|
 |
|
 |
| November 14, 2012 |
| Series News: Red Line Oil Karting Championship - Round 10 Report |
| |
The 2012 Red Line Oil Karting Championship season ended with a strong turn-out, tough racing and some changes in the final driver's Championship standings by the days end. The largest class of the day was Junior Rotax with 15 drivers, making it the GoPro feature class of the day. Pro Stock Honda also had a big bonus for this last race of the year, $500 cash to the winner of the Pro Stock Honda class.
GoPro Feature race: Junior Rotax
It is so fitting to have the Junior Rotax class be the last GoPro feature of the year. The Junior Rotax class has not only had the largest turn out of any other class this year, but it also had the most competitive field for this last race of the year. In Qualifying, Jaden Conwright took the pole ahead of class points leader Alex Keyes followed by Corrie Hiatt, Justin Yanez and Will Preston. In the first heat, Keyes took the lead at the drop of the green and controlled the front of the field to come home first with Hiatt coming home 2nd ahead of Conwright, Yanez and Preston. In the second heat, Conwright took the early lead but Keyes made his way by to take over the lead and go onto to a narrow win over Jaden with Hiatt 3rd, Preston 4th and Yanez 5th. The start of the Main had Keyes on pole and taking the early lead, but Conwright showed his speed by getting past Alex on lap two. Keyes took back the lead soon after with Hiatt also getting by Conwright and looking at pressuring Keyes. Things went bad on lap 4 when Hiatt spun (with some help) coming onto the straight away and everyone behind had to scatter to avoid a big pile up. When all the dust had cleared, Yanez sat broken on the outside of last turn, Hiatt had to go to the pits with no front body work and the order behind Keyes was now Conwright, Preston, Annie Breidinger and Enzo Prevost. In the closing laps, Conwright caught Keyes and was looking at making a move when he spun braking into the corner leading onto the front straight and fell back to 4th. Preston took over the chase of Keyes but did not have enough time to make a move for the lead. In the end, Alex Keyes took the win, his 5th race win this year, Preston 2nd, Annie Breidinger 3rd, Conwright 4th and Enzo Prevost 5th. At the trophy presentation, the top five positions were put in a hat and it was Alex Keyes lucky day, he pulled his own number for the draw of the GoPro Hero Camera! In Class Championship, Keyes wins the overall honors, Preston 2nd, Annie Breidinger 4th, rookie Enzo Prevost 4th and Jaden Conwright 5th.
Molecule Karting Championship
 | | Pro Stock Honda winner Daniel Langon |
Pro Stock Honda and Stock Honda Masters
Nineteen karts took the track in the combined Pro Stock (8) and Stock Masters (11) race group. In Qualifying, Daniel Langon took pole ahead of Jason Toft, Brett Buckwalter and Nic LeDuc, all Pro Stock drivers. The top Masters was David Arnstein in 6th, Jim Inglebright in 7th and Jim Kidd in 8th. In the first heat, Langon took the early lead with Buckwalter getting by Toft to take 2nd and Jaime Wilson 4th. In the Masters class, Patrick O'Neil took 5th overall, Inglebright 6th and Kidd 7th with Arnstein falling back to 16th. At the start of the second heat, Toft moved his kart into the lead with Langon close behind the entire race, Buckwalter 3rd and Wilson 4th, but behind them emotions got really heated up, O'Neil and Inglebright came together with Inglebright spinning and having to restart and a lap down. On the next lap, Inglebright and O'Neil came together again, now both drivers were out and the Race Stewart decided that both drivers needed to cool their heals for the rest of the day and DQ's both drivers for the rest of the event. In the end, Arnstein drove onto the Masters class win, 5th overall, Kidd 6th and Alex Keith 7th. In the Main, with the $500 cash prize out in front of the Pro Stock drivers, Langon and Toft went at it right from the start, first Langon leading, then Toft, then Langon regaining the lead where he began to build a small cushion. Wilson had problems and retired on lap 5, and Nic LeDuc was charging through the field and eventually moved into 4th place overall. In the Masters race, Kidd took the early lead was never headed. Arnstein was making an effort to catch the leading Kidd, but was forced off course and too much time. Andre Eriksen moved into 2nd place in Masters with Arnstein 3rd. With one lap to go and Langon holding a solid but slight lead, the leaders came up onto a slower racer. Langon got by but Toft had trouble getting by and eventually pushed the lapped kart off going into the last hairpin. But the race was now lost and Langon cruised to the win and the $500 cash, Toft was docked 2 positions for his contact with the lapped kart to finish 4th, Buckwalter finished 2nd, LeDuc 3rdand Ryan Rasberry 5th. In the Masters class, Kidd controlled the front of the field and came home 6th and the class win followed by Eriksen 8th overall and Arnstein 9th overall. In the Championship chase, Toft edged out Langon for the Pro Stock Honda class win with Buckwalter 3rd. In the Stock Honda Masters class, Jim Inglebright takes the Championship just ahead of Arnstein with Eriksen 3rd.
IAME TaG, Junior TaG and Senior TaG
This mixed class race group provided some close racing all day. IAME TaG driver Darren Geahry took the pole over Junior TaGs of Maxx Marian, Alex Keyes and Senior TaG driver Tazio Ottis. In the first heat, Marian took the lead out of turn one and was never headed. Geahry and Keyes both had power problems and fell back allowing Joe Morton (Jr TaG) to work into the 2nd position and Josh Buttafoco (IAME TaG) taking 3rd. In the second heat, Tazio Ottis took control of the race to take the win ahead of Keyes, Geahry and Marian. Marian took the early lead of the Main from the pole with Keyes moving into second from his 4th starting spot and Geahry in 3rd. Keyes got by Marian to take over the lead and pulled out a small gap, Marian pulled to within a kart length with two laps to go but was not able to get past and had to settle for 2nd overall. Geahry was challenged early for the 3rd place spot but steadily pulled out to a three second margin over Ottis and Buttafoco. For the Championships, Marian takes the Junior TaG title ahead of Keyes with Buttafoco taking the IAME class title ahead of Geahry with Stephan Gaudreau 3rd.
