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| July 09, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting – CARTBC – Saturday Report |
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 | Lorenzo Mandarino was the fastest ICC in the field but lost the race after coming in underweight
(Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
Saturday morning started out with very cloudy skies and a good rain shower keeping the CARTBC facility damp for morning practice sessions. The rain stopped toward the end of qualifying and lap times dropped particularly in the ICC class. By the beginning of the Prefinals, the track had completely dried allowing the teams to put the Bridgestone dry tires on for the first time all weekend. Controversy and tech issues filled the first day of racing action and as of right now, the official ICA results have yet to be posted.
ICC
The ICC qualifying periodsaw a number of drivers swapping the pole position during today’s fifteen minute session. Among those battling for the Prefinal pole were Jason Bowles (Tony Kart), Gary Carlton (Trackmagic) and Matt Jaskol (CRG). Bowles set the fast time early and steadily improved his time as the track began to dry during the run. Through the midsection of qualifying, Carlton was fast, bettering Bowles’ time and sitting on top of the time sheets. As the session drew to a close, Joe White (Top Kart) slotted into second but eventually he was dropped back to fourth. When the checkered flag flew, Bowles was on pole with Carlton lining up beside him. Jaskol would sit on the inside of row two with White beside to him. Rounding out the top five was Lorenzo Mandarino (CRG). Surprisingly, Alex Speed (Birel) could manage only ninth.
The opening laps of the ICC Prefinal pitted Bowles, Mandarino and Carlton in a fight for the point. Off the line, Carlton took the holeshot but came under immediate attack from Bowles. Moving up was Jaskol who ran as high as second place but faded with brake problems. Eventually, Mandarino took the lead and began to extend a large gap over Carlton and Bowles. Mid-pack, the fight was on as several of the regularly fast drivers, like Speed, Phinny and Jurca battled for their Final starting positions.
In the closing laps, Carlton began closing on Mandarino but came up short. Mandarino took the win over Carlton with Bowles in third. Tad Funakoshi (Top Kart) finished in fourth ahead of teammate White. Getting himself into the hunt for the Final win was Speed who turned his first laps in the dry at the start of the race with a sixth place finish.
 | Tad Funakoshi was the winner in ICC at CARTBC
(Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
The ICC Final was action-packed right from the drop of the flag as Bowles and Carlton ran each other hard down the front straight to the first corner. The contact between the two sent Bowles spinning and Carlton’s nose cone flying. Bowles was able to resume the race at the end of the field but Carlton’s race was over. A bent tie rod and missing nose ended his day.
Moving forward to the fourth corner, contact between Jake Thompson (Italkart) and Ryna Phinny, ended Jon Allen’s (MBA) day. When Phinny hit Thompson he was launched and landed on Allen. By the end of the first lap, Mandarino was out front with Funakoshi second and Speed in third. White was running a strong fourth with several cars all lined up in tow.
With about a quarter of the race complete, Speed’s motor was audibly off and he began losing time to Mandarino and Funakoshi. Working through the field was Jurca who began the day in 11th. Over the course of the race, his Italkart set the fastest lap time at 49.421 seconds. Jurca picked his way through the field and once by White, set his sites on Speed and then Funakoshi. The laps would run out on Jurca as he settled for third. Mandarino cruised to a 3.6 second win and Funakoshi delivered Top Kart’s first pro-level podium in the history of Stars competition. White came across in fourth and Ryan Yop (Tony Kart) backed up his Reno run with a fifth this weekend in British Columbia.
After the race was concluded, two drivers were disqualified for being underweight. The first was Mandarino who came across a single pound below the minimum limit. Joining him on the bounced list was Yop who saw his fourth place – after Mandarino was removed – taken away by a measly .2 lbs . That allowed Jake Thompson (Italkart) and Nick Maddison (First Kart) to round out the top five.
