Second Event in the Books for ROK Sonoma Presented by Sanzaru
Some weekends drivers just seem to have it all together. Everything falls their way and things can’t go wrong. At the second round of ROK Sonoma Presented by Sanzaru, this is exactly what happened for Christian Cameron and Hunter Pickett as they dominated their respective classes sweeping every official on track session. With close wheel-to-wheel battles throughout almost every class, a few break away performances were highlighted by some good, close, hard but clean racing action.
80 Masters & 125 Limited
Steven Piggott topped the time charts in 125cc LTD qualifying but could not maintain his presence at the front of the field by the time the final checkered flag had flown. Though he went on to claim both heat race wins, Piggott dropped to second in the main event as Stephan Gaudreau was able to sneak by for the win. Piggott managed to hang on to the second position, just ahead of Andrew Wait who found his way to the podium. Dee Baldwin and Greg Hoff were able to cross the stripe in fourth and fifth to earn top-five results.
Tom Nelson dominated the 80cc Masters class sweeping the day’s on track results. Scoring the pole position, two heat race wins and main event victory, Nelson also bagged the fastest race lap as he outpaced second and third place finishers Dave Holstein and Geoffrey Provo.
Junior 100cc / Senior 100cc
It was all Christian Cameron in the Junior 100cc class as he continued where he left off from round one. Earning the pole position, Cameron went on to take each and every checkered flag on the day to sweep the Junior 100cc action. Alex Rantala pushed him every lap of every session to finish a scant .093 in arrears as Anthony White found his way to the podium in third. Valen Venkatesh scored a top-five result in fourth with Max Altman rounding out the top-five. Christian also secured the fastest lap of the main event at a 52.067.
In Senior 100cc, earning the pole position and main event win was all Ayrton Littel was shooting for, and he did just that. Not the fastest kart in the main event but one of the most consistent, Littel took advantage of Eddie Shimmon’s penalty to top the podium blocks. While Shimmon was the first to the checkered flag, a two-position penalty dropped him to P3 giving Little the win and elevating Christopher Martin to a second place finish. William D’Elia was able to secure a fourth-place result as James Monaco rounded out the top-five.
Mini ROK & Micro ROK
It was the Walz show in Mini ROK as brothers Devin and Drew battled at the front of the field. Qualifying first and second earlier in the day, it was Devin who got the last laugh taking the top step of the podium following the main event. Michael McGaughy was able to level up to second by the end of the day as Drew Walz put a pair of Walz family members on the Mini ROK podium with a third-place effort. In Micro ROK, Mateo Calderon would show his pace early scoring the pole position, but it was Landon Cordero-Dolph who earned the day’s main event victory.
Master ROK & Senior ROK
Similar to what Cameron did in the Junior 100cc ranks, Georgios Georgiou swept the Master ROK festivities during round two. Setting a time that was quick enough to secure the pole position, Georgiou claimed two heat race wins and the main event victory in dominating fashion. Finishing 9.206 ahead of his closest rival over the 18-lap final, Georgiou secured the fastest lap of the race by more than six tenths of a second. David Palic was the best of the rest in second as he narrowly edged Hunter Hagenbuch for the second step of the podium. Daniel Jones and Arul Vankatesh secured top-five results in fourth and fifth. Sarah Densham was the Senior ROK race winner.
Master ROK Shifter& Pro ROK Shifter
Nick George would score the Master ROK Shifter pole position only to fall to second behind Patrick O’Neil in the first of two heat races. George rebounded in heat race two to take the win, but the spot swapped again with O’Neil claiming the checkered flag when it counted in the day’s main event. Travis Bowles, who was third for the majority of the day, kept his nose clean and kart on track to finish second as George’s day ended with a third-place podium result.
Hunter Pickett dominated the Pro ROK Shifter category earning the first position and fastest race lap in every official session. Pole position, heat race victories with fastest laps as well as the main event win and fast lap honors, Pickett showed that he is here to fight for the title. Cole Shade finished nearly six seconds behind Pickett on the second step of the podium as he edged out Aidan O’Neill. Ryan Martin showed great pace earning the second fastest lap of the race to finish fourth while Kevin Woods rounded out the top-five in fifth.
The next event in the ROK Sonoma Presented by Sanzaru will be May 15-16 as ROKKERS will compete once again on a yet to be announced layout at Sonoma Raceway. Be sure to login to the Kart Pass App and get registered today!
For more information, visit ROK Sonoma Presented by Sanzaru online via their Facebook page by searching ROK Sonoma or at their website www.sanzarukarting.com. The ROK Cup USA ROK Fest Wets event will take place this coming weekend and if you are not participating, ROK Sonoma officials would like to invite you trackside to take in the action and plan for the 2021 edition of the event.
