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| February 26, 2012 News |
| EKN Trackside: Gatorz Challenge of the Americas - PKRA Sunday Report |
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 | Aussie David Sera scored his second Senior Max win of the weekend
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
Round four of the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas program capped off the weekend at the Phoenix Kart Racing Association (PKRA) facility in Glendale, Arizona. Sunday’s action kept the excitement going that everyone witnessed on Saturday, watching six of the seven classes see a repeat winner in the feature events. While those six drivers scored double wins, their second of the weekend did not come that easy around the Formula K Raceway circuit. Aside from the DD2 categories, the events that unfolded in Phoenix revamped the look of the championship standings, which will make the series finale in Fontana, California a thrilling end to the six-race championship chase.
Buddy Rice Karting Senior Max
Qualifying set the tone for the Senior Max with many of the same contenders in the mix from Saturday’s action. With 37 drivers, the class was split up into two groups with the faster drivers going out second. After drivers exchanged the provisional pole with their early laps, Nick Rivellini (CRG) secured the position on his third circuit, posting a 45.764-lap. Pulling into the pits, he sat and waited for the rest of the field to better his time. Saturday winner David Sera (Arrow) came onto the circuit later than everyone else, making some initial laps and ducking back to pit lane for more changes. He was able to inch his way closer to Rivellini’s time, but came short. A late charge by Louie Pagano (Birel) moved him up to the second position, just one-tenth off Rivellini, moving Sera to third. Andrew Zimmer (Energy) was fourth in the order with Dakota Dickerson (Arrow) fifth. Saturday’s top qualifier Phil DeLaO (Top Kart) was about a half-second off his time from the previous day, ending up sixth while championship leader Kiel Spaulding (FA Kart) was back in ninth.
 | Fritz Leesmann came through in the opening laps around Daniel Burkett to score his fourth DD2 feature win of the year
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
Rivellini led the field to the green flag for the Pre-Main, but it wasn’t long before Sera found his way to the point. Completing lap two, Sera took over the top spot from the Virginia driver and went on to extend the lead each circuit in the 17-lap race. The driver on the move was Zimmer as he was the quickest driver on the track, moving his way up from fourth into the second spot. That pushed Rivellini back to third until Pagano was able to work by for the position. Zimmer closed in on Sera but the Aussie posted similar laps to keep the Oregon driver at bay. At the checkered, Sera took the win by four-tenths over Zimmer with Pagano crossing the line in third. Rivellini and Spaulding completed the top-five.
Completing the day’s sweep, Sera went wire-to-wire in the Main Event to score the victory for his second of the weekend. Through the opening corner clean, Sera led the field around the circuit lap after lap. Shuffling behind them for position, the 2011 Rotax Grand Finals runner-up finisher established a solid gap over the fight for second, piloting to a near three-second victory to close out his two weeks in the United States. Zimmer appeared to be the driver to challenge Sera but was shuffled back outside the top-10 early, putting Pagano into the second spot with Rivellini running third ahead of DeLaO and Spaulding. DeLaO would eventually work by Rivellini for position but was unable to close the gap to Pagano as they would complete the podium with Sera. Rivellini placed fourth for a second time on the weekend as Spaulding finished fifth, a few seconds back of him.
Overdrive Motorsports DD2 / Buddy Rice Karting Engines DD2 Masters
Championship leader Fritz Leesmann (CRG) picked up where he left off after yesterday’s win in the DD2 feature race. Shut out from the pole position in round three action, Leesmann picked up his pace in qualifying on Sunday to secure the pole position with a 44.758-lap. Canadian’s Daniel Burkett (LH) and Austin King (PCR) were about half a second off his time with John Wallace III (Energy) in fourth. John Crow (Arrow) led things in the Masters category, about 1.4-seconds off Leesmann’s time with Mark Wheeler (PCR) and Jim Carey Sr. (Arrow) rounding out the field.
 | John Crow battled engine issues, but perservered for win number four in DD2 Masters
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
Interesting events unfolded in the Pre-Main for the DD2 categories. The race began with all the drivers slotting into position, but King bolted to the pit lane after taking the green flag with a mechanical issue. Leesmann and Burkett paced the field with Wallace eventually pulling off the course after 10 laps of the scheduled 17. Then on lap 15, Leesmann relinquished the lead as his Rotax powerplant began to overheat. This left Burkett to the win with Crow placing second overall ahead of Wheeler and Carey.
