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| October 10, 2009 News |
| EKN Trackside: Championship Karting International Grand Championship - Heat Race Report |
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 | KF2 point leader Arie Ouimet will lead the field to the green on Sunday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Saturday’s heat race action at the Championship Karting International Grand Championship saw three rounds of solid racing to set up for Championship Sunday. The 7/10-mile circuit at the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex provides a backdrop for great racing no matter what class is on track. The weather is normally a big factor in any event in Norman and today was no different with damp track surface and cold temperatures kept the track from gaining rubber. As the day went on, the sun continued to shine changing the condition of the circuit each time the fields went to race. Aside from Tristan DeGrand’s clean sweep in the KF3 division, the remaining five divisions are still up for grabs heading into the Prefinal and Final action tomorrow.
KF2
The outside line is not the preferred spot to be at the starts for the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex as Alex Speed (Tony Kart) and Gregory Liefooghe (Intrepid) led the field to the green for the start of the opening lap. Liefooghe fell back to fifth with Speed working away with an early led as the rest of the field began an intense battle for the top-five. Arie Ouimet (CRG) eventually worked himself to second with the quick lap of the race and began closing in on the leader. Lap six, Ouimet was able to put the lead to nothing and make a move through the fast fourth corner but Speed came right back through the inside banked corner. Down the straight, Ouimet was able to grab a draft to slingshot by Speed and pull out to a lead as they exited the first corner. As Speed and Ouimet went back and forth, Liefooghe, Will Martindale (Tony Kart) and Brett Felkins (Intrepid) joined the fight up front. At the end, Speed held off Ouimet for the win as Martindale - who started sixth - worked up to third ahead of Liefooghe and with Felkins up from 11th to fifth.
The opening corner for heat two saw contact between Wehrheim and Liefooghe. which shuffled the field around as Speed and Ouimet paced the field through the first lap. Brendan Phinny (Top Kart) and Felkins advanced up to third and fourth looking to close back in on the front two. Lap eight, Ouimet was able to draft by Speed for the lead and stretch out to a three kart length lead while Felkins began to close in on Speed as the final laps clicked off. On lap 10, however, Speed pulled off at corner four with a mechanical issue, moving Felkins up to second and Phinny to third. To the line for the 13th time, Ouimet took the second heat win with Felkins a solid second place run. Phinny lost ground to the front two but held on to third ahead of Richard Benitez (Kosmic) and Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart).
Speed was slow at the drop of the green to begin heat three allowing Ouimet and Liefooghe to lead the field through the opening corners. Speed reclaimed second before hitting the stripe for the first time as he set his sights on Ouimet. Liefooghe lost some ground to Speed and fell into the grasp of Martindale, who began pressuring early for the third spot. Lap three, Speed was all over Ouimet, pulling the trigger into turn 12 hairpin to take over the top spot. At the same time, Martindale was able to work by Liefooghe for third with Menezes running a close fifth. Martindale seemed to have everything working for him early as he used the same passing maneuver as Speed did to get by Ouimet for the second spot to make it a Tony Kart 1-2 after five laps. Lots of shuffling took place from fourth back as the remainder of the field was evenly matched. This allowed Speed and Martindale to continue to add to their advantage while Ouimet ran a comfortable third. At the line, Speed ran to nearly a one-second win over teammate Martindale. Ouimet and Liefooghe were third and fourth while Felkins ran to another top-five run from the final grid spot.
 | Alex Speed has proven to be the fastest in KF2 however a DNF in heat two cost him the pole position for Sunday's Prefinal
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
With five points, Ouimet has the lowest total to earn the favorable pole position for the Prefinal with Speed’s DNF in heat two costing him that position, however, will go from the unfavorable outside row one position. Martindale improved to start on the inside of row two with Felkins also improving to start alongside. In the championship chase, Wehrheim - who enters second in the standings behind Ouimet - will have some work ahead of him as he will go from P9 Sunday morning.
