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| September 23, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: Rotax Max Grand Nationals – South Bend Raceway Park |
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 | | Zach Woodsford has the pink "rally" suit out again this year (Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
The first day of competition for the Rotax Max Grand Nationals wrapped up at the South Bend Raceway Park. The paddock at the track is jammed with Rotax drivers from across the Western Hemisphere taking part in the race. At stake beyond the National Championships are the opportunities to represent the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica at the Rotax Max World Championships that are set to place in Malaysia during the Thanksgiving Weekend. Drivers from three of the classes racing this weekend – International, Junior and RM1 – are running for a spot on their respective national teams.
Many of the major players from last year are on hand this weekend and are looking to either repeat or improve their performances from 2004. All are tackling the challenging layout at South Bend that has seen some big changes since it was acquired by MRP last year. The safety improvements are noticeable as many fences have been set back and gravel traps have been added to keep karts from getting near the barriers. Overall, it’s it a much improved facility.
Headlining the weekend is the Rotax International class. For the first time since the program began, there will be a new national champion as three-time defending titleist Jordon Musser has decided not to run again this year. It was a difficult decision for the Texan, but now in his final year are a Mechanical Engineering student, Musser simply could not afford to take over a week off to come to test and race.
The International field is very tight with 44 of the 63 qualifiers within one second of the pole time set by Juan Sanso. Running second was Zach Woodsford (Birel) who was solid last year in Las Vegas while Stuart Marsell (Arrow) was third quick in the 15-minute open session. Wesley Phillips (CRG) and Arturo Gonzalez rounded out the top five.
After the qualifying session, the drivers were split in four flights for the rounds of heat races. The first round of heat races saw groups A and B then C and D face off. In that first heat, it was Woodsford taking a four-second win over Juan Sanso. The Prime Motorsports team continues to have an impressive season with a third place run by Kyle Hedin (Gillard). In the second group, Stuart Marsell drove his Shayne Shipley-tuned Arrow to a close win over Wesley Phillips’ CRG. Running a solid third was Texan Lindsey Adams.
 | | Reigning Masters National Champion Andy Seesemann battled back problems but stayed near the front of the pack (Photo: Todd McCall - otp.ca) |
In the Master’s class, reigning National Champion Andy Seesemann (Birel) took the pole despite dealing with an injured back. Running second was David Skinner (Birel) with Gary Pesner (CRG) third. In the opening heat, first turn contact between Seesemann and Skinner brought out the red flag. While Seesemann would make the start, Skinner did not having been transported to the hospital as a precaution. Once underway, Seesemann fell back with David Odenthal (CRG) grabbing the win over Pesner and Kyle Eggleton (Monza). In the second heat, Seesemann held off the challenges of Odenthal to score the win. Eggleton again finished third.
The RM1 class that will send three driver to Malaysia saw Justin Melton on pole with former 80 Junior National Champion Jonathan Beason second and Phil Gordon third. The heat race saw no changes in the top three. Beason and Gordon get another shot at Melton Saturday.
With 49 drivers in the Junior class, the action will be close. In fact, 34 of the 49 drivers were within one second after qualifying. Setting the fast time was Gerard Gonzales followed closely by Timothy Stewart (Birel). The first round of heats had James Kennedy score an easy win over Gonzales in the first group while a pair of KRT’s driven by Javier Gonzalez, Jr. and Daniel Alejandro Suarez Garza ran first and second in the second group. In heat two, Gerard Gonzales won the first group, beating David Holland (Birel) by a half-second. Backing up his heat one win was Kennedy with Gonzalez, Jr. near five seconds back.
The final class on hand is the MiniMax class where Daniel Formal (Birel) set the pole time with Nick Neri (Fittipaldi) second. In the heats, Neri won both of his heats while Formal ran second and first in his to run-ups.
The day ended on time and with light rain falling, there was a very relaxed atmosphere in the paddock. Drivers were throwing footballs and in general enjoying their time at the track. With more heats and LCQ’s on the schedule tomorrow, things will no doubt get more tense.
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