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| July 11, 2012 |
| Series News: Red Line Oil Karting Championship Celebrates Independence Day with Another Strong Turnout |
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 | Rob Soares
(Photo: Jerry Imboden - Kart Art) |
The Red Line Oil Karting Championship kicked off the Independence Day holiday week with a strong turnout of 87 karts, six classes either matching or having their largest fields of the year. Five classes had over eight entries and the winners of these classes took home a cool $100 for their efforts. This was the first time this year that RLOKC used the difficult and technical Reverse Sprint layout. Considering the limited time during the month of June to practice on this layout, due to the big-track events, drivers had limited time to dial in this unique layout. Thus, there were some new contenders at the front of the races who had figured out the layout. John Motley, one of the top Rotax tech men in the country joined the tech crew, leaving behind some great knowledge that the RLOKC team and racers will be able to use to improve the tech area's performance for all. Cameron Racing added to the excitement by bringing out it's "Pit Stop" training rig and allowing anyone to give it a try. During the lunch break a pit stop contest was held to determine the "Masters of the Pit stop".
GoPro Feature Race: Rotax Masters
With nineteen drivers, this was the largest turn out of the year for this class of drivers thirty-two years old and over. Rob Soares made his first RLOKC race of the year and promptly took the pole ahead of Geoff Wise, David Carlisle and Greg Hoff. In the first heat, Soares, Carlisle and Hoff took the top spots with Wise falling back a bit. Scott Ripslinger made some passes to move forward but with his rear bumper coming loose, he had to battle just to finish the race. Wise tried to make a move on Scott on the last lap and the two tangled with Wise getting the worst of it. Soares came home first followed by Carlisle, Hoff and David Bell. In the second heat, Soares and Carlisle took to the front with Hoff getting by Wise and Ripslinger again putting on a charge. Scott got up to 3rd and put pressure on Carlisle but thought better of forcing the issue near the end, settling for 3rd behind the repeat 1-2 of Soares and Carlisle. Hoff took 4th and Wise 5th. Carlisle failed a partial tech after the race, thus everyone behind Carlisle moved up one position.
In the Main, Soares took the initial lead and started to pull away with David Bell, Hoff, Ripslinger and Andrea Delfanti close behind. But making his way through the field was Carlisle (starting 9th) and new comer Sean McDonald who started in the 15th position. Bell and Hoff had a good go of it for most of the race for 2nd place, but Carlisle picked off one position at a time until he took over 2nd, Bell then had a little gap between he and Hoff, Delfanti and Ripslinger. On the last lap, Soares had the race wrapped up, while Carlisle and Bell looked solid. With two turns to go the mad scramble for 4th turned into a five way battle and when all was done, Delfanti came out 4th, McDonald slipped into 5th, Hoff went sideways and fell back to 16th, Ripslinger had to settle for 7th and Bruno Balocco took the 6th position. An exciting mid-pack finish to what was a great race. Soares took home the GoPro Mini-Camera and Delfanti leaves the race having taken over the points lead.
"Masters of the Pit Stop"
Many of the young kart racers tried their hand at both wheel and driver changes throughout the day. During lunch two teams went head to head in a contest with Team 1 coming out on sop with a great 19 second Pit Stop. The winning team was Michael Avansino, Mikey Michoff, Justin Yanez and Jayden Conwright the team took home trophies and product from Muscle Milk.
 | Masters of the Pit Stop winners
(Photo: Jerry Imboden - Kart Art) |
Molecule Karting Championship:
IAME TaG, Junior TaG and TaG Senior
With six karts, the TaG classes still had good completion all day long. Maxx Marian (Junior TaG) took the pole ahead of Darrin Geahry (IAME TaG) and Mason Filippi (Junior TaG) while Austin Keller (Senior TaG) did not post a time and had to start last. Maxx chose to start from the back row leaving Darrin and Mason to fill the front row in both heats. In the first heat, Keller showed his superior power and drove to the front and took an eight second win ahead of Filippi with Stephan Gaudreau 3rd, Marian 4th. The second heat was similar to the first heat with Keller working through the field to take the win, Marian coming home ahead of Filippi and Geahry. In the Main, Keller was on Pole with Filippi alongside and Marian and Gaudreau in the second row. At the drop of the green, Keller and Marian hooked up and the chase was on for the top spot and they pulled away from the rest of the field. Gaudreau and Geahry also had a race long battle for 3rd and the IAME TaG class win. At the end of the fifteen lap Main, Keller had a three second lead to take the win while Marian took 2nd and the Junior Tag win. Gaudreau held off Geahry to take 3rd and the spec gear IAME class win.
80 Masters
With business trips taking a couple of the regulars out of the picture for this event, five karts ran in this race. Bob Lesnett took the pole ahead of Steve Peterson and Roger Cornwall. In the first heat, Lesnett took the early lead and was never challenged. Cornwall and Petersen battled hard the whole way until contact spun them both allowing Provo to take 2nd. In the second heat, again Lesnett had the Standing Start down perfectly and took the lead with Peterson taking 2nd ahead of Cornwall. In the Main, Lesnett prevailed again as the fastest, taking a dominate two second win. Cornwall got by Peterson to take a strong second with Peterson 3rd and Steve Cameron 4th.
