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| November 28, 2008 News |
| Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals: Qualifying and Heat Race Report |
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After hitting the track for the first time on Wednesday, the US and Canadian teams attending this year’s Rotax Grand Finals headed into the official qualifying sessions on Thursday in La Conca, Italy. They proceeded to begin the wheel-to-wheel competition on Friday with the running of the first two rounds of heats. Weather most certainly played a factor, as while the track was dry on Thursday, rain came overnight, greeting the competitors with a wet track for warm-up and a damp circuit for the opening round of heats. The rain returned after the lunch break, bringing a new challenge to the international field, giving those with rain prowess the chance to make some noise in the standings.
DD2
Reigning DD2 world champion and Team Canada member Pier-Luc Ouellette let it be known that he was gunning to repeat his ’07 performance as he put his kart on the pole with a run of 48.222 in qualifying, nipping Maik Barten of the Netherlands by just 0.006 seconds. Germany’s Denis Thum was third while Leeroy Poulter (South Africa) and Mirco Rossi (Italy) capped the fast-five. Florida Winter Tour champion Stuart Marsell was the next fastest North American, turning a 48.588 to edge Canadian Christophe Boisclair for ninth. Boisclair was tenth. Saskatchewan’s Scott Campbell is no stranger to the Grand Final and he was right in the thick of things as well, running within 0.05 seconds of Marsell to sit 11th. Las Vegas pilot Curtis Cooksey was not far back in 13th, putting five North Americans in the top-15. Darren White (Canada) and Ryan Fowler (USA) were next in line, well down the order in 44th and 45th, while Andres Lopez (USA) and American Masters champion Marc Miller were close behind them in 47th and 51st, respectively. In the past, the U.S. Masters champion has run in the SeniorMax category, but this year, they elected to put the title winner in DD2 as the sub-title of top Masters driver will no longer be declared. Capping the US listing, Nathan Mauel sat 55th in the 71-kart field. All in all, it was a fair solid showing for the North American contingent.
The first DD2 heat races pitted Group A against Group B, and New Zealand’s Ryan Urban bested Ouellette for the win in the 12-lap sprint, the times just less than a second off the qualifying pace. Ouellette turned the fastest time in the great race but came home just 0.149 seconds behind Urban at the checker. Marsell started on the inside of row three but fell back to ninth in the race, missing the gearing slightly, still posting a good finish. Boisclair was quick early but began to fade in the second half of the race, eventually getting a 10-second time penalty for passing under the yellow, which dropped him to 18th. Fowler would finish right behind him in the standings in 19th, while a disappointed Cooksey retired after just three laps with a dead battery.
Campbell logged the best result in the C vs. D heat, finishing seventh in the order after starting on the inside of the third row. Miller got a good start and fought his way up to 14th for a time but he was driven off into the grass and was forced into a good recovery that left him 18th in the final tally. White, Lopez and Mauel were also in this heat, with White taking 14th, Lopez 26th after being held up early, and Mauel in 28th.
Ouellette returned to form in the very wet A vs. C heat race, winning by almost a second over Latvia’s Henrijs Grube after losing the point early. Ouellette would re-take the lead with just two laps remaining to avoid adding any more points to his total. Ireland’s James Kumulty completed the top-three. All four American drivers would compete in this race. Cooksey hit the rain set-up perfectly and steered his entry to a strong comeback seventh after an early-race spin, drastically repairing his Heat #1 DNF. Marsell fought hard in the rain to finish 14th after an skirmish early in the event that also collected Mauel, while Fowler and Miller each benefitted from both great starts and the ensuing mayhem to cross the line together in 15th and 16th. Lopez was punted off by another competitor once again and finished up in 26th. Campbell battled through a pair of on-track excursions to take 18th place points.
In the final DD2 heat race of the day, Group B versus Group D, France’s Damien Vuillaume scored a 0.090-second win over Barten, who again looked strong. Boisclair was the top Canadian in eighth while White showed promise with a run to 11th.
