Stars of Karting -- Race of the Americas --
Saturday Report
April 15, 2007
Much to the delight of all
in Norman, expected rains and snow held off yesterday as the Snap-on Stars of
Karting National Championship took to the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex track for
official Gatorz Pole Qualifying and three rounds of heat races. Each driver had
two heats, and the fields are nearly set for the 2007 Mazda Race of the
Americas. With heat race points being tallied, the low 34 in each field are
assured of a start in the main event while the remaining contenders will take to
a repechage round today with just two transfer spots available. Thirty-four
Canadians are breathing easy early in the day while a few will have to race
their way in.
ICC
All eight Canadians in headlining ICC have earned
a pass via the direct route with Cameron Motorsports lead shoe Michael Vincec (CRG/Swedetech
TM), tallying the low total with just seven points. After crossing fourth and
third running from group C, Mikey-V was actually tied for third on the grid with
three others, but fell to sixth when the tiebreaker was applied, that being
Gatorz Pole Qualifying position where he was ninth. As it stands Sunday morning,
defending National Champion Gary Carlton (CRG/Swedetech Maxter) is on pole for
PCH Motorsports after dominating his heats to the form of four and five second
wins respectively. Wunderbar Racing’s Fritz Leesman (CRG/Swedetech TM) is
off-pole after an impressive day as well. Second to Carlton in the first heat
where he matched a 43.0 quick lap, Leesman then won his second heat to earn his
front row spot. Tied with Vincec at seven were Florida Winter Tour Champion
David Jurca (Italkart/Italian Motors TM); Matt Jaskol (Top Kart/DDR TM); and
Nicholas Halen (CRG/Swedetech Maxter).
Vincec set a trend for Canadians in ICC in that
all eight in the field bettered their positions from timed qualifying through
heat racing. Lorenzo Mandarino (GP/DDR TM) went from 16th to 11th after runs to
sixth and eleventh while Pier-Luc Ouellette (Arrow/SRA TM) heads a trio of
Canucks in the mid-pack. The National Rotax DD2 Champion will start from P15
this afternoon after taking a tie-break from Philippe Gelinas (Birel/SRA TM).
The pair were tied at 22 points while Curtis Fox (CRG/Swedetech TM) is directly
behind after scoring 24 points from his first two starts with Cameron
Motorsports. Third CMI driver Gianmarco Raimondo is also in on a direct pass and
will line up 23rd, as is Italian Motors’ Don McGregor who came from outside
the top 34 in qualifying to sit 28th on the main event grid. Left reeling after
the Gatorz Pole session in the morning was Jordy Vorrath (Intrepid/Champion TM).
Looking to get his campaign off to a solid start after missing the event last
year with an injury, the Western star made just one lap in qualifying before a
stuck motor left him trackside. Starting from the back twice, Vorrath managed to
earn a direct pass but will be 31st when the karts line up this afternoon.
ICA
As if the premiere direct-drive class didn’t
have enough unpredictability and drama, a new twist was added in morning
qualifying as fuel problems led to ekartingnews.com National #1 and #2 drivers
Joel Miller (Tony Kart) and Chris Larson (Birel) failing to put down a quick
lap. Canadian Colby Jenn (Intrepid) looked to be meeting the same fate, but was
able to grind through the problem and turn quick laps at the end of Gatorz Pole
session, laps quick enough for tenth overall and just one spot back of fellow
Canadian Nicholas Tonkin (Birel). On pole today after heat racing is Guillermo
Freile (Tony Kart). Alongside is Jeremy Nelson (Kosmic), while row two has
British star and Intrepid factory driver Scott Jenkins on the inside and Victor
Cabrera Jr. behind his Kosmic teammate.
After sorting fuel concerns and racing to a pair
of fourths, Jenn is looking solid starting from P5 with Tonkin three karts back
in P13 after scoring 15th and 5th from his two heat starts. The pair completed
all laps in the heats, not the case for the majority. The bulk of the ICA
Canadian content sits mid-pack for the main event after scoring heat race totals
in the twenties, many coming from one solid run and a DNF. Michael Hogg (Italkart)
is right on twentieth after rebounding in his second heat; SH Karting’s
Camille Hamel (Tony Kart) is 21st after a strong second run; Tyler Dueck
(Intrepid) in 22nd after DNF in his second start, the same fate as met
Christophe Boisclair (Arrow) who will start 29th. Brody Goble (Birel) also
scored a heat two DNF yet still earned a direct pass in 26th as he begins his
second ICA season. Luke Behnke (CRG) of Genesis Racing earned 32nd in his first
Stars of Karting Start. The only Canadian unfortunate enough to record a double-DNF
was Behnke’s Genesis teammate Kevin Glover. The former Western Champion will
be in the morning repechage starting seventh and looking to run into first or
second in order to advance.
JICA
Nine of ten Canadians in JICA are through to the
main event after Saturday with pslkarting.com young gun Mikael Grenier (CRG)
leading the charge from sixth. The next crop come in close quarters: Tyler
Wheeler (Birel) 10th, David Ostella (CRG) 13th, Brendan Langlois (First Kart)
14th, Scott Rossi (Intrepid) 15th, Connor Carrothers (CRG) 18th and Remo
Ruscitti (Italkart) 20th. Hayden Ritter (Italkart) is also into the main after
the heat racing to 31st and Michael Furfari (Juncos) rebounded from a first heat
DNF to take the next to last direct pass. Just as with teammate Kevin Glover in
ICA, Genesis’ Chad Grunow will take to the second chance race this afternoon
and start from the second row in looking to advance into the main. Gustavo
Menezes (Tony Kart) is on the outright pole this afternoon followed by Sergio
Pena (Gillard), Jose Zanella (CRG), and Jarvis Gennari (Tony Kart).
SPEC Racer
National #2 and defending Western Champion Devon
Sandeen (Intrepid) leads the Canadian charge in Spec Racer for Chilliwack’s
Checkered Flag Racing operation. Sandeen was a controlled fourth and fifth from
his heat starts and will line up on the outside of row two this afternoon.
TrueNorth’s Nick Fairney (CRG) is also inside the top ten after a third and
tenth earned him P7. Sandeen’s teammate Arly Irish (Intrepid) is 16th,
Fairney’s teammate Max Riddle (CRG) is 21st, and Sergio Lanzieri (Arrow) is
also going direct with 32nd from Saturday after rebounding from a DNF in heat
one. Genesis rookie Kris Hoffbeck will be in the repechage, but in prime
position starting from pole position in looking to earn one of two tickets to
the main event. Jared Woolf (Intrepid) is on the Sunday pole with Chris Scribner
(TonyKart) alongside. Sandeen will line up beside Chris Martindale (CRG) on row
two.
Cadet
Three Canadians are among the Cadet field of 39
and all three are through to the main event. Anthony Furfari (Juncos) leads the
way and will start inside the top ten after taking the ninth lowest total from
Saturday. After scoring a 12th in his first heat and turning a 55.7 second lap,
the team righted problems and in his second heat Furfari was fourth with a quick
lap of 55.142 seconds - a lap that would have been good for the Gatorz Pole
Position had it come in the morning. Only Sage Karam (Top Kart) and Grant Vogel
(Intrepid) have turned a quicker lap through the heat races. The
other two Canadians in the field are Cameron Motorsports/CRG teammates Julius Makos and Garett Gristt, and each is assured
of the Sunday main. Makos claimed 15th and 21st in his two heats Saturday to
earn P30 for Sunday afternoon while Grist rebounded from a heat one DQ with 10th
in his second start and will line up P32.
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