Stock Honda Masters
The Honda Masters and Pro Stock Honda classes have been a combined race for the first three races, but with the total now up to twenty karts, officials and most drivers decided to split the classes for this event. The new format produced great races with exciting battles in both classes. In the Master's class, David Arnstein took the pole ahead of Jim Inglebright, Nick Galante and Jim Kidd. In the first heat, Inglebright got a great start and looked to lead the pack into the first turn, Arnstein held the inside line and drove down deep into the first turn and made contact with Inglebright. The result was Inglebright in the dirt and Arnstein losing three positions. Kidd came out of turn one the leader and did not give it up to take the win ahead of Galante, Alex Keith and Arnstein. An official ruling moved Arnstein to 9th due to the turn one contact. In the second heat, Inglebright took the lead out of turn one with Arnstein getting away a bit late and Kidd and Galante also beating him to turn one. The race didn't produce any more action after that, thus Inglebright, Kidd, and Galante were 1-2-3. In the Main, Kidd and Galante shared the front row with Inglebright and Alex Keith in row two. For the third time, Inglebright shot into the lead at the drop of the green flag, followed by Kidd, Galante, Arnstein and Keith in 5th. After fifteen tough laps there was no change in the race order, no one made any mistakes and no one could make a successful move on another.
 | Jim Kidd
(Photo: Jerry Imboden - Kart Art) |
Pro Stock Honda
This event saw a strong turnout of eleven karts in the fast Pro Stock Honda class. Fritz Leesmann took the pole ahead of Daniel Langon, Jason Toft and Troy Diede. Brett Buckwalter did not have a transponder and had to start both heat races from the 11th position. In the first heat, Fritz took the lead at the start and the first four drivers stayed in line to finish, while Buckwalter moved up to 5th place. In the second heat, Toft got the jump on Fritz and lead the eight lap sprint race with Langon 3rd, Buckwalter charging to 4th and Troy Diede 5th. In the Main, Fritz took the lead followed by Toft and Langon with Troy and Cody Diede making great starts to get in front of Buckwalter. Buckwalter had to set up strong passes on the fast Diedes, getting by them both before the end of the fifteen lap Main. Langon shadowed Toft for the entire race distance and at the last turn on lap thirteen he made a hard move to get under Toft to take over 2nd place going to the white flag lap. In the end, Leesmann took a two second win followed by Langon, Toft, Buckwalter, Troy Diede and Cody Diede.
Sanzaru Games NorCal Rotax Challenge:
Junior Rotax
With fifteen karts, this class equaled its largest field of the year. Justin Yanez took the pole ahead of a surging Corrie Hiatt followed by Will Preston and Enzo Prevost. In the first heat, Yanez and Hiatt took the initial 1-2 followed with Michael Avansino working up from the 5th spot to make it a three way battle for the lead. Preston, Annie Breidinger, Prevost and IKF Duffy winner Jaden Conwright all battled in a second group of karts (Corrie Hiatt was a Screaming Eagle winner at the recent IKF Nationals). In the end, Yanez took the win followed by Hiatt, Avansino, Preston and Breidinger. In the second heat, some tight racing at the beginning of the heat mixed up the running order, this made for some great racing. This time, Preston joined the three way battle for the lead with Yanez and Avansino. Hiatt got shuffled back some and had to battle in that second group of drivers from the first heat. In the end, Preston took the win ahead of Avansino followed by Yanez, Prevost and Conwright. In the Main, Yanez was on the pole joined by Preston with Avansino and Hiatt on the second row. At the green, Yanez took the lead with all the drivers falling in their starting order except Prevost who got by Hiatt for 4th. This became a race of running in a fast train, no one having enough to make a pass attempt and "do not make a mistake" was the order of the day. Eventually something had to give and Hiatt put a strong pass on Prevost to take over 4th. Late in the race, Yanez and Preston pulled away from the pack to duel it out for the win, but Justin did not put a wheel wrong and never gave Will a good look at a passing opportunity. In the end, Yanez took a well-deserved win, Preston a strong 2nd, followed by Avansino, Hiatt and Prevost.
