To
view a CMI gallery from the 2008 National Championships, Hamilton, Ontario – August 18, 2008 - If there was a team in the pit at Grand-Mére feeling it was owed a National Championship this time around it had to be Cameron Motorsports/CRG. One year ago in its own back yard, Mother Nature seemed to rob the team of generating a National Crown when it rained on the parade of the home team Sunday. Through heat racing CMI owned the front row in ICC, DD2, Rotax Junior, and a one-three in Rotax Senior; and it converted all four to pole positions for National Finals. Then came the rain, then came the pain: second, third, fifth, third; National Championships, nada. It was a crazy afternoon that still leaves a scar one year later, but the pain eased somewhat a week ago when Cameron/CRG claimed its second National title in three years. Darren White was the man at the pedals as he became 2008 Canadian National Champion in Rotax DD2. It was the crowning achievement for the 13-strong team in Quebec, and one that ended eleven days in Grand-Mére for the eighteen-year-old racer from Port Hope, Ontario. “It was awesome,” White said following the Championship run from under the Cameron/CRG tent late Sunday. “Dan and I got a good jump, filed in to the inside line, and noone could get around us from there. I came out of turn two in second and on the next lap I passed for the lead at turn two.” Polesitter Frank Launi worked his way to second, and after winning two heats and the prefinal, the move got White’s attention. “I looked back and saw a blue GP and knew it was Frankie,” White said. “He had been fast all day so I figured he was on his way. I just tried to keep consistent and it worked out. I didn’t have anything going through my mind tactically. I was just trying to hit my marks and do things like that. It was totally in my hands. I knew I had a gap and it was basically up to me not making mistakes.” He made none, and the result was a one-second win that also sends the Cameron/CRG pilot to Italy as a member of Team Canada this November. Changes in the pit created the winning margin, as after matching Launi at 43.4 seconds in the prefinal when he came from eighth on the grid to fourth, White reached 43-flat in the main event and was the quickest man on the podium. “We changed the gear to get more bottom-end and it worked really well,” White said of the final changes made by tuner Wrex Roth. “He’s been awesome,” the driver continued about his tuner of two years. “He’s really supportive, makes fast engines and I’ve definitely gotten a lot quicker with him around. I definitely have to thank him and Mike, everyone at Cameron Motorsports and of course my parents, who are the only sponsors I have.” Perhaps, but maybe not for long. While White ended the weekend on top of the DD2 field, another Cameron/CRG driver started there and maintained the front row through the heats. Fresh from winning the latest Ontario Regional Karting Championship round at Mosport, Michael Di Meo took the DD2 pole on Friday and backed it up with a win in heat one. Two more runs to the top five followed, and Di Meo began Sunday off-pole. A rare mistake led to a spin in the prefinal, and after starting fourteenth Di Meo charged through the field to finish fifth in the National final. Di Meo’s pole position was one of two for the team, as Jeffrey May captured the top spot in Rotax Junior qualifying. He matched Di Meo with three runs to the top five in heat racing, and after backing outside the top ten in the prefinal came forward in the main to take ninth in the Nation. Full Cameron Motorsports/CRG National Championship Results: Rotax
DD2 Rotax
Junior Rotax
Senior Formula
Senior/ICC |
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