Despite the jumbling on the grid from the mixed results in the Pre-Main, the field sorted themselves out in the opening corners with Leesmann jumping from fifth to first in a matter of a couple turns. Once around Burkett for the lead, he pushed a torrid pace en route to a nine-second victory for his fourth of the season. Burkett was unable to match the pace set by Leesmann, placing second once again as King ran third ahead of Wallace. Crow looked to have an issue at the start, as he fell off the pace and dropped to the tail of the field. After a couple laps, he regained his speed and worked by Carey and then Wheeler for the lead. Crow scored the victory by healthy margin in the end of the 25-lap event.
Rolison Performance Group Junior Max
Rebounding back from a DNF in the main event, championship leader Parker Thompson (Tony Kart) started out round four as the top dog in qualifying. A lap of 45.563 seconds secured the Canadian the pole position for the Pre-Main event. The top three were within three-hundredths of a second as round three winner Luke Selliken (Kosmic) and Zacharie Scalzo (LH) came so close to taking over the top spot from Thompson. Jim McKinney (Intrepid) continued riding high off his podium finish on Saturday, with the local driver clocking in the fourth fastest lap as Austin Versteeg (CRG) rounded out the fast five.
 | Luke Selliken completed his breakthrough weekend, driving from seventh to first in Junior Max
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
Thompson established himself as the driver to beat heading into the Main Event as he scored the win in the Pre-Main. From the pole position, Thompson led wire-to-wire in the 17-lap event, hounded by Saturday winner Selliken. Scalzo was in the hunt early but dropped off the pace, falling about two seconds back with McKinney and Versteeg trailing. After the race, Selliken was penalized for a jump start, adding 10 seconds to his total finish time, putting him seventh in the order to move drivers up one spot ahead of him, resulting in round two winner Blaine Rocha (Arrow) up to fifth.
It appeared that Thompson would score his second sweep of the year as the Main Event unfolded. When the green flag waved, Thompson sped out to a solid lead early on in the 25-lap event. Establishing a solid lead, Parker was in position for his second feature win of the series until lap 15. As he crossed the line to complete the 16th lap, his chain broke off his machine and he coasted to pit lane in defeat, having led in all four main events and only finished one with a victory. This gave the lead to Selliken, who regained the positions he lost from the penalty in the Pre-Main after starting seventh. Running the most consistent of the front runners, Selliken drove to his second victory of the weekend. Scalzo, credited with the fast lap of the race, crossed the line second. Versteeg edged out McKinney for the third step on the podium with Jordan Redlin (CRG) up from eighth to fifth.
Billet Performance Karting Masters Max
The Masters Max category continued to be a close affair in qualifying, as they did in the round three events. Paul Bonilla (Arrow) held the provisional pole for much of the 15-minute session until championship leader Brent Harper (Swiss Hutless) was able to drop his quickest lap late, stealing the pole position for the Pre-Main. His 47.242-lap was 74-thousandths of a second quicker than Bonilla’s, set early in the session. Saturday’s provisional winner Derek Poirier (Intrepid) was third in the order, about two-tenths off his pole time on the previous day. Round three winner Bill Kann (Birel) clocked in the fourth quickest lap of the session with Ken Maxfield (Arrow) rounding out the fast five.
 | Bill Kann demonstrated home track advantage with the victory in Masters Max
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
The Pre-Main lost the pole sitter early as Harper pulled off before the green flag with a loose front tire, putting him to the tail of the 14-kart grid for the Main Event. On track, a three kart lead group formed early until Poirier spun in the esses, dropping well down the order as he was unable to get restarted right away. This left Bonilla and Kann up front with Kann eventually securing the lead and going on to score the win. The show of the race was watching Saturday runner-up Scott Falcone (Arrow) moving forward after he missed qualifying for showing up to the grid after it had closed. Getting some spots at the start and contact throughout the field helped him move forward and trailing the top-five. After the 17 laps, Falcone crossed the line in third ahead of Ken Maxfield and Arie Luyendyk Jr. (Zanardi).