Rotax DD2 and DD2 Masters
There were only four karts in the field but they were all very talented racers. Michael Ostrowski took the pole ahead of Andrew Colombini and Masters David Palic. Fritz Leesmann opted to just run the Main since he was running three classes on this day. Ostrowski took the lead at the drop of the green in heat one and took a convincing win over Palic with Colombini dropping out on the last lap. In the second heat, Ostrowski again took the win over Colombini but a post-race tech issue moved him back to 3rd, thus giving the win to Colombini with Palic in 2nd. In the Main Leesmann joined the field starting in the 4th position. At the drop of the green, Ostrowski took the lead from the pole followed by Colombini, Palic and Fritz. Fritz took his time getting first by Palic then by Colombini and set out to try and catch Ostrowski. With Fritz turning faster laps than Michael, it was just a matter of time before the two would be battling for the lead. On lap twelve, Fritz caught Ostrowski and made an inside pass on the first infield hairpin. Ostrowski was then attempting a counter move at the next corner when the two touched and got tangled up. Michael was able to get moving again and drove away in the lead, Fritz was not able to restart the kart and had to sit out the rest of the race. In the end, Ostrowski took the win seven seconds clear of Colombini with Palic taking 3rd.
 | Cody Hodgson
(Photo: Jerry Imboden - Kart Art) |
Rotax Micro Max and KPV1
The Micro Max class started out with two karts back in early April, but now the class has grown to six drivers, all new drivers and all learning and improving. The lone KPV1 was Matteo Sandoval who's Mini-Max kart had a problem during Saturday practice and they opted to run him in the KPV1 kart on Sunday. In the Qualifying, Matteo was on pole followed by his brother Gino (making his first Micro Max start), Ethan Tavares, Max Ellgen, Dakota White, Valdemar Eriksen and Sofie Eriksen (also making her debut). The first heat did not see any change in the order at the checked flag for the first four drivers with Matteo taking the win, Gino 2nd, Ethan 3rd, Max 4th and Valdemar Eriksen coming home 5th. In the second heat, again Matteo took the win in his KPV1 kart followed by Gino who took the Micro Max win, Max Ellgen, Tavares and Eriksen rounded out the top five. In the Main, Matteo took the lead at the drop of the green followed by Gino, Max and Ethan. The young drivers had to endure the long fifteen lap race and in the end, Matteo Sandoval came home the overall winner, Gino Sandoval 2nd as the Micro-Max class winner, followed by Max Ellgen, Ethan Tavares, Dakota White, Valdimar and Sofie Eriksen.
Senior Rotax
The strong field had most of the same faces from previous races but joining them this race was Fritz Leesmann and Andrew Wiener from San Diego, both needing punches to get qualified for the upcoming Rotax Grands. In Qualifying, David Harwin took the pole ahead of Carlos Calderon with last month's winner Jordan Jadallah in 3rd and Weiner coming home 4th. Andrew Colombini, Fritz Leesmann and Cody Hodgson got no times and would all have to start from the rear in the heats. In the first heat, Harwin took the lead at the start with Calderon and Jadallah right behind. These three looked to be checking out when Jordan got under Carlos hard to take over 2nd. Jordan then made a pass attempt on Harwin that resulted in contact with Harwin allowing Carlos to take the lead. A lap latter, Jadallah tried an inside pass on Carlos in the first hairpin and ended up driving over Calderon's front tire. Now the leaders are Sean McDonald, Weiner and Brody Zink, with the top three Qualifiers a long way back. In end, the win went to McDonald, with Weiner 2nd, Zink 3rd, Hodgson 4th, Harwin 7th, Calderon 8th and Jadallah moved to the back of the pack for his passing miscues. The second heat was a little less exciting, but it did produce some drama at the end. Calderon had to sit out the heat while he was straightening his chassis. This allowed Harwin, Jadallah and McDonald to battle for the lead. In the end, Jadallah took the win only to have problems in post-race tech. Thus the win went to Harwin, McDonald 2nd, Wiener 3rd and Hodgson 4th.
In the Main, Calderon and Leesmann joined the field again. McDonald was on pole with Wiener alongside; row two was Harwin and Zink. The remaining order was Hodgson, Calderon, Jadallah and Leesmann. McDonald, Harwin, Weiner and Hodgson immediately started a four kart battle that would last the entire race. Zink and Colombini battled for 5th but Brody faded by the end. Colombini held on close to the leading group and was joined in the last half of the race by Leesmann and Calderon. A spirited battle for 5th ensued. With three laps to go Wiener took over the lead followed by Hodgson in 2nd, with two laps to go Hodgson got under Wiener to take the lead for the first time. McDonald and Harwin took advantage of Wiener losing some of his momentum and both got by on the inside in the next turn to take over the podium positions. At the checked, Hodgson took the win, McDonald 2nd, Harwin 3rd, Wiener 4th, Leesmann 5th (plus fastest lap of the race), Calderon 6th and Colombini 7th in his most competitive drive at Simraceway.
The winners of the classes with more than eight entries were Justin Yanez, Cody Hodgson, Jim Inglebright, Fritz Leesmann and Rob Soares. These drivers winning the $100 prize from series sponsors Sanzaru Games and Molecule for their great performances.
The next race in the RLOKC will be on July 22 when the track configuration will be the National Track layout. The GoPro featured class will be 80 Masters. For more information about the Red Line Oil Karting Championship's Northern California Rotax Challenge, go to http://www.redlineoilkarting.com or http://www.CameronKarting.com .You may also email race promoter Steve Cameron Steve@CameronKarting.com |
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