Have kart will travel
Edmonton s Stefan Rzadzinski s go-kart endeavours have led him to famous racetrack in Lonato, Italy

JOHN KOROBANIK, Journal Sports Writer EDMONTON
Photos by CODIE MCUCHLAN, The Journal

Stetan Rzadzihski's eyes light up when he thinks of the situation—tomorrow he'll be racing on the same Lonato, Italy, racetrack that has spawned the careers of Formula 1 drivers such as Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica.

Like him, they were driving karts at the time, but racing is racing.

"They raced on the same track I'll be on," the 14-year-old Edmonton driver said with a combination of awe, respect and anticipation. "Italy is the centre of the karting universe, all the top manufacturers are from there."

Rzadzinski will be competing in the Rok World Final Oct. 12-14after winning the Western Canada Rok Cup junior karting championships with four victories in six races. He'll fly home on the th and two days later reboard a jet and head to Las Vegas for the Stars of Karting National Final that weekend.

Not bad for a young teenager who won his age-group championships at ages nine, 10,13 and 14, but almost gave up the sport before he really got started.

"I was eight, at the facility in Warburg, a small town, very small facility and the track was bumpy and weeds were growing on it," he said sitting around a table in the cafeteria of Archbishop MacDon-ald High School where he's a Grade 10 Student.

"I wasn't having very much fun learning and we didn't have very competitive equipment. I think I was kind of out of it at that time.

"But then we came to the new track (Stratotech Park near Fort Saskatchewan) with new equipment. I got focused again and back having fun and ended up pretty much dominating that season and the season after."

And he repeated that domination this summer, beginning with a strong showing at the opening races at Chilliwack, B.C., where he was second and first even though he went into the races apprehensive because he was competing in a series he wasn't even planning on racing in.

"We were planning to race a different series, then we were going to try to do both, then the guy at Stratotech Park convinced us to go all out in Rok," he explained. "We were pretty focused on winning the Western Canadian Rotax championship, which sends drivers to Dubai, but then this opportunity arose and we just got sucked into it. About a week before we flew to Chilliwack we bought a new engine, put it in at the local track at the last minute and flew out two days later."

He followed up Chilliwack by winning both races in Regina about five weeks later and then clinched the title and (his trip to Italy by finishing second and first on his home track in Edmonton at the end of August.

Racing comes naturally to this young teenager who used to sit on his father's lap and watch the events. His dad, Andy, "had a bit of racing blood in him" and when Stefan took a liking to karts, dad was right there for him.

"He basically said I had a better chance of going somewhere in racing than he did, so he basically committed himself full-time to getting me out on the track and taking me places. My mom is also very supportive... my little brother, he's , also loves racing and comes out to every race."

While karting is where virtually every top-level auto racer gets his or her start, the sport remains largely an unknown one in Canada and despite his success, Rzadzinski still finds his friends and schoolmates blissfully unaware of what he really does. "A few people know, but most have no due what it is," he said, recalling the number of times acquaintances have asked him if he "races shopping carts... or the karts like at Whitemud (Amusement Park)."

"Unless you know what it is you can't appreciate it because it is a very competitive sport. They don't go five kilometres an hour like at Whitemud. You actually have to know how to drive them. It's the very bottom of racing and it's so competitive because so many people are in it."

It's that competitiveness that attracts Rzadzinski and keeps him coming back, determined to get to the highest level of racing he can.

"I love the competition. There's nothing like it, the adrenalin you get when you're sitting on the grid and everyone has their visors down, focused. You want to beat everyone, but the odds are stacked against you. There could be 60 drivers... and only one guy can win, get the glory. That's part of it." The big part, initially, was not only learning to drive the kart but getting over the fear... being so close to the ground, going around corners are; speeds mostly unimaginable to an eight or nine-year-old.

Speeds that would have most cars sliding, but with its low centre of gravity; and light weight-roughly about 220; pounds with vehicle and driver-the; kart sticks to the track. The trick is for the young drivers to find the edge of the level of grip and discover how fast they can push through corners.

"After that you get more advanced it's very mental, being; prepared for anything."

So what makes a good kart driver?

"You have to be aggressive, very aggressive, but you have to be calm, you can't be erratic. Rapid movements of the steering wheel is not going to work. You see an opening for a pass you don't have time to think about things. If s very mental, you have to just go with your instincts and make your move."

jkorobanik@thejournal.canwest.com