ICA
 | David Jurca is the unofficial ICA winner after coming from the back of the field
(Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
The big news in the ICA class this morning is the absence of point leader and SKI’s top-ranked Helmut Sanden. According to Orlado/ Mach 1 team boss Darko Orsic, Sanden was forced to skip the weekend due to conflicting events here and in Germany where also leads the points. With no drops available in the German series, he was forced to bypass the Stars event.
With Sanden out, the SKI ICA #1 ranking is up for grabs and a good weekend from either Kevin Glover (CRG), Phil Giebler (Intrepid) or Joel Miller (Tony Kart) could mean major changes in the ICA rankings.
Today’s ICA qualifying session was run in the wet and saw a four-way battle for the pole between Italian Motors drivers David Jurca, Tyler Dueck, Colby Jenn and Tony Kart’s Joel Miller. Miller led the early portions of the session until the Italkarts moved to the front with Jurca taking the point. The excitement came at the end of the day with the checkered flag flying as Miller crossed the stripe with a 1:02.853 second lap to take the provisional pole. Two karts later, Jurca tripped the lights 0.1 seconds faster and won the pole for the day. Miller joined him on the front row. Dueck ended the session third while Giebler was in fourth. Rounding out the top five was Jenn.
The opening laps of the ICA Prefinal saw a trio of Italian Motors drivers- Jurca, Dueck and Jenn running in the top three. They were putting some space on the field while Miller and Glover were battling for fourth. Near the halfway point, Jurca dropped out with an undisclosed mechanical problem. That left Dueck the win by nearly eight seconds. Glover and Miller continued their battle and eventually overhauled Jenn. Glover went on the finish second with Miller in third. Jenn crossed fourth and Justin Anfinson (Tony Kart) finished in fifth.
The ICA Final was a strong run from the back for Jurca. The action started before the green flag flew as pre-race favorite Glover was out of the race after his Maxter engine expired in the reconnaissance lap. Taking the green, Dueck jumped into the lead with Miller and Jenn falling in behind. Back in the pack, Jurca was moving up as was Giebler and Hebner. Heading into turn four, contact between the Intrepid and CRG sent Giebler spinning, ending his day.
By the half-way mark, Dueck had built a big lead with Miller second. Jurca was coming through the field and moved into fourth and began stalking his teammate Jenn. Eventually, the Federal Way Washington-based driver got to second, making easy work of Miller and Jenn. It was clear by this point that his TM-powered Italkart was the fastest kart on the track. With about three to go, Jurca pulled the trigger and took the lead. Over the final laps, he built a 2.5 second gap over Dueck. At the checkers, it was an Italian Motors 1-2 with Miller’s Tony Kart third. Cole Whitt (Italkart) was fourth and Jenn crossed in fifth.
The end of the race did not mark the conclusion of the ICA event though as the results remain under official review. The issue revolves around race-winner Jurca and whether he jumped the start. Race director Kevin Williams is looking hard at all evidence and right now, plans to have a decision by Sunday morning
 | Italian Motors' Hayden Duerson won a close JICA fight
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
JICA
In the JICA qualifying session, Brett Smrz (Intrepid) led the way despite his injured left wrist. He took his Rodney Berryhill-tuned Intrepid to a 1:04.413 second lap. Running second was Scott Rossi (CRG), less than a tenth of a second behind. Brendan Langlois put his Maranello into the third slot. Rounding out the top five were Hayden Duerson (Italkart) and Reno winner Sabastian Saavedra (Vanspeed).
The JICA Prefinal was one of the better sets we’ve seen all year with five drivers going hammer to tong virtually the entire distance. The fight was up front between Smrz, Duerson and Rossi. The lead swapped several times with Smrz heading the group for much of the race. Towards the end was when the lead pack expanded to five. Smrz eventually took the flag as the winner with Saavedra in second and Duerson in third. Rounding out the top five were Rossi and Jacob Neal (CRG).
