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| January 11, 2013 |
| EKN Trackside: Rotax Challenge of the Americas - Friday Recap |
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The 2013 season got underway Friday as the Rotax Challenge of the Americas completed a full day of practice around the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. Weather was a challenge as temperatures dropped below normal, dropping below 50 degrees but clear skies gave relief from the bitter wind and cold. Roughly 130 drivers took to the track for five sessions, including an open pit lane session at the end of the day to set the tone for qualifying Saturday morning.
Rolison Performance Group shined in practice, securing the top two spots in both Senior and Junior. CalSpeed winner Parker McKean and former United States Rotax Grand Nationals winner Phillip Arscott piloted their Kosmic machines to the top two positions on the time charts, separated by 36 thousandths of a second. The top-five - including Mason Marotta (FA Kart), Alex Keyes (CRG), and Andrew Zimmer (Energy) - were within two tenths as the top 29 drivers were separated by eight-tenths of a second, Tucson winner Blaine Rocha and last year’s Junior Max vice-champion Luke Selliken paced the Junior field at the end of the day.
The DD2 categories are shaping up to be interesting with a day of practice in the books. Team WRS driver Alan Rudolph (CRG) led the way in the Masters division, clearing the rest of the field by eight tenths. Defending DD2 champ Fritz Leesmann (CRG) was fast, but a dead battery prior to the final session kept him from making a lap as rookie Andrew Evans (Kosmic) put RPG on top of its third class in Pre-Qualifying practice. Diego Pelosi (Tony Kart) and Ken Maxfield (Arrow) led the way in Masters Max, separated by just 73 thousandths of a second. Canadian Griffin Dowler put his Buddy Rice Karting Energy at the top of the Mini Max time sheet, followed by Horatio Fitz-Simon (CRG) just 26 thousandths off Dowler’s fast lap. Liam Letzsch put the KGB P1 in the Micro Max category, filled with a number of drivers making their debut at The Challenge.
eKartingNews.com Live broadcast - http://www.ekartingnews.com/live - begins at 9:35am MST with qualifying and continues the remainder of the day through the Prefinal and Final action. Complete coverage of the opening weekend of the Challenge of the Americas can be found at the EKN Event Page. |
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