After an hour on pins and needles since the conclusion of the Last Chance Qualifier, the time for the Final race had arrived. The ten qualifiers for the Final truly are some of the top competitors in karting, some with hundreds of laps at this very circuit.
The driver’s strapped in to their electric karts, pulled on their gloves, and tightened up their helmet straps. Jane Axworth, the guest of honour from Melanoma Canada, prepared to wave the green one last time.
Home track advantage would play a big part in the outcome, with 4 of the first five starting positions being K1 Speed Toronto racers, Here was the Final Race starting order:
- Nathan Wilkie
- Logan Ploder
- Nicolas Mariotti
- Tyler Illidge
- Gobindar Sandhu
- Shehan Sabapathimudiyanselage
- Christian Tyler Dadula
- Oliver Soriano
- Taras Michalik
- Jason Fung
Special commendation to Gobindar Sandhu, who launched forward from his P5 starting position, to land on the last step on the podium. Gobindar was actually the fastest qualifier from the Toronto track, starting behind Mississauga’s Tyler Illidge to balance out Sandhu’s home track advantage. In a race with few position changes, Gobindar moved up two spots and defended against fierce rivals.
Finishing runner-up was Logan Ploder, who was on the winners back bumper from the moment Melanoma Canada’s Jane Axworth wildly waved the green flag right to the checkers. Observers gained a lot of respect for the young man, who could have forced his way to victory by moving the leader off line with the ;’chrome horn’ but instead drove a mature, fair race.
However, the night belonged to Nathan Wilkie. A racer with experience at Grand Prix Kartways, K1 Speed, Goodwood Kartways and Mosport Karting Centre, Wilkie played the strategic game perfectly by starting from pole, then putting his kart exactly where it needed to be to prevent being overtaken. Late in the race, a midfield kart suffered mechanical failure, and needed to be recovered to pit lane. This resulted in a NASCAR style green-white-checker that nearly cost the pole-sitter the win! But even after the restart, Nathan Wilkie didn’t put a wheel wrong. Wilkie was a well-deserving winner.
All three podium finishers received Scarboro Subaru sweatshirts, F1200 hats, K1 Speed T-shirts and sunscreen from Melanoma Canada! The two runners-up received a Google Nest Audio smart speaker courtesy of Reeve Webster Racing, while the race winner received a Keurig K-Duo Single Cup & Carafe Coffee maker courtesy of The Racing Topic host Chad Webster, who provided the exceptional play by play of the races.
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