IAME Senior
The running order at the front of the IAME Senior field was shuffled around in the opening corner of the first heat race as Ryan Kinnear (Intrepid) slid wide from P3 with some help from behind, pushing off David Jurca (Italkart) and Kyle Wiegand (Top Kart) from the outside line. That put them at the tail of the field while pole sitter Michael Hogg (Top Kart) felt no pressure in the opening lap. As they came around to the stripe for the first time, Kyle Shriver (Tony Kart) benefitted from the turn one melee to advance up from seventh to second. Remo Ruscitti (Italkart) advanced to third and charge toward Shriver, able to get by for second after running lap times under the 47-mark. Out front, Hogg went untouched to a 2.797-second victory over Ruscitti and Shriver. Neil Alberico (Top Kart) ran alone in fourth with Wiegand able to recover up to fifth with similar laps to the leader. Jurca finished ninth despite posting the fast lap of the race with a 46.640.
The field slowed the pace down to the green which helped everyone get through clean out of the first corner. Hogg and Jurca lead the way until Wiegand was able to get by Jurca before reaching the line for the first time. Hogg felt pressure for the first time today as Wiegand kept the heat on in the early going. Jurca however was able to find his way back into second with an inside move into the turn 12 hairpin to complete the second lap. Six karts ran nose to tail through the inside portion of the circuit, a great site as spectator, with Jurca getting a great exit out of turn eight to get inside of Hogg into turn nine to take over the lead. Ruscitti tried a slingshot move inside of Kinnear at the end of the straight for fourth but was unsuccessful. The result allowed the top three to pull away. Up front, Jurca dropped the fast lap of the race to that point on lap four however Wiegand and Hogg tucked in behind to try and close the distance. Wiegand cut into the lead and got a great run into turn one with a deep late brake move to take over the point. Jurca came back with a late brake move of his own, this time bringing Hogg with him as Wiegand fell to third with Kinnear now able to close in for a four kart lead pack. More shuffling allowed Ruscitti to close in to make it four fighting it out for second as Jurca cruised out front. Jurca went on to take the win by just over a second ahead of Kinnear, who was removed in tech after his airbox fell off on the final lap. That moved Wiegand up to second, Ruscitti third, Hogg fourth and Cole Loftsgard (Tony Kart) up to fifth.
 | Kyle Wiegand's heat three win and consistency puts him at the point in IAME Senior
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Drama began before the IAME Senior field hit the track as Jurca was unable to get on track in time so he was put to the tail of the field before they were given the green flag. That moved Wiegand to the outside of row one alongside Hogg. After two failed attempts, Hogg led the way with Wiegand and Kinnear slotting in behind with no incidents on track. On lap two however the complex of the class changed as Hogg’s engine expired down the back straight to give him a DNF for the race. A complex situation followed Hogg’s retirement as officials showed a black flag to Wiegand for what they thought was contact that took Hogg off track. The result of Hogg’s DNF moved point leader Neil McCoy (Top Kart) up to second after finally getting all the pieces of his package together after a tough first two heats. Following the halfway mark, Wiegand was no longer given the black flag and he went on to earn the checkered flag. Kinnear was able to hold off a gaggle of karts for the second spot with Jurca coming up from last to third with the fast lap of the race. McCoy was put back to fourth during the course of the race with Shriver finishing fifth.
Wiegand earned the pole position for the Prefinal with Ruscitti running all three heats in the top-six scoring the outside row one spot. Despite the troubles he experienced, Jurca will go from P3 with Shriver outside him. Championship chaser Hogg will start fifth with point leader McCoy starting sixth, looking to continue to work forward.
Stock Moto
Things were not calm for the local option Stock Moto division as the four drivers entered in the division took each heat race as the last of the event. Nick Lucido (CRG) was able to get a great holeshot to begin the opening heat race with Jason Lee (Top Kart) sliding up from fourth to second. As they went through the fourth corner, Lee broke earlier than what Brett Felkins (Intrepid) thought he would. The result was the two making contact and going off track, ending their race. Lucido cruised to the heat win with Mike Jones (Zanardi) running second.
 | Young driver Brett Felkins is looking impressive in both KF2 and Stock Moto, earning two heat wins in shifter category
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
The start of the second heat had Lucido with the holeshot once again however he ran to narrow into the opening corner, resulting in a jump over the inside curb. As Felkins ran around the outside, Lee ran the inside line and into the back of Lucido. This allowed Jones to slide into second for the early portion of the race until both Lucido and Lee were able to work by for position. Felkins cruised to the win by nearly four seconds over Lucido.