In the unofficial point calculations following the first two rounds of heats, Ouellette currently sits second in the order behind Vuillaume, who won both of his heats after qualifying eighth. Canada looks good with all four drivers sitting in main event transfer positions with Campbell (21st), White (23rd) and Boisclair (24th) having running consistently in the changing conditions. The top Americans are Fowler and Miller, both tied for 31st and seven points out of the top-26. Cooksey has a great chance to get a good starting position in the LCQ as he now sits 39th with 41 points, as another top-10 would put him just outside the bubble position. Lopez and Mauel are currently tied for 54th with 52 points and will have to get aggressive on Saturday morning if they want any shot at running in the finals.
DD2 Results:
Qualifying
Round 1 Heats
Round 2 Heats
Senior
Former Rock Island Grand Prix winner Martin Pierce topped the qualifying sessions in the Senior category as the 32 year-old Brit laid down a lap of 49.133 seconds to top the 73-kart field. Rick De Donno (Italy) and Ben Cooper (UK) completed the top-three, while Grand Finals veteran Wes Phillips was the quickest American in 17th with a 49.559, just over four tenths off the fast time. Oregon’s Philip Arscott was just 0.006 seconds behind Philips, but the extreme competitiveness of the field would drop him to 20th, still a strong showing to begin his first Grand Final experience. Garrison Masters and Arie Ouimet were separated by just 0.023 seconds in 30th and 31st, respectively, about sixth tenths behind Pierce. California’s Clayton Snow would get just two laps in his session when he de-beaded one of his tires. This unfortunate development will certainly put him behind the eight ball heading into the heat races.
The Canadian contingent had an even rougher time of it as Marc Arsenault was the top qualifier in 50th position. Olivier Sirois was 55th while Alexandre Laboissonniere timed in 61st.
Experience is extremely valuable at the Grand Finals and Phillips certainly has it, showing his prowess in the damp A vs. B heat race to kick things off for the Seniors, logging a solid fifth place result, his best start in any of his past events. France’s Morgan Riche won the race and finished over seven seconds ahead of Phillips, who was three tenths slower in the fast lap department. Regardless of the pace, a top-five finish will put Phillips in a position to make a run at the race win come Saturday. Garrison Masters was looking good in the opening battle before he was unceremoniously shuffled off track, eventually clawing back to finish 23rd. Arsenault led team Canada in this race with a 22nd place finish, while Laboissonniere was 28th.
Ben Cooper maintained his position up front in the C vs. D heat, winning by 1.691 seconds over Japan’s Sitaro Mimura. Arscott was the top American in 14th while Snow scrapped his way up to an impressive 24th after starting at the absolute tail of the field. The issues in qualifying will make things tough on the NorCal hotshoe, but he will relish this challenge and could still fight his way into the main should be continue this type of strong progression. Olivier Sirois was the lone Canadian in the race, finishing in 22nd at the checker.
Cooper’s stellar run continued in the A vs. C scrap as the UK pilot won the head-to-head battle with Pierce, the top qualifier. Pierce actually dropped to fourth in the final order, finishing behind Riche and fellow Brit Chris Lock. The race was a bit of a crapshoot as the rain arrived while the drivers were on the grid, and they were only given enough time to change tires, not their set-ups. In this situation, Sirois had a much better run to finish as the top North American in 17th, just ahead of Mexican Rudy Camarillo in 18th and Phillips in 19th. Ouimet dropped to 27th in the event while Laboissonniere carded a 30th place result after advancing into the top-20, only to drop back after mid-race contact.
Capping the Senior racing for the day, the Americas turned in strong runs in full wet conditions to keep things interesting. Arscott improved by running in the top-10, finishing up with a ninth place result, while Snow was once again the driver to watch, slipping and sliding through to 22nd. After a difficult start, Snow continues to move forward and starting anywhere in front of him in the final heat race of the weekend would not be a good place to be. A similar result will push Snow closer to the front of the grid for the Last Chance Qualifier and I wouldn’t bet against him finding what he needed to get into the show. Masters ended up in 24th, while Canada’s Arsenault turned in a stellar effort to sit 11th after starting way back in 25th.
