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| January 22, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside - Rotax Max World Finals Day 4 |
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 | Jordon Musser (#49) and Scott Campbell (#20) work around the front row at the start of a RM1 heat race
(Photo: Sportimage Communications) |
Friday was the biggest day of racing so far here at the Gran Karting Club in Lanzarote. And what we saw today was just a warm up for the finals tomorrow. The day started with one last test session before finishing up the last of the qualifying heats to set the grid for Saturday's finals. Having been to three of these events now, and being a proud American, I am pleased to announce that this is the strongest representation we've had at the Rotax World Finals since it's inception. RM1 drivers Jordon Musser and Scott Campbell have consistently run at the top of the grid every time out. They start the pre-final side-by-side on the fourth row after qualifying seventh (Jordon) and eight (Scott). Junior drivers Christopher Boisclair and Timmy Megenbier are showing they have the goods too by qualifying fourth and tenth respectively.
Justin Melton has had a good week as well. After the first two heats were run Thursday, Justin was pumped to have turned the sixth fastest race lap of all RM1 competitors. Trouble did head Justin's way though as in one of the heats he was involved in a shunt with three other karts. During their incident, Justin's RM1 suffered severe damage to the steering column, tie rods, spindles and left front wheel. Despite the damage he was able to continue on for a top ten finish. Unfortunately, after the race officials determined he was to blame for the incident, either entirely or in part, and subsequently docked him down to 18th. This really hit hard as it seemed that meant he was going to have to race his way in through the LCQ. Fortunately, his other good runs in the previous heats left him safely in the pre-final with a 19th place starting spot.
Michael Johnson had a slow start to the week but has had a couple good runs to come from 22nd to just inside the top ten. For his performance he will line up 22nd on the pre-final grid.
 | | Looking to move up in the Junior Pre-final American Tim Megenbier |
The third and last heat race for the juniors went off late in the day and started with a bang. Two drivers in the first two rows got together and all hell broke loose. It was reminiscent of The Big One at a NASCAR Daytona race as almost half the karts had some sort of contact or another. Among them was Canadian driver Boisclair, who ended up in the tires with several belt parts. Fortunately the race was red flagged and the drivers were allowed to return to the pits and have the karts checked over for safety reasons. This allowed for proper repairs to be made and 30 minutes later the juniors were at it again. I'll say one thing, these kids may be young and less experienced, but some of them can crash like they've been doing it for 50 years. On the restart there were three different incidents on the first lap. While none were bad enough to bring out another red flag, one did wonder if there would be any finishers if it continued that way. Fortunately most karts kept going and it was a pretty good race to watch.
I do want to give kudos (that's old-man slang for props) to Mike Herda. In the middle of the race three karts got together right in front of him. With them spinning right in his part it looked for a moment like he had no where to go. But through the smoke and dust he found an opening and, though he had to take to the rocks to get through, he made it past the other karts without a scratch.
Christopher Boisclair recovered from his damage in the aborted start to take a fine sixth. Tim Megenbier and Hugo Ouellette had solid runs and ran together towards the end to come home 13th and 14th respectively.
The last race of the day was the RM1 LCQ. Most of the photographers gathered down towards turn one for this one. They were left disappointed though as all 34 drivers made it through without incident. Sylvain Clair was in this race and was running well. However a small spin knocked him out of contention to take part in the finals.
- Ken Johnson EKN Correspondent
EKN Rotax Max World Finals Photo Gallery at EKN Home Page in Photo Section
RM1 Heat A vs. C Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Ken Allemann (Switzerland) | | 2. | David Bellchambers (United Kingdom) | | 3. | Jordan Musser (USA) | | 4. | Scott Campbell (Canada) | | 5. | Claudio Galeone (Italy) | | 6. | Cenel America (Netherlands) | | 7. | Cameron Thorpe (Australia) | | 8. | Michael Bergenswtahl (Sweden) | | 9. | James Tumulty (Ireland) | | 10. | Justin Melton (USA) | | Other | | 15. | Marco Di Leo (Canada) | | 17. | Sylvain Clair (Canada) | | 33. | Nick Weil (USA) | |
