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| September 01, 2012 News |
| EKN Trackside: 2012 Rock Island Grand Prix - Saturday Report |
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Full results can be found here
The opening day of the 2012 Rock Island Grand Prix experienced wet conditions for most of the day through practice and qualifying around the streets of the Quad Cities District area. Rain moved up from the south, courtesy of Tropical Storm Isaac and hit the area just near the halfway point of the opening round of practice. From then on, it was rain tires. The system cleared as qualifying wrapped up, however the back section was still wet enough for rains. Many of the categories on the day welcomed first-time pole position awards, including King of the Streets.
Texan Jake French is making his third start in the KoS headline category, with two podium finishes in his previous visits. Today was the first time the 16-year old navigated the wet conditions in a shifter kart. His 40.231-second lap proved otherwise, scoring the pole position. RIGP rookie Cordell Secrest laid down the second fastest lap of the session to line up on the front row next to French. Making it a 1-2-3 for 3G Kart Racing was 2009 winner Jordon Musser, all piloting Birel karts. Indiana’s Joe Ruch (FA Kart) was fourth and showed a quicker pace, but lost his transponder during the run. Minnesota’s Nicholas Johnson (Intrepid) was fifth.
Iowa’s Alex Nowysz (Margay) paced the TaG Senior field in qualifying for his first pole position with his 40.849-second lap. Colton Aldridge (Tony Kart) was second with Logan Bearden (Haase) in third. Aaron Snyder (Energy) gained his first RIGP pole position in the Rotax Senior division. His fast lap of 40.836-second was best. Andrew Coulter (Arrow) was provisionally second until he was removed for a tire infraction, moving Will Owen (Arrow) up to second and Mason Chelootz (Top Kart) third. Chelootz got the better of everyone in the Parilla Leopard qualifying session. With a drying track, the Texan posted fast time over Nowysz and Bearden.
Connor Lund (Arrow) gained two of the three pole positions in 4-Cycle competition. Lund became the inaugural pole driver in the new Briggs and Stratton LO 206 class, which featured the largest class of the weekend at 25 entries. Cale Downs (Coyote) was second with Jeff Stamper (Merlin) in third. Lund came back in the Clone Heavy for his second straight pole award in the category. Travis DeVriendt (Coyote) was second while Garrett Nimmick (Margay) clocked in third. A drying track for the Clone Medium sessions put Lund on the provisional pole for the first group, however the second group enjoyed a drier track. Jesse Clossey (Coyote) was quickest for his first RIGP pole with Garritt Powell (Ultramax) and Ken Williams (Coyote) making up the top three. Lund will start from the seventh position.
 | The top three in King of the Streets qualifying
(Photo: 3G Kart Racing) |
The Yamaha SuperCan categories are once again going to be competitive as they are each and every year at the RIGP. Eric Bartsch (Birel) had two ninth-place finishes last year, and will start from P1 in the Heavy category. RIGP favorite Tony Neilson (Margay) was second with Tony Jump (Margay) set to go from P3. Former two-time winner Tim Goettsch (Margay) led the Heavy session with Bartsch second and Neilson third.
Two-time 125cc Masters Shifter winner Kurt Mathewson (Birel) began his quest for a third title with the top time in qualifying. He was the only driver in the session to dip below the 41-second mark. 2010 winner Chris Enderlein (Exprit) was second while New Jersey driver Paul Makarucha (CRG) ended third overall. Matt Sriver (Merlin) took advantage of a drying course in the TaG Masters category. All drivers took to the track on wet tires, and as the session went on the times came down. Sriver posted a 40.025-second lap to secure his first RIGP pole. Eric Chappell (Birel) - podium finisher from last year - ended up second with California’s Paul Hohlbein in third. Former winners John Dixon (Top Kart) and Brian McHattie (Exprit) will start fifth and eighth. Only three drivers took to the track for the 2-Cycle Open session with Caleb Loniewski (Margay) piloting the winning kart from last year to the pole position today. His fast lap was a 39.702 seconds in wet conditions. Tim Pierson (Wild Kart) was second in his direct drive powerplant, with Scott Truempi third in a DD2 package.
In Junior action, defending TaG Junior champ Chase Jones (Birel) began this year with another pole position, edging out Dustin Stross (DR Kart) and Killian Keaveny (Top Kart). Keaveny came back in the Yamaha Junior session to post the fast lap for his first RIGP pole. Jones was a close second with Grant Sandberg (Merlin) in third.
Action continues tomorrow with warm-ups starting at 8am with main event set to start at noon CDT. Updates will be posted on the Official Discussion Thread, as well as the Facebook and Twitter accounts. If your able to be on the couch during the weekend, be sure to load up http://www.ekartingnews.com/live for live audio and timing from trackside. |
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