number 500 and crossed the line in third. Following post-race penalties, Jackson was elevated to P2 while Nathan Wilkie completed the podium in P3.

Briggs Cadet

Our youngest racers once again impressed in extremely difficult conditions.

With the podium expanded to the top five, every driver had something to fight for, and the Cadet racers showed excellent race craft throughout the day.

Visiting racer Max Koutsoukis took the win ahead of Matteo Romeo in second, while Ricky Ramdin completed the podium in third. Ethan Smith and Dominick Anghel rounded out the top five after an excellent day of racing.

Great job, kids!

Briggs Junior Lite

Tyler Del Bel Belluz continued his strong start to the season by once again taking the victory in Briggs Junior Lite.

The podium looked a little different than normal due to some post-race penalties, but it was also encouraging to see some of the newer drivers in the class making major strides forward.

Oliver Asselin captured his first podium of the season in P2 while Sachin Stanly earned another P3 finish.

Briggs Junior

Briggs Junior nearly ended before it even began as a large Turn 1 incident created chaos at the start of the final.

The race resulted in five Failure to Leave Racing Room penalties along with several pushback bumper penalties. As the old saying goes: “To finish first, first you must finish.” You rarely win a race in Turn 1, but you can certainly lose one there.

Leaving racing room is critical to ensuring everyone has the opportunity for a fair and clean race.

On the positive side, Ethan Belknap delivered an excellent drive to capture his first victory of the season. Congratulations Ethan!

Melville Dos Santos finished P2 while Cody Shaw rounded out the podium in third.

The Junior category continues to be one of the most entertaining classes to watch as the season progresses because of the incredible amount of development and improvement throughout the year.

Briggs Masters

Patrick Lelievre finally managed to avoid the mechanical bad luck that had followed him earlier this season and captured the victory in Briggs Masters.

Jackson Maytum finished second while Joseph Mezin continued his consistent start to the year with yet another third-place finish.

Mini Max

On the Rotax side, the paddock saw increased participation as many competitors prepared for this week’s RMC Ontario Round 1.

In Mini Max, it was the Yousef Adi show.

Yousef mastered both the wet and drying conditions perfectly, sweeping the day and taking the victory by a comfortable margin. Behind him, Max Koutsoukis captured his second podium finish of the day in P2 while Luke Bulpitt completed the podium in third.

Rotax Senior

Rotax Senior unfortunately was not the cleanest race of the day.

The final saw two contact penalties, two causing-a-collision penalties, a passing-under-yellow penalty, and four pushback bumper penalties. We expect cleaner and safer racing from our more experienced categories and are hopeful for a better display at RMC Ontario this coming weekend.

At the start of the race, contact between Ryan Maxwell and Joseph Launi pushed both drivers down the order and opened the door for Ari Theodoropoulos.

Ari capitalized on the opportunity perfectly and never looked back, cruising to a dominant 3.5-second victory.

Max Raymer finished second while Joseph Launi recovered nicely to complete the podium in third.

Rotax Junior

Rotax Junior may have been the class that changed the most throughout the day as conditions evolved.

Some drivers excelled in the wet while others came alive once the track began drying. By the final, conditions had improved significantly, and Robert Tronchi Jr. made the most of it, taking the victory.

Stefano Lanzillotta bounced back from a difficult morning to being the fastest driver on track and finishing second, while Marley Chaudhary capped off a very strong day — after qualifying on pole and finishing second in the pre-final — by completing the podium in third.

Up Next: RMC Ontario Round 1

Thank you to everyone who came out to support HRKC Race 4.

Up next is RMC Ontario Round 1, which will also count as HRKC Race 5 and 6 for Briggs competitors. We are expecting a full paddock and an incredible weekend of racing.

We hope to see you all there!