RM1 Heat B vs. D Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Wesleigh Orr (South Africa) | | 2. | Cristiano Morgado (South Africa) | | 3. | Arya Setyaki (Indonesia) | | 4. | Danny Bleek (Netherlands) | | 5. | Omar Martin (Spain) | | 6. | Satrio Hermanto (Indonesia) | | 7. | Antonio Fernandez (Spain) | | 8. | David Vanrykelen (Belgium) | | 9. | Juan Sanso (Costa Rica) | | 10. | Carsten Mueller (Germany) | | Other | | 12. | Michael Johnson (USA) | | |
Rotax Junior - Heat 2 Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Adam Christodoulou (United Kingdom) | | 2. | Benjamin Salvatore (France) | | 3. | Nicolas Dezutter (Belgium) | | 4. | Christopher Boisclair (Canada) | | 5. | Michiel Beutels (Belgium) | | 6. | Dominik Kraihamer (Austria) | | 7. | Ralph Odendaal (South Africa) | | 8. | Nico Marvin (Spain) | | 9. | Gaetan Loncle (France) | | 10. | Danindro ARIONINDITO (Indonesia) | | Other | | 13. | Tim Megenbier (USA) | | 14. | Hugo Ouellette (Canada) | | 18. | Mike Herda (USA) | |
RM1 Heat A vs. D Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Wesleigh Orr (South Africa) | | 2. | Cristiano Morgado (South Africa) | | 3. | Tristam Oman (United Kingdom) | | 4. | Ken Allemann (Switzerland) | | 5. | Jordan Musser (USA) | | 6. | Antonio Fernandez (Spain) | | 7. | Omar Martin (Spain) | | 8. | Jan Andreasen (Denmark) | | 9. | Marco Di Leo (Canada) | | 10. | Marc Murray (South Africa) | | Other | | 18. | Justin Melton (USA) | | 25. | Sylvain Clair (Canada) | |
RM1 Heat B vs. C Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Satrio Hermanto (Indonesia) | | 2. | Arya Setyaki (Indonesia) | | 3. | David Bellchambers (United Kingdom) | | 4. | Cameron Thorpe (Australia) | | 5. | Danny Bleek (Netherlands) | | 6. | Johan Renaux (France) | | 7. | Scott Campbell (Canada) | | 8. | Juan Sanso (Costa Rica) | | 9. | Satosi Nakagawa (Japan) | | 10. | Fidencio Guzman (Mexico) | | Other | | 12. | Michael Johnson (USA) | | 28. | Nick Weil (USA) | |
Rotax Junior - Heat 3 Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Benjamin Salvatore (France) | | 2. | Adam Christodoulou (United Kingdom) | | 3. | Luuk Glansdorp (Netherlands) | | 4. | Earl Bamber (New Zealand) | | 5. | Michiel Beutels (Belgium) | | 6. | Christopher Boisclair (Canada) | | 7. | Ralph Odendaal (South Africa) | | 8. | Nicolas Dezutter (Belgium) | | 9. | Jordie Linstrom (Australia) | | 10. | Nico Marvin (Spain) | | Other | | 13. | Tim Megenbier (USA) | | 14. | Hugo Ouellette (Canada) | | 22. | Mike Herda (USA) | |
RM1 - Last Chance Qualifier Results
| Pos. | Driver (Country)| 1. | Tiago Ribeiro (Portugal) | | 2. | Javier Fernandez (Spain) | | 3. | Michael Bergenswtahl (Sweden) | | 4. | David Vanrykelen (Belgium) | | 5. | Marc Doppelfeld (Zimbabwe) | | 6. | Thot-Christian Ebbesvik (Norway) | | 7. | Jarrod Carlyle (New Zealand) | | 8. | James Tumulty (Ireland) | | 9. | Fabienne Lanz (South Africa) | | 10. | Sam Ghalle (France) | | Other | | 32. | Sylvain Clair (Canada) | |
RM1 Pre-final Grid | Row 1 | | Wesleigh Orr (South Africa) | Ken Alleman (Switzerland) | | Row 2 | | Cristiano Morgado (South Africa) | David Bellchambers (UK) | | Row 3 | | Satiro Hermanto (Indonesia) | Arya Setyaki (Indonesia) | | Row 4 | | Jordon Musser (USA) | Scott Campbell (Canada) | | Row 5 | | Cameron Thorpe (Australia) | Antonio Fernandez (Spain) | | Row 6 | | Claudio Galeone (Italy) | Danny Bleek (Netherlands) | | Row 7 | | Tristam Oman (UK) | Satosi Nakagawa (Japan) | | Row 8 | | Ormar Martin (Spain) | Juan Sanso (Costa Rica) | | Row 9 | | Carsten Mueller (Germany) | Jan Andreasen (Denmark) | | Row 10 | | Justin Melton (USA) | Marco DiLeo (Canada) | | Row 11 | | Marc Murray (South Africa) | Michael Johnson (USA) | | Row 12 | | Johan Renaux (France) | Cenel America (Netherlands) | | Row 13 | | Tiago Ribeiro (Portugal) | Javier Fernandez (Spain) | | Row 14 | | Michael Bergenswtahl (Sweden) | David Vanrykelen (Belgium) | | Row 15 | | Marc Doppelfeld (Zimbabwe) | Thot-Christian Ebbesvik (Norway) | | Row 16 | | Jarrod Carlyle (New Zealand) | James Tumulty (Ireland) | | Row 17 | | Fabienne Lanz (South Africa) | Sam Ghalleb (France) | |
Rotax Junior Pre-final Grid| Row 1 | | Adam Christodoulou (UK) | Benjamin Salvatore (France) | | Row 2 | | Michiel Beutels (Belgium) | Christopher Boisclair (Canada) | | Row 3 | | Nicolas Dezutter (Belgium) | Earl Bamber (New Zealand) | | Row 4 | | Ralph Odendaal (South Africa) | Nico Marvin (New Zealand) | | Row 5 | | Dominik Kraihamer (Austria) | Tim Megenbier (USA) | | Row 6 | | Marlon Stockinger (Phillipeans) | Danindro Arionindito (Indonesia) | | Row 7 | | Luuk Glansdorp (Netherlands) | Zulfikar Fahmi (Indonesia) | | Row 8 | | Tin Sritrai (Thailand) | Hugo Ouellette (Canada) | | Row 9 | | Shigehrio Noda (Japan) | Kevin Poza (Spain) | | Row 10 | | Shafiq Ali (Malaysia) | Mike Herda (USA) | | Row 11 | | Jordie Linstrom (Australia) | Armaan Ebrahim (India) | | Row 12 | | Alexandre Mata (Portugal) | Gaetan Lomcle (France) | | Row 13 | | Julian Murmann (Australia) | Dimitris Fratzeskakis (Greece) | | Row 14 | | Ross Jamison (Singapore) | Gabriel Kocher (Cyprus) | | Row 15 | | Jose Lizano (Costa Rica) | Rocco Auteri (Italy) | | Row 16 | | Daniel Suarez Garza (Mexico) | Mads Langberg (Denmark) | |
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