This past weekend at Inisfil Indy kart track, Canadian Karting League owner Russ Bond announced a huge development in the long term growth of the CKL. Bond and long time racer Chris Bye announced that Bye’s company Franczak Enterprises would be providing a sponsorship opportunity that is pretty much unheard of in the Arrive and Drive karting world.
Later this Fall, 10 carefully selected CKL drivers will test a Formula Vee prepared by Vallis Racing courtesy of Franczak. Beyond that, Franczak and Bye will sponsor one driver who competes in the 2011 CKL season by providing a fully funded Vee ride for the 2012 season.
What makes this announcement so unique is that this type of opportunity is rarely offered in the world of arrive and drive karting. Usually sponsored rides go to the folks who have competed and won at a National level. In most cases, these drivers are already well funded.
The beauty of arrive and drive is that when done properly, as Bond has done with the CKL, the competition comes first and evenly prepared karts ensure lots of close racing. Even more important is that a driver who is successful in low powered 4 cycle karts, which reward smoothness and consistency, is almost certain to succeed in a Formula Vee. In both cases, the low power threshold means that drivers must be very skilled at keeping their momentum up.
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