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| August 03, 2010 News |
| WSK World Series: Carlton and DeGrand Podium on Home Soil |
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 | 19 North American drivers represented the USA and Canada at the WSK World Series event in New Jersey
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Despite the fact that the North American contingent running in the second round of the WSK World Series at New Jersey Motorsports Park was having very mixed experiences at the event, there were certainly two huge highlights during the final day of competition. Experience at this level of competition, access to first-rate equipment and a little luck go along way in achieving success on the international stage and, on this day, Americans Gary Carlton and Tristan DeGrand were able to race their way to the podium in their respective classes. It was certainly a special occasion for many in the paddock to see the America flag raised alongside the others during the podium presentations for both KZ2 and KF3, and the pride amongst the families and teams was clearly evident.
For the remainder of the North American drivers who put themselves up against the world’s best, the experience of simply competing in the event will be the ultimate payoff. There were definitely some bright spots in the action, and even those who struggled all weekend will be better for it. The phrase ‘learning experience’ was used by many, as for a majority of the American drivers it was their first opportunity to run against an international field of this caliber.
In KZ2, superstar Jonathan Thonon (CRG) completed his dominant weekend by coming out on top of a first-lap first corner three-wide scrum to take the point over Belgian Rick Dreezen (Tony Kart). Carlton was right there, having now firmly established himself as a frontrunner in world competition. The Marysville, CA pilot would slip back to fourth in the early going when a charging Marco Ardigo (Tony Kart) made a move inside on the second circuit, but Carlton would take it back for good later in the lap. The three-time US national champion would then overtake Dreezen with a decisive move to make it a CRG 1-2, but he could not reel in Thonon, who turned it up a notch to take a 1.764-second win. Dreezen would complete the podium in third, ahead of Ardigo and Beitske Visser (Intrepid). This was the second straight WSK podium for Carlton, who recorded a third place result in Portugal to advance to second in the overall standings behind Thonon.
 | Gary Carlton (l) placed second to Jonathon Thonon (c) in the KZ2 category
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Three other Americans joined Carlton in the KZ2 battle. Ron White’s push for a top-five result in the KZ2 class came to an end during the opening laps of the final as a mechanical failure put him on the sidelines. White had worked relentlessly on his race package throughout the weekend to find extra pace, dialing in both the chassis and the engine in an effort to close the gap on the factory squads. After starting sixth in the Prefinal, White slipped to seventh, which would give him the inside row for the start of the 19-lap main. The NorCal driver jumping immediately to sixth and was in the pack for the opening laps, but it all came to an end on lap five as he pulled out onto the backstretch. Nonetheless, it was a strong performance for the long-time shifter star. The two other Americans in the KZ2 field – Alex Manglass and Mark Abrahams – finished 14th and 15th respectively.
Tony Kart factory driver Ignazio D’Agosto put the perfect cap on a stellar weekend in KF2 by scoring a 2.474-second win over Kosmic’s Sebastien Bailly. After qualifying on the pole on Saturday morning and then going on to win two of the three heat races and the Prefinal, D’Agosto needed to battle with early race leader Yu Kanamaru (Tony Kart) for the lead position. Once past and clear, he was able to stretch away to the victory. With the win locked up for D’Agosto and second place secured by Bailly, the fight for the final position on the podium was waged between Karol Basz (RK), Antonio Giovinazzi (Topkart) and Kanamaru. The final laps were heated, but Basz was not to be denied, as he recovered from sixth to advance to third late in the race when he capitalized on contact between Kanamaru and Giovinazzi. Kanamaru would continue on in fourth. British pilot Jordan Lennox (Birel) was able to slip through for fifth.
 | KF2 winner Ignazio D’Agosto
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Americans Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) and Phil De La O (Topkart) looked to be in the hunt for solid finishes on Sunday, but both drivers would get caught up in on-track incidents that put them out of contention. Menezes looked very good in the Prefinal, as he had all weekend, turning in a confident performance devoid of any on-track issues. The young US driver was impressive, starting fourth after another solid drive in the Prefinal. The experience that Menezes has logged from running in Europe is definitely evident, as his poise heading into Sunday’s events made one feel like a podium was certainly in the cards. After getting a good start and slipping into the lead pack, Menezes’ dream of a top finish in front of his home country ended when Luke Varley (Tony Kart) made any ill-timed attack early in the race, t-boning Menezes in one of the fast sections of the track, sending them both to the tail of the field. Menezes would fight back to 14th, which salvaged a couple of championship points to position him 12th in the championship standings heading to the World Series finale in Egypt.
Like Menezes, De La O got a solid start to begin the main after finish 15th in the Prefinal, but the advancement would ended quickly when the Topkart driver found himself at the tail of the field after contact with another driver. De La O then put his head down in an attempt to salvage as top-15 finish, coming up just short in 17th. In the process, the Arizona pilot laid down some incredibly quick laps, turning a 1:01.762, which would have put him firmly in the top-10.