Off the line in the JICA Final, Smrz led the procession but eventually, he lost the lead and the battle was on for Langlois, Duerson, Saavedra and Rossi. Duerson and Langlois had a good scrap going particularly in the closing laps and the lead was passed back and forth. Off the final corner, Langlois dropped to the inside on the track and made a move for the win. At the stripe, it was Duerson, both hands in the air taking the victory by a nose with Langlois second. Saavedra finished in third while Rossi turned in a strong fourth place performance. Neal finished the day in fifth.
80 Junior
 | Billy Goshen was the easy 80 Junior winner
(Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
The 80 Junior qualifying session was the first group of the day as Phillip Arscott (Swiss Hutless) navigated the slippery CARTBC track to win the pole by almost a second over the second place qualifying Spencer Raine (Margay). The Top Kart duo of Levi Roberts and double Reno winner Billy Goshen qualified in third and fourth. Dusty Davis put his Kart Mini onto the inside of the third row to round out the top five.
After the drivers headed to the tech shed, the starting order would change was Arscott, Raine and Goshen were all DQ’d and sent to the back of the grid. Arscott and Raine both had airbox configuration issues while Goshen’s wheel width was off. The disqualifications moved Roberts to the pole.
Shaking off the disappointment on the disqualification, Arscott charged through the field in the 80 Junior Prefinal. By the end of the first lap, he had moved from 11th to sixth. He spent several laps held up by Alex Doman (Invader) but once past resumed his charge to the front. With about four laps to go, he was on the bumper of the leader, Roberts, and heading into the third turn, was in the lead. Arscott cruised to the win followed by Roberts and Christian Stover (Tony Kart). Rounding out the top five were Jahan Mongul (KRT) and Doman.
Making the huge move at the start of the 80 Junior Final was Billy Goshen. Starting from the sixth grid stall, Goshen was in second by the first corner and by the end of the first lap, he was in the lead. Slotting in behind were Roberts and Arscott, who did their best to stay in contact with the streaking Goshen. Through the middle section of the race, Goshen had a huge lead but then Arscott and Roberts began closing the gap. With each lap, the opening closed until the three were all in a train. Goshen held on for the win followed by Roberts and Arscott. Stover finished well back in fourth with Davis fifth.
Cadet
 | A close finish saw Miles Maroney win the Cadet class
(Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
Leading the way in the Cadet qualifying session was Team Speed’s Brendan Phinny (Birel) with a 1:10.026-second lap. Running second was Gustavo Menezes (Top Kart), he ran a half-second behind the polesitter. In the second row was Zach Zimmerly (Top Kart) and Orlado Racing’s Owen Chandler (Mach 1). Rounding out the top five was Miles Maroney (Nevoso).
In the Cadet Prefinal, the now familiar train of Taylor Miinch (Birel), Maroney, Phinny and Zimmerly were all in the hunt for the win. It was Phinny at the front of the field as he hammered quick laps all race long. With Zimmerly behind, Phinny took the win. Rounding out the top five were Maroney, Miinch and Phillip Orcic (Mach 1).
The Final saw Phinny, Maroney and Zimmerly all build an early lead over the rest of the field. Zimmerly’s race came to an early end when he ran afoul of the race officials when they decided his nose cone was making too much contact with the rear bumper of Maroney’s Nevoso. With Zimmerly gone, the race for the win came down to Phinny and Maroney. Off the final corner, Maroney dropped to the inside and had a drag race with Phinny for the win. At the stripe, it was Maroney by 0.032 seconds ahead of Phinny in second. Menezes took the final podium spot. Rounding out the top five were Dylan Noble (Nevoso) and Owen Chandler.
With the day mostly complete, some drivers are looking to redeem difficult weekends. Top of that list is Mandarino who was clearly the class of the ICC field but had his win taken over 16 small ounces. With good weather on tap for tomorrow, the action should be every bit as exciting as it was today.
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