The final heat saw a great start for Lee as he was able to run around into the lead to pace the field. The four shuffled positions until Lucido retired on lap three with a broken wheel stud on his left rear tire put him on the sidelines and an off-track excursion by Lee put him to the pit lane. Felkins took his second heat win of the day with Jones running another second.
Felkins two wins puts him on the P1 grid spot as Lucido will move to the outside of row one. Jones and Lee will go once again from row two.
KF3
The opening heat race in KF3 showed how cold the track was as the outside line had no grip what so ever with the inside line of Tristan DeGrand, Alessandra Madrigal and Phillip Orcic showing the way with a early Kosmic 1-2-3. Phil DeLaO (CRG) and Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) fell back with the lost grip but were able to run down the top three. DeLaO was the driver on the move as he went by Orcic and then began a great battle with Madrigal for the second spot. Out front, DeGrand ran unchallenged to the win while DeLaO was able to work by for second through the fast turn four, bringing Orcic and Miinch with him to put Madrigal back to fifth as they would get the checkered flag in that order.
DeLaO and Miinch again got a terrible start from the outside line as the Kosmic train inside held the front three positions once again. Kiel Spaulding was able to benefit as well to move into fourth before DeLaO took over the spot on the second lap. Miinch meanwhile was caught up in a spin that included Evan Komar (Maranello) and RC Enerson (Tony Kart), moving them to the tail of the field. Up front, DeGrand, Orcic, Madrigal and DeLaO made up the lead pack with DeLaO showing as the quickest driver when they reached the halfway mark. With the sun shining and the track gaining grip, DeGrand and DeLaO swapped fast lap honors with DeGrand pulling away while DeLaO began moving forward getting by Madrigal with one lap to. DeLaO then tried inside of Orcic in the tight turn eight. Getting off the exit slow, that allowed Madrigal to slide inside of DeLaO to take over the third spot. At the checkered, DeGrand ran to a 2.861-second victory over Orcic. Madrigal held off DeLaO for third with Spaulding crossing fifth.
 | A perfect 3 for 3 was Tristan DeGrand in the KF3 division heat races
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
A triplicate of the first two starts in the third and final heat as the Kosmic train led the way through the first lap with DeGrand, Madrigal and Orcic leading Spaulding, Miinch and DeLaO. DeGrand broke away from his two teammates as Miinch and DeLaO shuffled Spaulding back to sixth when they completed the second lap. The front five then put some distance between one another with DeGrand posting the fast lap to that point in the nine-lap race. Third through fifth began to bunch up as both Miinch and DeLaO closed in on Orcic. Miinch made the move inside on lap seven at turn eight, bringing DeLaO with him to put Orcic back to fifth. DeLaO then began pressuring Miinch for the third spot as DeGrand continued to post the fast laps of the race. DeGrand kept his perfect weekend thus far in tack with the third heat win by 2.593-seconds over Madrigal. Miinch held off DeLaO for third with Orcic finishing fifth.
DeGrand’s perfect score has him still on the pole with DeLaO still set to go on the outside of row one as he earns the tie breaker with Madrigal and Orcic, who fill up row two. Miinch will need to advance from fifth to challenge DeGrand trailing in the standing by just two points entering Sunday.
IAME Junior
A crazy opening lap shuffled up the IAME Junior field to begin the heat racing with Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) getting a successful run from outside row one to lead in the early going. Behind them, Raquel Martinez (Top Kart) and Kiel Spaulding (Top Kart) spun in turn 13 before reaching the stripe for the first time while Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) and Shawn Sharkey (Merlin) got together at the end of the front straight just moments later. Pole sitter Alessandra Madrigal (Kosmic) was able to work back to first as she and Miinch pulled out to a solid lead over Austin Self (Birel). As the laps went on, Madrigal was able to post fast lap after fast lap to get away from Miinch to score the win. Self held on to third despite a late charge from Camden Geise (CRG) - who started 14th. Completing the top-five was a great battle with Mason Chelootz (Top Kart) holding off Hans Saurino (Top Kart).
