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| January 16, 2013 |
| Team News: ART Grand Prix America Set for Start to 2013 Season |
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In today’s racing world, there is no such thing as an offseason and ART Grand Prix America is a prime example. Working hard both on and off the track since the SKUSA Supernationals in late November, the team was ready to start the season strong at this year’s opening round of the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas championship in Tucson, Arizona. Utilizing the Rotax engine platform, the series is one of the most competitive in the country, with Rotax Grand Finals tickets being at stake in multiple classes.
ART Grand Prix America entered four drivers at the first event, after a strong showing in last season’s limited schedule. The biggest off season signing for the team was securing Brenden Baker for the Junior classes for not only the Challenge of the Americas, but also the whole SKUSA schedule. Baker has developed into one of the top Junior drivers in the country over the last couple seasons, as evidenced by his podiums in last season’s SKUSA Pro Tour and victory in the Lancaster Grand Prix. The young Californian will be a force all season in the Rotax and TAG Junior categories. Joining Baker this past weekend as well as for the rest of the season was Phillippe Denes. Phillippe has only been racing for a few months, but his progression in testing this off season has been very rapid. Both drivers arrived Wednesday to participate in the Thursday unofficial practice. Throughout Thursday and Friday both drivers showed great pace as the team fine-tuned the chassis and engine combinations. Baker would end the day 4th in the final official session Friday, and Denes a very strong 14th in the field of 29, putting him in the faster qualifying group. Saturday morning brought below freezing temperatures and unfortunately Baker had a water pump break due to ice forming. Forced to run a back-up engine for the first time he ended the qualifying session 8th. Denes couldn’t find his rhythm and wound up 26th, leaving both drivers with some work. Baker drove an outstanding heat race to battle all the way to 2nd by the end of the race. Starting off pole for the main, the team’s high hopes were quickly dashed as the Palmdale, California driver was pushed off in turn 1 to the back of the pack. He was able to battle back to 15th and was one of the quickest drivers on the track. Denes battled traffic all day long, but had worked his way up to 16th in the main event when a late incident relegated him back to 21st.
Sunday brought high expectations and both drivers sought to improve on their difficult first day of competition. Baker set the bar high in qualifying by timing in 3rd, just 12 thousandths off the pole! A smart heat race had him strategically come across the line 3rd to try and put him in a better position for the start of the final. Brenden got a great jump and was up to 2nd out of turn 1, but unfortunately was bounced back to 4th by the end of the lap. As the leader broke away, Baker battled with two other competitors for the podium spots and just barely missed his step on the podium with a 4th place finish. Phillippe improved his qualifying position to 20th on the second day, but was pushed off track before turn 1. Again forced to battle from the back, the young driver who was racing in only his third race turned some very quick times in the main event and showed he will be a force in the future as he gains racing experience. “I’m very proud of both of our Junior drivers this weekend,” expressed Team Manager Kyle Kuntze. “They both had to overcome adversity and handled it with professionalism and showed a lot of potential for the rest of the year. Brenden was on it all weekend and for not having even tested the kart before a race this big, we are all very excited for what the rest of the season will bring us.”
Leading the way in Rotax Sr. for the team was Andrew Wiener. After a very strong 2012 that saw him in contention at the Rotax Nationals, expectations were high. Unfortunately, engine issues would be the curse of the weekend. Missing all day Friday trying to work out both electrical and carburetion issues, the team was behind and could never quite catch up. Andrew ran between 13th and 19th for most of the weekend, as the young San Diegan battled hard all event, but just never could get the track position he needed to compete. Steve Wiener had two very exciting races and was involved in race long battles both days. He was able to secure two top 10’s on the weekend with an 8th and a 9th. “It was a real shame we never could quite get Andrew up in contention. He had some spirited drives including Sunday’s main from 35th to 18th, but definitely not the results we had come here expecting. Steve had some fantastic races and it was great to see the pace continually progress all weekend and both drivers should be in better positions at the next round in Phoenix,” Kuntze explained.
With a strong start to the 2013 season, ART Grand Prix America now focuses on preparing for the SKUSA Prokart Challenge opener the first weekend in February at Buttonwillow. With more driver announcements coming shortly, the team should be even stronger going forward. There are arrive and drive opportunities available for the remaining Challenge of the Americas events, as well as SKUSA PKC, Pro Tour, LAKC, and Tri-C races.
ART Grand Prix America is the North American importer for the ART Grand Prix chassis. Make sure to follow the team on Facebook: ART Grand Prix America and check out dpowerracing.com for developments throughout the season.
For all dealer, driver, or employee opportunities e-mail: artgpamerica@gmail.com |
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