80 Masters and DD2 Masters
Six 80 Masters and one DD2 Masters took the track. Bob Lesnett took the pole ahead of the closest championship rival Tom Nelson with Darrel Dean 3rd and David Palic (DD2 Masters) in 4th. In the first heat, Lesnett took the early lead and drove onto a five second win. Geoff Provo challenged Nelson and took 2nd, Palic 3rd and Nelson 4th. In the second heat, Lesnett again drove onto the win, but Nelson stayed closer this race to take 2nd, Provo 3rd and Palic in the DD2 4th. In Main, Lesnett put on a dominate display, from the Standing Start to the checkered flag he was perfect! Nelson persevered to 2nd, Provo 3rd and Palic 4th. In the Championship, Bob Lesnett takes the 80 Masters crown, Nelson 2nd and Charles Hastings in 3rd. David Palic took the DD2 Masters crown.
Sanzaru Games NorCal Rotax Challenge
 | | Rotax Junior field |
Micro Max and Mini Max
Seven Micro Max karts took to the track with Mini Max. Matteo Sandoval put his Mini Max on the pole with Valdemar Eriksen taking the pole in the Micro Max class ahead of Dakota White and Aiden O'Neil. In the first heat, Matteo took the overall win but the battle for the Micro class was tough with Eriksen leading the entire distance from O'Neil and Dakota White in 3rd close behind. In the second heat, again, Matteo Sandoval took the overall win in his Mini Max with Eriksen leading the Micro class to the checkered flag ahead of O'Neil and Ethan Tavares. In the Main, Matteo went out and lapped the Micro Max field to take home the overall win. Eriksen continued to get faster as the day went on and drove home to a dominant Micro class win with a ten second margin of victory ahead of O'Neil. Dakota White's race ended early with kart problems and with it any chance at the class Championship. In the end, Eriksen took the Micro win, O'Neil 2nd, Tavares 3rd and Gino Sandoval 3rd. Unfortunately, Ethan's kart had a post-race tech issue and this moved Gino up to the 3rd spot. In the Championships, Matteo takes the Mini Max class title, with Valdemar Eriksen taking the overall Micro class title from Dakota White 2nd and Ethan Tavares 3rd.
Senior Rotax
Jarrett Lile lead the eight kart field putting his kart on the pole six tenths of a second ahead of Carlos Calderon with Dillon Albiani 3rd and Tazio Ottis 4th. In the first heat, Lile took the lead at the drop of the green with Calderon and Albiani mixing it up coming out of turn one eventually ending with Calderon spinning in tic-tac-toe and falling back to 8th. In the end, Lile pulled out to a two second win ahead of Albiani, Ottis and Sean McDonald. In the second heat, Lile again took the early lead and showed that his strong qualifying time was an indicator of his speed as he drove home to the win with a four second victory. The racing behind him was fierce with Calderon, Ottis, McDonald and Albiani all finishing within two tenths of each other. Across the finish line was Ottis finished 2nd ,McDonald 3rd, Calderon 4th, and Albiani 5th. Lile continued his strong performance in the Main and drove to an uncontested win, his first Main event win in the RLOKC, with Albiani 2nd ahead of Ottis, McDonald and Calderon. Unfortunately Ottis did not pas post-race tech thus moving McDonald to 3rd and Calderon to 4th. In the championship race, Sean McDonald takes home the class Championship with Jarrett Lile 2nd, Carlos Calderon 3rd and Tazio Ottis 4th.
Rotax Masters
The Rotax Masters race was the last race of the day and of the 2012 season. In Qualifying, Michael Ostrowski took the poll ahead of Greg Hoff, Scott Ripslinger and James Dix. In the first heat, Ostrowski took the lead out of turn one and was never headed. Ripslinger got by Hoff to take 2ndand John Breidinger 4th. In the second heat, Ostrowski took the early lead but was pressured by Hoff, who found a way by and took a slim win, Ostrowski 2nd with Geoff Wise putting on a strong drive to take 3rd ahead of Ripslinger. In the Main, Ostrowski took the early lead and built up a good cushion. The best battle was right behind the young " heavy" with Ripslinger, Hoff and Geoff Wise battling for the second spot. Hoff's race ended with kart problems on lap six, Wise got by Ripslinger and made a charge at Ostrowski. Wise got right behind Ostrowski with two laps to go but could not find the way to make a pass for the lead. In the end, Ostrowski took the win, Wise 2nd, Ripslinger 3rd and Breidinger 4th. In the Championship chase, Scott Ripslinger takes the Rotax Masters crown, Greg Hoff 2nd and John Breidinger 3rd.
The 2012 racing has now come to a close. It has been a great year for the RLOKC series with solid growth in the series, especially in Micro Max, Junior Rotax and both 125 Stock Honda classes. The awards Banquet was held November 10 with a large number of outstanding prizes going to several of the champions including four race car driving opportunities. Look for photos and details from the RLOKC Awards banquet shortly.
RLOKC 2013 Schedule **
APRIL 13/14
MAY 10/11 *SATURDAY RACE
JUNE 8/9
JULY 13/14
AUGUST 10/11
AUGUST 31/SEPT1
SEPTEMBER 21/22
OCTOBER 12/13
NOVEMBER 2/3
**TENTATIVE |
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
