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| May 01, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: WKA Manufacturer’s Cup Series - South Bend Preview |
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It has been roughly 120 days since the World Karting Association George Kugler/Bridgestone Manufacturer’s Cup Series driven by Mazda was in action. Back in December, the series kicked off the 2009 season at the Margay Racing Products Nationals during the Daytona KartWeek. This weekend, the teams and drivers will be competing at the much anticipated MRP Speed School Nationals at the Michiana Raceway Park in South Bend, Indiana.
The last time the series visited the 7/10-mile circuit was in May 2007. If the numbers from the WKA Great Lakes Sprint Series regional event a few weeks back is any indication of is what to come this weekend, the event should be one of the biggest at the track for the series.
New for the series at the MRP event was the introduction of open practice on Thursday. Though rain hampered most of the on-track action (with some drivers taking advantage of the wet course practice), most of the day was spent by those in attendance setting up for the weekend as the weather looks to be clear of any precipitation.
Another new component will be the introduction of the local option classes. This program will be offered at MRP and New Castle with the remainder of the schedule not yet confirmed. This weekend, MRP will be hosting the Rotax Junior and Mini Max divisions as the local option race to take place following Friday’s practice. At the New Castle event, the local option classes will be announced at a future date.
One class that has been added to the national class list for the remainder of the season will be the Yamaha Sportsman Heavy division for drivers 8 to 12-years old on Saturday. The class will help offer a place for those competitors that run in the Sunday Yamaha Sportsman division or those looking for another option on Saturday.
 | | Michiana Raceway Park |
One of the big stories from the opening round in Daytona was the TaG division, which was dominated by Australian David Sera. With his absence along with Canadian Marco Di Leo and Californian Wesley Phillips, the event will be wide open to a number of challengers. It is expected that the Rotax engine, just like in Daytona, will be the popular choice for the front-runners. Those answers will be found out during Friday’s practice session and qualifying on Saturday morning.
In the other Senior categories, tight racing is expected with the tight confines of the MRP circuit. The SuperCan divisions are expected to have some last lap action along with the HPV Lite and Heavy categories.
The Junior categories however are poised to have the largest numbers of the weekend with all four championship leaders on hand. Robert Bujdoso and Shawn Sharkey currently lead the HPV Jr. Lite and Heavy divisions while Nick Neri and Dakota Pesek are on top of the Yamaha Jr. Lite and Heavy categories following their wins in Daytona. They will be chased by a number of competitors looking to put their names in the mix for the championships.
The Sportsman divisions will be chasing just two drivers - Kyle Kalish and Santino Ferrucci. Kalish took home both Cadet Jr. Sportsman feature wins to score maximum points in Daytona while Ferrucci won HPV and Yamaha Sportsman features to lead their championship chases.
eKartingNews.com will have complete coverage of the event. Forum updates in the Official Discussion Thread - including the top-10 after each session on track Saturday and Sunday, photos, results and daily reports will be available all weekend long. |
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