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| January 16, 2013 |
| Driver News: McKinney Gives Good Show at Rotax Challenge of the Americas |
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Right off his S5 SKUSA Championship win, Jim McKinney entered this past weekend confident and ready to race.
Throughout Friday timed practice his lap times dropped as he became more comfortable with the D1 Mojo tires and his new KGB kart. By the last session of the day he was third fastest in the highly competitive Junior Max class, close behind Blaine Rocha and Luke Selliken. Junior Max was first up for qualifying on an exceptionally chilly Saturday morning. Having never experienced racing in freezing temperatures before, McKinney achieved an eleventh place starting position for the pre-final, where he made it all the way back to the top five, only to lose out on a position the final lap. McKinney started sixth in the final and came out of turn one clean and in the hunt for a podium finish. Unfortunately, contact with another driver early in the race resulted in a punctured tear, which progressively deflated as the race advanced. But despite a completely flat right-rear tire, he pushed through the remainder of the 25-lap race, placing just outside of the top ten.
Sunday looked to be a better day for the KGB driver, although not any warmer. McKinney qualified fifth, only half a tenth of a second behind the leader. However, he was pushed off the track heading into turn two in the pre-final and had to fight his way up from last place. But fight he did, all the way up to 16th where he started the final. McKinney was prepared for the challenge ahead of him in the main, and was determined to fight through the field. He lost several spots coming out of turn one, but immediately picked them back up and began his descent on the rest of the class. Every lap was another position gained for McKinney, who by the final lap of the race had made it into the top five, set multiple fast laps of the race, and was the only Junior Max driver to have a lap time inside of the 51-second mark.
Although it was not the ideal weekend for McKinney Racing, Jim is very impressed with his new KGB kart and is looking forward to the next ROTAX event at his home track in Phoenix. He would like to thank Joey Guyon of OverDrive MotorSports, Ryan Ruth of Ruthless Karting, Parolin, ROTAX, GMZ Wheels, Bell Helmets, Basic High Safety Tech, Performance Kart Sport, and AMR Racing Graphics.
To learn more about Jim McKinney, contact McKinney Marketing & Management at: mckinneyracing19@gmail.com, like McKinney Racing on Facebook, or follow our Twitter feed @McKinneyRacing. |
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