News Release

June 12, 2002 TORONTO, ON

TORONTO, ON - The teams of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship (SRFKC) are back in action on the June 14-15 weekend at Innisfil Kart Club, in Innisfil, ON. The championship is aimed at helping young Canadians climb the racing ladder.

Practice will go on June 14th, with qualifying and Rounds 3 and 4 going on Sunday June 15th.

"The nature of the track at Innisfil means these races will be action-packed," said Hurricane MBA Senior Canada class competitor Matt Champagne. All four SRFKC classes will be in action. In Canada Junior, Birel's Daniel Coratti will be looking to break the tie between himself and First Kart's Robert Wickens. That could be a tough task as Wickens was on a tear in the first two rounds. In Canada Senior, Gold Kart's Kyle Herder is looking to keep his unbeaten streak alive. Herder scored a perfect 200 points, winning both rounds so far. Formula Junior has been all Wickens so far, but he could face tough competition from the Simon brothers and Dan Twizell in the rocket fast 80cc shifter karts of Formula Junior.

Alex Penfold, at the wheel of his Hot Wheels Birel, is looking to keep his streak of strong finishes going in the championship's 100-plus mph class, Formula Senior.
"I am really looking forward to the Innisfil event," says Alex. "It's our home track and with the continued development work that our tuner Luke Chiovitti is doing, and our increased understanding of the Birel chassis, Richard and I feel good about the progress of the Hot Wheels Racing / CPS / Birel Team."

In talking about the inaugural day of series racing on May 12, Tom Ryley, executive vice-president of Sunoco, commented, "In spite of the wet and unseasonably cold weather, the racing was really fun to watch. I was impressed with how interesting it is for spectators and how professionally the whole event was run. ASN and OKRA are really to be commended." He added, "This is exactly the type of thing we wanted to see."

Rob King, brand marketing manager for Sunoco, who had to miss the first event because he was out of the country, said, "I have heard nothing but good things about the May event and I am really looking forward to the second round this weekend. I understand the racing action is first-class, and I am looking forward to seeing it first-hand."

The objective of the SRFKC is to help foster a professional environment for kart drivers; help create a positive attitude towards appearance, conduct and discipline; help foster the employment of the best practices for the safe and fair running of competitions; and help kart drivers to move up the racing ladder to automobile racing. At the end of the season, two drivers will be selected from each of the four Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship classes, along with two drivers from the ASN Canadian National Championships for special awards. These drivers will be invited to a one-day evaluation test at the Bridgestone/Firestone Racing Academy at Mosport, provided they are 16 years of age prior to the date of the test. Out of those 10 drivers, two will earn a full scholarship to the 2003 Bridgestone/Firestone Toronto Star Wheels F2000 racing series.

The event is open to all members of the media and offers free admission for spectators. For directions and more information on the Innisfil Kart Club, visit www.innisfilkartclub.ca, or contact John Holgate at (905) 775-4686. For more information, please contact: Brad Brown, Sunoco Motorsports, www.sunoco.ca, (416) 233-8727; ASN Canada FIA, Paul Cooke, www.asncanada.com, (905) 403-9000; Russ Bond, www.insidetracknews.com, (416)-962-7223.