Kann and Bonilla kept the front looking the same through the Main Event as they took the field to the green flag and led things throughout the 25-lap race. Falcone tried to keep up with the front two but was challenge by Maxfield and Luyendyk early. Eventually, Poirier charged his way into the top-five from his ninth starting spot. First around Luyendyk and Maxfield, he pressured Falcone for much of the race until he was able to work by for the third position. Up front, the gap between Kann and Bonilla grew and shrunk depending on the lap. In the end, Kann was able to be the most consistent and drove away to a 1.595-second victory over Bonilla. Poirier held off a late charge from Falcone to complete the podium with Maxfield rounding out the top-five. Harper came from 14 on the grid to finish sixth, getting by Luyendyk in the closing lap to secure more points toward the title chase and gain five extra points with the fast lap.
BBR Karting Mini Max
Nicky Hays (Birel) kicked off round four as the driver to beat, as he paced the field in the groups qualifying session. With a lap of 48.193 seconds, Hays gapped the rest of the field by just over 25 hundredths of a second. Saturday winner Sting Ray Robb (Tony Kart) was second in the order, just ahead of championship leader Christian Brooks (Energy). Horatio Fitz-Simon (CRG) was fourth as Jeff Fulham (LH) capped off the fast five.
A group of three karts filled up the lead group for the Mini Max Pre-Main. After the 13 laps, Hays held the top spot and scored the win with Robb and Fitz-Simon trailing. Brooks ended up fourth with Royal McKee (Energy) up to fifth from sixth, dropping Fulham a position.
 | Nicky Hays broke away to score the win in Mini Max
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
Hays put on the afterburners for the Main Event as he went untouched to a six-second victory. From the drop of the green, Hays held the lead from his pole position grid spot as the rest of the field shuffled in behind. The fighting for second allowed Hays to establish a solid lead and the fast laps of the race helped him to increase that as the laps clicked off. The fight for second went down to the final few corners with Fitz-Simon able to edge out McKee to complete the podium. Brooks ran to fourth with Fulham rounding out the top-five as Sting Ray Robb fell to sixth and lost the draft of the pack.
Apollo Motorsports Micro Max
The qualifying order for Sunday’s round four action in Micro Max look very similar to the round three action. This time around, David Rafailov (Birel) came through with the top time over Saturday’s pole winner Payton Durrant (Birel). Rafailov was able to use the draft and post a lap time - 52.631 - to secure the pole position by over two-tenths quicker than Durrant. Marco Kacic (CRG) was third in the order with Sophia Price (Kosmic) fourth and round three winner Jacob Blue Hudson (Energy) fifth.
The top six broke away from the rest of the field and put in a great show for the 10-lap Pre-Main. Coming up from the fifth starting spot, Saturday winner Hudson knifed his way forward and was at the front of the pack when the checkered flag waved to score the win. Pole sitter Rafailov fell to just second with Durrant, Kacic and Price all dropping a spot from where they started with Derek DesLauriers (Energy) trailing behind. The win however was removed in the tech barn as Hudson had an improper setting to his carburetor, dropping him to the tail of the field for the Main Event.
 | Bouncing back from a DQ in the Pre-Main, Jacob Blue Hudson scored the victory in Micro Max
(Photo: Sean Buur - Go Racing Magazine) |
Not to be kept down after the mistake made in the Pre-Main, Hudson showed why he was the winner in Saturday’s Main Event with another stellar performance to end Sunday’s round. Starting last after the DQ, Hudson was up to the top-six quickly and some hard racing by the front drivers allowed him to close in quickly. Lap by lap, Hudson took a position and eventually worked his way to the point. Once there, he drove a smart race to keep the challengers behind him. Despite their shuffling for the second spot and attempted passing maneuvers for the lead, Hudson held on to the top spot to the checkered flag to score his second victory of the weekend. Rafailov crossed the line second, working by Durrant on the final circuit with Price trailing and Griffin Dowler (Tony Kart) recording his best finish of the weekend in fifth.
Now with four rounds in the books, drivers and teams will exam their positions in the standings as they prepare for the series finale in one month. On March 30-April 1, the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas will cap off the 2012 season with the final two rounds at the CalSpeed Karting facility in Fontana. The international Rotax Max Challenge will crown the three drivers in Senior, DD2 and Junior, awarding each with a ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal come November. The other drivers to earn their class titles will receive the honor along with tickets to the Rotax Grand Nationals in South Bend, Indiana or to the Rotax Pan American Challenge event in September. Be sure to tune in to http://www.ekartingnews.com/live that weekend to catch all the live action as it happens. |
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