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| October 20, 2004 News |
| World Superkart Challenge - Final Report |
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 | The BRC Dream Team had a
solid weekend at Laguna Seca |
Texan Kyle Martin cruised to an impressive victory in Sunday’s World Superkart Challenge at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, completing what was a virtually flawless weekend. Last year’s ICE 250cc Single winner turned the trick again after overtaking four-time 500cc Grand Prix champion Eddie Lawson early in the race. Lawson had grabbed the lead at the start when he went deep into the turn two braking zone to edge Martin. The BRC PVP driver hung tough, however, and made a move that was identical to the one he laid down in Saturday’s Prefinal, ducking under the motorsports legend heading into Laguna’s left-hand turn five. Martin proceeded to pull away from Lawson until the veteran made a trip to the pit lane when he lost his throttle return spring. Running a 140 mph superkart without full throttle control is not a smart undertaking and Lawson wisely brought the kart into the pits for quick repairs. He returned to the track and eventually finished 13th, one lap down.
An early race quartet of Martin, Lawson, Tom Dyer (Zip) and Joe White (PVP) pulled away but after Lawson dropped from the hunt, the remainder of Riley Will’s BRC ‘dream team’ also ran into trouble. White spun on the exit to turn 11 after being passed by Dyer on lap 3, who proceeded to dog his teammate until driving off at the Corkscrew himself late in the race. The duo had built up enough of a lead to allow him to hold his position, but he ended up out of the race with just three laps to go after his engine expired with expected electrical problems.
 | Eddie Lawson lasted only a few laps
in this position ahead of Kyle Martin
Photo: Bill Kistler - racepixs.com |
All of these departures opened the door for Aussie Warren McIlveen, who charged back through the field from the tail of the combined pack to take second. A broken chain at the start of the Prefinal put the Stockman driver deep in the field for the combined FE-ICE start. McIlveen had been chasing his Stockman teammate Sam Zavaglia – the Australian champion – throughout the second half of the event but a broken rear wing on Zavaglia’s car eventually collapsed with just a lap and a half remaining, sending him off the track in turn six. American Eric Messley (PVP) capitalized on this opportunity and put in an incredible performance to advance for the back of the pack to third, securing a position on the post-race podium.
The top contenders in the U.S. Superkart Championship encountered troubles as both J.R. Osborne (P1) and Johnny West (Stockman) battled mechanical woes. Osborne had a battery run down although he was able to make repairs in an effort to run to the finish, taking 24th in class, which gave him just enough points to win the title. As the third place point man going into Laguna, Jerry Echols (Anderson) ran a smart race to 15th and came very close to stealing the title from Osborne, ending up just 22 markers behind the champion in second overall. West’s bad luck at Laguna continued and another engine malady left him in 35th in the FE rundown, third overall in the point standings.
Next season, Osborne will run the ‘US’ plate on his Formula E entry, signifying him at the reigning champion of the U.S. Superkart Championship.
 | Australia's Warren McIlveen pushed his
Stockman from the tail to the podium
Photo: Bill Kistler - www.racepixs.com |
In the ICE battle, Anthony Williams (Anderson) had the win in his hands before he, too, succumbed to mechanical woes, his Rotax 257 shutting off with an electrical problem as its driver continued to pull away from the field. Texan Jim Ingram (PVP) inherited the lead only to give it up to point leader Andy Kiker (Anderson) when he spun in the Corkscrew as a light rain in that section of the track caught him off guard. Kiker would go on to the win, giving him a sweep of all three rounds of the U.S. Superkart Championship this year, making him the first-ever ICE champion.
Brad Davis (PVP) took second in the ICE race, telling SKI’s Rob Howden on the podium that he simply ran consistent laps and stayed out of trouble. Ingram battled back to third after his spin, salvaging an impressive weekend with a podium result.
The entire weekend was buzzing on the topic of next year’s World Superkart Challenge, which will be run in conjunction with the MotoGP weekend at Laguna in early July. It has been reported that over 90,000 tickets have already been pre-sold for the event. Also a hot topic of discussion was the evolution of the U.S. Superkart Championship, which will likely move to separate Eastern and Western divisions with a combined shootout event for the title late in the year.
Keep tuned to EKN for any updates on the development of the program. Complete in-depth coverage of the event is scheduled for publication in the December issue of Super Kart Illustrated – http://www.superkartmag.com.
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