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| Features |
| EKN Championship Spotlight: Victor Cabrera Jr. |
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 | Victor Cabrera Jr. became the first Puerto Rican to win a Stars of Karting National Championship
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Over the last few years, the American karting scene has enjoyed an influx of foreign drivers competing at tracks across the country. Nations like Mexico, Great Britain and Italy, among others, have been represented at different national and regional events throughout the years. One area that has seen a strong growth in karting is the United States territory of Puerto Rico. A number of drivers have made the transition from karting on the island to the mainland, showing extremely well in the process. This year, Victor Cabrera Jr. became the first-ever Puerto Rican to earn a Stars of Karting national championship, winning the title in the Stars TaG division with J3 Competition.
Cabrera’s story is not that different from many of our most talented young drivers, showing natural talent from his very first exposure to the sport. Cabrera took his first laps in a kart toward the end of the 2001 season. From the moment he hit the track, his father Victor remembers getting the attention of everybody at the facility. “His first time in a kart was great,” remembers the senior Cabrera. “With no previous experience, he was simply fast.”
In 2002, young Victor began racing officially at the local track at Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico, running in the Cadet class with his father as his mechanic. The father/son duo racked up the Cadet Endurance championship and he was vice-champion in the regular title standings. The following year, he repeated as vice-champion in the Puerto Rican Cadet championship. In 2004, Cabrera made the jump to the TaG Junior category, running aboard a Birel/Rotax package, where he would earn the championship crown in his first year. Cabrera’s talent was beginning to emerge. That same year, he participated in the Caribbean Rotax Max Challenge program, where he earned the Junior title and a trip to the Rotax Grand Finals in Malaysia. Unfortunately, because of school commitments, he was unable to attend the event. Due to an injury in 2005, he competed in only a few TaG Junior races during that time.
 | Cabrera has been very successful karting in Puerto Rico, pictured here on the podium with freind Chemill Mercado
(Photo: V. Cabrera) |
That same year, two of Victor’s friends and closets rivals on the island - Richard Benitez and Chemill Mercado – traveled to the United States to compete in the Stars of Karting series in the Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) division. At the end of the season, a now-healthy Cabrera made his United States debut at the Stars of Karting National Finals in Austin, Texas. In the scheduled-capping event, he finished 17th against the top Junior pilots in North America. It was a taste of competition that fueled increased desire for the challenge that is offered in the Stars program.
Cabrera returned to the States during the ‘winter’ months to participate in the Florida Winter Tour in 2006, competing in JICA against many of the same Stars of Karting drivers that he would face in the upcoming season. In Florida, he claimed one victory and was vice-champion in his first visit to the ‘Tour’. This performance was followed by an up-and-down Stars season with two runner-up finishes at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway event representing his best outing, as he ended the year 15th in the championship standings.
Advancing up to the Senior category in 2007, Cabrera moved to the Intercontinental A (ICA) division, the natural progression from JICA. Beginning again with the Florida Winter Tour, he continued to develop his talents as he earned one victory and the runner-up in the championship standings in his J3 Kosmic. He continued that momentum to go on to earn his first Stars of Karting victory at the USA International Raceway later in the year, eventually finishing seventh in the Eastern Division standings and 10th in the overall championship.
 | Cabrera's first taste of the podium in Stars came in 2006 in the JICA category in Charlotte
(Photo: EKN) |
Cabrera, like many other ICA drivers, transferred over to the TaG division for the 2008 season when the class finally fell out of favor and was dropped from the Stars class structure. As he did in the previous winter months, Cabrera earned another vice-championship at the Florida Winter Tour, again using the series as a tune-up for his Stars of Karting campaign. With four victories in the FWT Spec Racer division, Cabrera came just short of the championship, but he still put himself among the favorites heading into the national championship chase.
Campaigning the Eastern Division of the Stars of Karting TaG category this past season, Cabrera began his title run at Ocala Gran Prix facility in April, where he also had won a pair of FWT races. Battling issues in qualifying, he was forced to start 20th in all three heat races and a single bad heat finish put him 18th on the grid for the two finals. The weather wreaked havoc at the season opener, offering up both a dry and a wet final, and Cabrera advanced well into the top-10 in both races, finishing fourth and seventh to salvage what could have been a championship-ending weekend at the first event of the year.
The team then moved on to the Mazda Race of the Americas at New Castle Motorsports Park in May, where Cabrera dominated right out of the trailer, taking top honors in qualifying before winning both his heats to start the finals on the pole position. The rest of the lead group caught up to Cabrera’s speed by the time the finals rolled around and he was forced to battle hard in the first feature, just missing the podium in fourth. The second feature would go as planned, as the young pilot jumped out to the early lead before pulling away to his first Stars win of the year.
 | Cabrera's J3 Competition Kosmic-Rok TT was seen up front throughout the 2008 season
(Photo: On Track Pormotions - otp.ca) |
Using the motivation gained from that first win, Cabrera turned in a perfect weekend in Wisconsin to wrap-up the Eastern Division championship at the USA International Raceway in July. Cabrera and his J3 Competition Kosmic/Rok TT was at the top of the charts all weekend for a sweep of the action to clinch the Eastern crown, sending him off to National Finals in Las Vegas with the overall point lead.
With a 40-point advantage, there was room for some mistakes in Vegas, however, the racing gods stepped in to make things tough on Cabrera. After a eighth in both qualifying and the opening heat race, the final two heat races ended with a ride back to the paddock on the recovery vehicle. Starting sixteenth in both mains as a result, Cabrera battled back in the two finals to post a pair of top-10 finishes that allowed him to clinch the national championship by 67 points.
“Victor is a really, really good kid,” stated J3 Competition Team Manager Justin Stefani. “In his first race with us, he really surprised the crew and we thought - wow, this kid has what it takes. In 2006 at the Stars New Castle event, Victor destroyed two chassis and failed to qualify, but he rebounded at the next race in Charlotte to finish second twice, which shows the perseverance that Victor has. He also has big supporters in his family. At any given race, there are four to six family members who travel from Puerto Rico to support Victor. He always has the desire to win and be the fastest, bringing high expectations and team work to our tent.”
Cabrera’s future in motorsports is currently in the planning stages as he is working on a few opportunities that could move him up the motorsports ladder or possible one more year of karting. Off the track, Cabrera is a senior in high school at the Academia Del Perpetuo Socorro. He is a good student and a good athlete, playing on his school’s varsity soccer team (both indoor and outdoor). Victor is looking at going to college to continue his athletics and study either medicine or law. |
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