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| October 09, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: Championship Karting International Grand Championship - Qualifying Report |
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 | With plenty of laps around the OMC circuit, Alex Speed was best in KF2 Qualifying, in search of his second straight feature win
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The five-month old Championship Karting International program began its season finale - the CKI Grand Championship - on Friday at the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex in Norman, OK. Following unofficial practice that saw a large amount of rain fall, Qualifying day began with a wet track that was dry for the Final Practice before the timed session that would line up the six fields for Saturday’s Heat races. The fights for the top spot on the charts were great battles in all the divisions with veteran Alex Speed showing the way in KF2 as Michael Hogg helped his pursuit toward a national championship earning the pole position in IAME Senior. Two Kosmic drivers led things in the Junior fields as Tristan DeGrand was best in KF3 as teammate Alessandra Madrigal was tops in IAME Junior.
KF2
The finale for the KF2 division should certainly be a close affair if qualifying was a preview for what we will see the remainder of the weekend. A number of drivers took their turn at the top of the timing sheet during the 15-minute session. Championship contender Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart) posted a quick lap in the early going, setting the mark for the rest of the field. KF3 graduate Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) adjusted to faster KF2 package and relegated Wehrheim down the order in just his second lap on track. His time was short-lived with championship leader Arie Ouimet (CRG) posting his fast lap to overtake the provisional pole position. That however would be his final lap on the circuit as he pulled off course with steadily rising water temperature. Another new driver to the KF2 program is KZ2 transfer Gregory Liefooghe (Intrepid). Having ran the Oklahoma circuit just weeks ago at the Rotax Grand Nationals, Liefooghe became the first driver to run under the 45-second mark with a 44.944. The pole position however was Alex Speed’s for the taking. Probably one of the most experienced drivers in the field, Speed was up to P2 on his second lap out and was able to post the quickest lap of the session - 44.860 - on his fifth lap before pulling in. Liefooghe will start in the outside row one position for all three heats on Saturday with Menezes able to move up to third in the final stages of the session to put Ouimet back to fourth. Wehrheim fell down to fifth with Will Martindale (Tony Kart) set to start from the sixth position.
 | Looking toward a championship run here at the CKI finale, Canadian Michael Hogg made the right changes to put his Top Kart entry at the front of the IAME Senior field
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
IAME Senior
Just as the KF2 qualifying session was exciting, the IAME Senior group picked up the excitement even more. The early mark was set by Kyle Wiegand as fellow Top Kart drivers Neil McCoy and Michael Hogg - 1-2 in the point standings - joined him in the top three. Things got interesting near the mid-way portion as drivers began jostling around in the order. David Jurca (Italkart) had engine issues early on, keeping him on pit lane until his crew was able to fire up his IAME Parilla Leopard to get him out on track. His out lap once hitting the course put him to P3 in the order, and then to P2 the next time by. Hogg meanwhile spent some time in the pits watching and when he saw Jurca creeping up on his time, he hit the track to post a better lap. After Hogg posted a faster lap, Jurca responded with his quickest to close the margin. Hogg came back with another fast lap with Jurca going quicker, now just three-thousandths of a second off Hogg’s lap. The next time by Hogg pulled in while Jurca was unable to post a faster lap, ducking into the pits the next time by as the session came to a close. Hogg and Jurca, former teammates, will lead the field to green flag in all three heat races Saturday. Local driver Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid) was another driver moving up in the late stages of the race as he slotted himself third in the order, dropping Wiegand to fourth. Remo Ruscitti (Italkart) had some similar issues as Jurca but was able to rejoin the session to post the fifth fastest lap with McCoy moving up to sixth after a brief stint outside the top-10. Neil Alberico (Top Kart), another championship contender, struggled in the session to end up eighth.
Stock Moto
The local option Stock Moto division made its debut with CKI with Nick Lucido (CRG) as the top qualifier with a lap of 44.980. The Texan is a frequent driver at OMC and used his experience to secure the pole position for Saturday’s heat races. Brett Felkins (Intrepid) has had issues with his KF2 program in Norman but came back at the end of the day to score the second spot in qualifying, testing for possible future races in the shifter category. Mike Jones (Zanardi) was third in the order with Jason Lee (Top Kart) set to join him on the second row for the heat races.
 | KF3 point leader Tristan DeGrand was best in the qualifying run to lead the field to green in all three heats on Saturday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
KF3
Point leader Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) set the bar for the KF3 qualifying session, looking to start his bid toward the national championship out front. DeGrand was challenge by teammate Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic) as she took over the provisional pole position for a few moments before DeGrand came back with a fast lap on his eighth circuit. Quicker the next time by, DeGrand’s 46.335 lap was quickest of the session to earn him the pole for the three heat races. A late charge by championship contender Phil DeLaO (CRG) advanced him up to second in the order to put Madrigal down to start inside row two. Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) - second in points - was fourth with Phillip Orcic (Kosmic) - who is making his first CKI KF3 start - and Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) set to begin the heat races from row three.
IAME Junior
More players were involved in the IAME Junior sessions as all drivers hit the track at the same time. With the cold temperatures, drivers used all the session to get some heat into the Bridgestone tires which produced a rotating order at the top of the time charts. Roughly five different drivers took a turn at the top until Austin Self (Birel) held on to the position for a number of laps. That changed when Raquel Martinez (Top Kart) and Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) hooked up on track to post some quick laps while working together. Martinez held the top spot before DeGrand came back the next time by with a faster lap. The two held ground until late in the session when Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic) made some adjustments on pit lane to get faster and did so on her 12th lap around the circuit. Her 46.567 held on for the remainder of the session to put her on the pole position for Saturday’s heat races. Another late charge point leader Taylor Miinch moved him from outside the top-five up to second in the order, moving DeGrand and Martinez to start from row two. Self fell to fifth overall with Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) posting another sixth place start.
 | Alessandra Madrigal become the first female to win a pole position, posting the fast lap in IAME Junior qualifying
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Cadet
The top three spots in qualifying for Cadet had three of the five championship contenders. Gresham Wagner (Birel) was able to edge out Zane Smith (Top Kart) by nine-thousandths of a second on the final lap of the session, posting a 55.189-lap, with Josh Saurino (Top Kart) posting the third best lap. First time CKI driver Hunter Corbitt (Birel) and Wyatt May (Top Kart) completed the fast-five while point leader Austin Schoonmaker struggled in tenth, switching from Merlin to Kosmic for the weekend.
Saturday’s action begins earlier with three heat races schedule for the day to line up the field for Sunday’s action. Many drivers will be looking to position themselves in better striking distance for the Prefinal and Final while others will look to hold their spots at the front. To follow the action tomorrow, visit the EKN Live Page for forum updates and live audio while you can log onto the CKI Website for Live Timing. |
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