In the point standings, Arscott is the top North American in 18th with 23 markers, while Phillips sits pretty with 24 points. The top-26 are just three points back of Phillips, as it's extremely close in SeniorMax. Masters is part of that group, currently on the bubble with two other drivers. Masters has a spot in straight into the Prefinal, but he’ll need a good top-10 run on Sunday morning. Arsenault is right there in 32nd, just six points out of the transfer position. Canada’s Sirois is 42nd while Snow has recovered to 46th with 46 points, and he will be aiming for a top-20 result in Heat #3 to put him as close to the front of the LCQ as possible. Just six drivers will qualify into the Prefinal from the Repechage. Laboissonniere and Ouimet, the US champ, both encountered horrible luck and will need miraculous Heat #3 and LCQ performances to keep their main event dreams alive.
Senior Results:
Qualifying
Round 1 Heats
Round 2 Heats
Junior
In the Junior Max category, Jesus Rios Jr. lead the USA contingent in qualifying, posting a 51.043-second lap that would slot him into 17th in the order, just ahead of Canada’s Philip Orcic in 19th. The fastest time was set by Belgium’s Dylan Lahaye with a 50.697, which gave him a 0.076-second advantage over Axcil Jeffries from South Africa. The UK’s Jo Riley was third ahead of Vincent Jewell (Belgium) and Matthais Baurle (Germany). California’s Justin Coplen turned a 51.156 to sit 25th while Arizona’s Phil De LaO was 28th with a 51.183, just ahead of Canadians Tyler Wheeler and Steve Szigeti. Kevin King (Canada) was 35th while Taylor Miinch was 42nd, posting a 51.382-second lap that was less than seven tenths off the pole time.
In the opening heat race – Group A versus Group B – Rios powered up from his seventh place starting position to earn an impressive fourth, beginning his day on a positive note. An early-race pile-up collected a few drivers, including several of the North Americans. Coplen recovered well and finished up with a 15th place results while Miinch was 26th. In the Canadian camp, Wheeler was involved and followed Coplen to 16th as Szigeti was unable to advance and carded a tough 28th.
The Group C-D battle got off to a rough start when an opening lap accident included a wreck between DeLaO and Orcic. DeLaO ended up going over, thankfully uninjured, but both drivers would be out of the race. King struggled with his engine on the pace laps, but benefitted from the red flag to come back to tenth in the final tally.
When the second round of heats got underway, Rios Jr. continued his strong run in the A vs. C dice, posting yet another top-five finish to keep his name in the hunt for the main event win. Rio finished just 3.15 seconds behind the racewinner, the UK’s Jo Riley. Coplen enjoyed a much better run, remaining in the top-10 with a strong eighth place result. The Canadian drivers were not so lucky as both King and Orcic had issues, finishing 27th and 35, respectively. Orcic had been running in the top-10 before the mechanical gremlins struck.
When Groups B and D faced off to wrap up the Junior portion of Friday’s schedule, DeLaO would enter the race knowing that he would need to attack with his round one DNF crushing his chances of getting straight into the main event. The young Stars of Karting JICA Western Division champion turned in a consistent effort, posting a 15th place result. On the other side of the battle, Miinch continued to struggle, posting a 31st place result. Canada’s Szigeti struggling with the extensive traffic and was official classified in 27th following the eight-lap sprint.
At the end of Friday’s action, Rios Jr. enjoys the best North American position next to Ouellette’s DD2 success. Rios is sixth in the order with just nine points, all but assuring him a straight shot in the Prefinal. Coplen has been solid as well, and despite his involvement in that turn one melee, he sits tied for 17th in the order with Wheeler with 23 points. King is now 39th, but he is only nine points from the transfer spot, while DeLaO finds himself back in 52nd after his round one DNF. Szigeti is equally mired; sitting in 59th place while nothing has gone right for Orcic, who brings up the tail of the standings thanks to his two DNFs. Orcic still has the speed to move to the front, and while it would be a long shot, a top-10 run in the final heat race would give him the chance to attack the LCQ field in search of that all-important sixth place finish.
Junior Results:
Qualifying
Round 1 Heats
Round 2 Heats
Looking Forward
The drivers will be back on track on Saturday morning for the final heat race round, before heading in the LCQ, the Prefinals and the main event. The event features live timing, which can be accessed via http://www.kart-data.de/LT08/RGF |
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