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| June 15, 2011 News |
| EKN Trackside: 2011 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals - Wednesday Report |
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 | Anthony Honeywell repeated his Duffy earned from 2009 in the 100cc Open division
(Photo: studio52.smugmug.com) |
The 2011 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals hit the ground running on Wednesday, June 15, bringing the beautiful sound of two-cycle kart engines to Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas. After a day’s worth of practice, a pair of races were put in the books to begin four days of competition hosted by the Southwest Roadrace Association. High temperatures throughout the day challenged both the competitors and the workers as the mercury reached nearly 100 degrees.
The week’s action got underway with the running of 100cc Open, and this race was all about Oklahoma’s Anthony Honeywell, the EKN 2009 Road Race Driver of the Year and an IKF Expert. Honeywell took the lead early over a five-kart field in his LAD Specialties entry and was never challenged en route to a dominant victory, kicking off his Grand Nationals in style.
Brekk Harris and his sit-up sprinter pushed Honeywell during the opening laps, but lost touch early, and while he appeared to have the pace to handle second, he was out before the 10-minute mark with a stripped belt. The battle for second was then waged between Tim Kyser and Mike Sampson, and saw Kyser finally pull away to take full control of the runner-up position. It would not end this way, however, as Kyser befell the same fate as Harris, losing a belt on the final circuit, leaving him stranded on the track as the field slipped by. Honeywell had already lapped up to second, so the final results showed him having lapped the field. Sampson took second in the finally tally ahead of Phil Harris.
Rotax Max Heavy was the second class to run on the opening day. At the start, Michael Mantel would jump out to the early lead over DJ Ortiz, who was in turn was being chased by Honeywell - doing the double by running both of the day’s available classes. Ortiz would eventually catch back up to the leader on lap four, but the dice did not last long as contact between the two drivers sent Mantel off and back to fifth, allowing Honeywell to take over the lead. Ortiz gathered it back up attacked for the lead, and after taking the point, found himself without a close challenger when Honeywell retired on lap 10 with a broken fairing.
 | DJ Ortiz powered through to score the victory in Rotax Heavy
(Photo: studio52.smugmug.com) |
Without anyone to fight him for the top spot, Ortiz powered away to a 7.546-second win to take home the Duffy. Adam Kelley finished second, ahead of Bristol Gunderson, who ran with Mantel for the entire run after his early race incident. Mantel had issues on the final lap and did not make it to the checkered and was officially classified in seventh.
A full slate of racing is on tap for Thursday, beginning with the first heat race for TaG Light at 10:00 am CST. SWRA Stock 125 Light, Formula 125 Ltd, Formula 80 Sr., Formula 125 Ltd Heavy and TaG Light will run a pair of 15-minute heat races with the combined results being used to award the Duffy. Single races will be run for Mini Max, Yamaha Junior Sprint Sit-Up, Yamaha Ltd. Heavy Sprint, and Yamaha KT100 Heavy Laydown. For complete coverage of the event, click over to the EKN Trackside Live page to view live scoring and listen to live audio during the racing hours, and of course the links to all the information you need to follow the action in the Lone Star State. |
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