SSC East drivers Joey Wimsett (CRG) and Mark Pellegrini (CRG) finished 21st and 22nd, running the best laps possibly within their limits thanks to engine issues. Wimsett’s team needed to take very conservative approach to jetting in order to find some reliability, and the tradeoff was straight-line speed. For Pellegrini, this was a huge learning experience that they will chalk up as an incredibly positive event in Mark’s development as a driver. Pennsylvania’s Alexander Mayer (Gillard) had a similar approach to the event, coming in with a more dated engine package that all but assured that he would not be able to challenge. It was also his first time running at this level and in the type of track conditions that accompany international racing, so the gaining of important experience will be his payoff.
 | Super KF podium with Convers, DeVries, and Cooper
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
In Super KF, Nyck De Vries (Zanardi) stormed through to take the win over Armand Convers (Kosmic) following a great race-long battle. De Vries was able to stretch things out over the final laps to a 1.186-second advantage of Convers, but the fight behind them featured lots of contact that took Arnaud Koslinski (CRG), among others, out of contention. Ben Cooper (Kosmic) would power through to take the final step on the podium in third, ahead of Gary Catt (Tony Kart) and Davide Fore (CRG). Laura Tillett (Tony Kart) finished 14th in the final tally.
Canadian Phillip Orcic (CRG) was the long North American in the Super KF field, and he enjoyed a good weekend. After running as high as fifth in the Saturday heat races, Orcic was 14th in the Prefinal after turning a lap just over a second off of De Vries’ fast time. The young driver normally runs the Zanardi chassis, so in having to adapt to the CRG, he was pleased with his performances. In the final, Orcic raced well and was rewarded with ninth in the final tally, which puts him 12th overall on the Super KF standings.
The KF3 race was a head-to-head scrap between front row starters Max Verstappen (CRG) and Jordi Oriola (FA Kart), but by the time they reached the waning stages of the 13-lap event, Verstappen had taken control. Oriola simply could not match the late-race pace of the leader and ended up 0.476 seconds behind at the checkered flag. The thrilling fight was for the final step on the podium as American Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) picked the right time to move past Antonio Fuoco (CRG) and Jake Dennis (Top Kart) to grab third after some aggressive contact-laden dicing midway through the race.
 | Canadian Phillip Orcic made his debut aboard a CRG, driving to 12th in the Super KF main event
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
DeGrand’s initial position in the lead group was impressive, as he came out of the box as one of the top drivers in the category. The importance of experience at this level cannot be over-stated, and DeGrand’s participation in Europe over the last couple of years has given him a level of confidence and comfort that showed in New Jersey. That said, DeGrand was presented with a challenge at this event after being dumped to the tail of the grid in the second heat race on Saturday. The emerging star recovered to 17th in the final heat, putting his Kosmic on the inside of Row #9 for the Prefinal. A tremendous drive to fifth in the race was highlighted by the fastest lap of the contest, putting him back into contention for the race win. When the main event unfolded, the early race jostling allowed the two leaders to pull away from the next group, all but sealing DeGrand’s fate with a podium at best. The fight for third was exciting, and DeGrand showed maturity and patience in biding his time for the position. When his challenger started to hammer on each other, DeGrand picked his corner and slipped through at the most opportune time to steal the position and then subsequently pull away from his rivals. It was a major moment for the young competitor, standing on the podiums amidst the cheers and congratulations of the American contingent. The third place result now moves DeGrand to sixth overall in the World Series KF3 standings.
Behind DeGrand, J3 Competition’s Andrew Palmer (Kosmic) was the next top American in 14th, advancing a couple of positions from 16th on the grid. Palmer was as high as ninth in the early going of the main but the action is pretty wild in the middle of the pack and a simple dropping of a wheel often resulted in the loss of three or four positions. Camden Geise (CRG) was next in the standings, finishing 18th after starting 23rd. Geise was on the attack from the green flag, driving up to 13th in the opening laps before he was ‘helped’ off the track and back to 21st on lap nine. For the remainder of the run, he worked to pick off additional positions and in the end, the top-20 finish was a positive end to a tough week. Like so many of the Americans, Camden believes that he will take a great deal of knowledge home from this experience.
 | Tristan DeGrand became the first American to stand on the podium in WSK World Series KF3 competition
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Trent Hindman (CRG), Dore Chaponick (FA Kart) and Kiel Spaulding (Topkart) finished 20th, 21st and 22nd, respectively. Hindman and Chaponick had been up to 16th and 17th in the early laps, but contact dropped them further into the field. Raquel Martinez (Topkart) did not get the breaks to cap off what would have been an impressive Sunday. Starting 15th for the Prefinal, she laid down some great laps and stayed out of trouble to advance to ninth for the main, but she was out after just one lap after contact from another competitor. Capping off the American KF3 driver line-up was Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic), who was still nursing a rib injury from last weekend’s WSK North American event. Madrigal toughed it out all weekend and was 23rd in the Prefinal, but she elected to skip the final. She will now look forward to giving her ribs the time necessary to heal.
The overall focus on the return of international racing to the United States must be put on the racing. The on-track action was extremely close and simple mistakes were very costly. It is also apparent that so much comes down to experience, both against such stiff competition and in what were very unique conditions, alien to a vast majority of the American drivers participating in the event. While the level of rubber did not reach what is normally seen in the European events due to the light turnout, it was still a new experience for the US pilots. A totally different approach to cornering is needed, which required the drivers to adapt their feedback and their current concepts in regards to chassis and engine tuning. The mechanics and drivers who maintained their focus on ‘learning’ were paid off in the end, but it would be safe to say that everyone left the race understanding the need for experience in these types of conditions.
The success of Carlton and DeGrand certainly highlighted the event, as these two Americans are proof positive that our drivers can run with the best in the world given the necessary experience and equal equipment.
The final round of the WSK World Series is set for October 28-31 at Sharm el Sheik in Egypt. |
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