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| July 17, 2009 |
| Easykart Central American Championship Heads to El Salvador |
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 | | Competitors of the Easykart Central American Championship |
This weekend marks the second round of the three race 2009 Easykart Central American Championship sponsored by Adrenaline Rush to be held in El Jabali Track in El Salvador.
The inaugural event was held last month in the city of San Salvador in the Central American country of El Salvador. Though Round One was marked by heavy rain it yielded some very exciting racing in all categories. In true international flair, it produced four winners from three different countries. Drivers are competing for the Grand Prizes of all-expenses paid trips to the 2009 Easykart World Finals in Italy in October. The race weekend saw Easykart action in 50cc, 60cc, 125cc Light and 125cc Heavy categories.
Drivers from Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador gathered from Thursday on the Galicia track, located 45 miles west of the capital city of San Salvador. The Galicia racetrack itself was to be a star of the event and was nicknamed the “Gem in the Jungle”, by Easykart International Representative, Rudy Ramsaroop. The very scenic track was built on the grounds of an old coffee plantation and is part of an entertainment park complete with water slids and kids rides. Galicia's owner Alfredo Mena has keep the park in it's natural beauty and has maintained as much trees and greenery as possible creating an ambiance not felt at most North American tracks. The track was upgraded with a new pit area and lined with all the sponsors and advertising banners creating a suitable location to host this International event. The Galicia track has many configurations but for this event the longest was to be used, a bit more than 1.1 km.
Many benefits were given to the visiting racers, as such as free shuttle to and from hotel to track. The Holiday Inn of San Salvador was the host hotel and was also a sponsor thereby allowing very reasonable room rates to all visiting Teams. The cost of the hotel room was included in the registration fee.
With about 50 drivers tackling the race weekend, the action was guaranteed to be hot. The format was a heat race on Saturday and a Prefinal and Final on Sunday. Saturday was run under cool conditions with slightly overcast skies. A prediction for rain on Sunday worried most drivers as more than 90 percent had never driven in the rain conditions. With so much at stake everyone wanted to be at the top of their game.
The intense competition started with the youngest drivers in the Easykart 50cc category From the very beginning, Francisco Kreysa Jr. from El Salvador, and Guatemalan Julian Sandoval, were changing positions at the top of the leaderboard. On Saturday’s heat race, Kreysa and Sandoval, held an exciting fight for first place, with Kreysa being the victor. The third place was a battle between local Andre Muller and Nicolas Saravia from Guatemala.
On Sunday, Kreysa and Sandoval fought while the sprinkles were already falling. Kreysa seemed to adapt very quickly to the damp track. Sandoval was a bit too aggressive at the wheel and spun three times in the hairpins. So the final was easily won by Kreysa. Julian Sandoval was able to keep his second place, with the Third spot going to the very impressive rookie Nicolas Sandoval. Fourth was Andre Muller, and on Fifth was Giulia Vairo from Honduras. Young Kreysa told his dad, Francisco, the Easykart Importer in El Salvador, “Dad this was the best race ever, I love the wet track”.
The Easykart 60 class was one of the most entertaining races to watch all weekend. Local hero, Andy Parras, a Florida Winter Tour participant, was lapping almost a second faster than his competitors thoughout practice. Come qualifying he grabbed the pole. Adrian Saldaña, from Panama secured off-pole. This was to set the tone for a huge battle between these two drivers for the rest of the weekend. Several other drivers were doing a great job, among them was Salvadoreans Jorge Rivera and María Fernanda Aguilar and Guatemalans Ian Rodriguez and Juan Diego Hernández.
Parras and Saldaña held a great duel on Saturday’s heat race, they fought really hard, but Parras superior knowledge of the track ensured the heat win. But Sunday's heavy rain was to prove the great equaliser. Parras and Saldana fought wheel to wheel on the prefinal race. Parras had better speed exiting the hairpins, however, Saldana was able to reel him in at the end of the main straight. Andy once again took the win. Jorge Rivera did an amazing job and held off Maria Fernanda Aguilar to get the podium’s last spot. Maria Fernanda has shown considerable skill in the wet, as at the 2008 USA Easykart Finals she had the fastest wet race lap at Homestead Karting.
The final of the Easykart 60cc class was one to talk about. In wet conditions that resulted in a change in the track configuration these young drivers gave a show that the large crowd found to be absolutely thrilling. The lead duo of Parras and Saldana fought all race long with lead changes every lap. Parras seemed more confident, but Saldana did not gave up and on the last lap went on full attack mode. Two corners from the finish, Adrian dived to the inside of Parras and took the lead and the win. Maria Fernanda Aguilar did a remarkable race to claim the third spot.
In Easykart 125 Light, El Salvador´s Victor Mena held an intense battle with Facundo Casse in the heat race. Casse, an Argentinan living in Guatemala for several years, battled Mena but did not succeed. Mena seemed to have a pre-final victory in sight until the rain started. Mena's carburetor ingested some water and he faltered. Casse was then overtaken by Guatemalans Sebastian Falla and Juan Pablo Glover.
By the Final the rain was very heavy and Falla adapted well to the conditions and turned a truly spectacular performance to take the win. Casse consistency during the weekend got him the second step on the podium . Glover took third place in a great driving skills show.
In the Easykart 125 Heavy was a two man showdown of Salvadoreans Kreysa and Diego Iglesias. Iglesias grabbed the pole position and won the first heat. In the prefinal race Kreysa went deep into the second hairpin and made a fabulous pass and didn’t look back and took the checkered flag first.
The Final was contested in the heaviest rains of the day. Iglesias started aggressively and just on the second lap late braked Kreysa and took the lead. That was the first of numerous position exchanges among the Salvadorean duo. By mid-race it looked like Kreysa would pull away, but Iglesias fought his way to the front despite the adverse conditions. Kreysa took the lead again at the end of the straight under braking and went through sliding over the curbs. The race was decided four laps from the end. Iglesias took a chance on the entrance of the first hairpin and got it right. Kreysa seem at this point to be off pace and Iglesias won a spectacular wet race. Kreysa secured the second place with Pedro Iglesias finishing a very well deserved third place.
This sets the tone for this weekend's shootout in El Jabali Track. This Inaugural Easykart Championship is unprecendented in the region and has already produced winners from three different countries. The Championship has been well recieved and was featured in South American Speed TV this Wednesday.
For more information on the Central American Easykart Championship log into http://www.easykart.com |
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