 | Two heat wins has Alessandra Madrigal at the front for IAME Junior
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
A very clean start to begin the second heat race with Madrigal and Miinch falling into line with DeGrand joining them to make up the early lead pack. DeGrand was the driver on the move, first getting by Miinch and then by Madrigal on lap four. Madrigal would not be comfortable in the second spot, drafting by for the lead the next time by the stripe. DeGrand looked to want to stay behind and work with his teammate however on lap seven, he saw an opportunity and took it to reassume the lead. Coming to the white flag, Madrigal returned the favor as they went side by side through one with Madrigal coming out with the lead. Holding on the final 12 corners and posting the fast lap of the race, Madrigal took her second heat win ahead of DeGrand and Miinch. After running fifth for most of the race, Martinez was able to work by Self in the closing stages for the fourth.
Madrigal held the point through the opening corner of the third heat race as Sharkey got a great start to slot in behind Miinch. Self started fifth but was spun around in the opening corner sending everyone shuffling around him. Once he got refired, he was back on track in front of the leaders. Coming around the second lap, Self spun in front of the leaders in turn five, forcing another evasive action by a number of drivers, including Sharkey who went off course to lose a number of positions. Madrigal continued to put down the pace to match however DeGrand was up to the challenge. Up to third with the removal of Sharkey, DeGrand worked by Miinch on lap six and began putting down the fast laps of the race to close in quickly on Madrigal. On the white flag, DeGrand put a little front bumper on her rear bumper through turn four, both collecting themselves to continue on. Into turn 12, DeGrand went back inside as some more side to side contact took place with Madrigal. DeGrand came out with the lead and won the drag race to the line for the win. Miinch was a close third with Geise scoring another great run to fourth with Hans Saurino (Top Kart) up to fifth from 12th.
Madrigal will continue to lead the IAME Junior field to the green flag Sunday morning with Miinch and DeGrand holding onto the second and third starting spots. Geise will help his championship title hopes as he moves up to start fourth in the Prefinal on the bumper of point leader Miinch.
 | Gresham Wagner went two for three in Cadet and will pace the field to the green flag on Sunday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Cadet
The first Cadet heat began with a three kart breakaway with pole sitter Gresham Wagner (Birel) leading Zane Smith (Top Kart) and Hunter Corbitt (Birel). After the seven laps, Smith was able edge Wagner at the line by 0.094-seconds as Wagner was shuffled back to third. Ashley Rogero (Kosmic) recovered from a poor qualifying to advance up to fourth with Josh Saurino (Top Kart) ending the heat race in fifth.
No breakaway early in the second heat as Wagner and Smith paced the field in the early going, both taking a turn at the lead with a number of karts in line for third through seventh position. Smith and Wagner used some drafting work in order to stretch out a small gap over the fight for third, which really wasn’t a fight as they continued to draft in hopes of catching the front two. Lap five however Parker Thompson (Tony Kart) made a move to go to third to put Saurino back to fourth. The next time by, they went three wide with Austin Osborne (Birel) taking the third spot with two to go. Up front, Wagner waited for the final lap to get by Smith in turn five as Smith ran a defensive line. To the line, Wagner held off Smith by 0.041-seconds. Thompson edged Osborne for third at the line with Rogero moving up to fifth.
A familiar top three drivers paced the field in the third heat as Wagner and Smith looked to break a tie to claim Sunday’s Prefinal pole but were joined by Saurino who was looking to better his previous ran of sixth in the second heat. The trio mixed it up all seven laps with Saurino able to grab the lead exiting the first turn. As they came to the line, Saurino was slow coming off the final hairpin with Wagner and Smith able to slide three-wide with Saurino. At the line, Wagner edged out for the win from the middle position as Smith was able to edge Saurino for second with the top three finishing within one-tenth of each other. Corbitt was able to hold off a charging Rogero for the fourth spot.
Wagner and Smith will show the way to the Prefinal green flag from row one while Saurino and Rogero going from row two. Point leader Schoonmaker was unable to make up ground in the heat races and starts ninth.
With the heat races now in the books, the final day of action is set for Sunday with five championships on the line. Drivers will have scoring opportunities in both the Prefinal and Final with double points awarded in the main event. 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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