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| November 04, 2005 News |
| EKN Trackside: USSC National Championship Runoffs – Friday Report |
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 | Eastern FE Champion J.R. Osborne switched to his P-1 machine after problems with his primary
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
Qualifying Results Hot Link
The United States Superkart Championship Nationals is now underway under sunny skies in Braselton, GA at the famed Road Atlanta facility. Action began early on Friday with practice this morning and throughout the day for both the USSC and WKA National Road Racing Series, finishing up with a 10-minute qualifying session for the USSC program.
The timed session got underway at just after 4:00 pm here at Road Atlanta as the sun began working its way towards the Georgia horizon. The ambient temperatures had leveled off and, despite the later time in the day, it was still quite warm. Throughout the day’s practice sessions, the superkart drivers had been grouped with the sit-up and laydown 125s and the resultant speed differentials made for some hairy situations. More than one 250 was forced to check up on the exit of the course’s final corner and after conference with USSC officials regarding the potential danger, Event Director Robby Harper offered up a ten-minute qualifying run for the USSC competitors only at the end of the day.
Defending champion J.R. Osborne had led the way in Formula E through the practice sessions, dropping down to a 1:28 in his penultimate run. Osborne set the track record at a 1:27.2 in qualifying for last year’s round at Road Atlanta and with his improved pace this year, the time looked to be in jeopardy. Nemesis factory driver Derek Eastty was right there as well, turning a number of 1:28s in his traffic-filled practice outings to put his name in the hat. In ICE, #1 plate holder Andy Kiker (Anderson) led the way right out of the trailer despite missing the opening sessions when he arrived late to the track, held up by problems with the team’s motorhome. Kiker was the odds-on favorite to take the class pole this afternoon.
 | Derek Eastty put the FPE powered Nemesis ride on the outside of row 1 for tomorrow's Prefinal
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
The primary news heading into the run was that Osborne had been forced into his back-up car, a Yamaha TZ250-powered P-1. A broken ignition rotor in the BRC250 that powers his new Stockman put the primary car on the sidelines for the session and with a new part on its way to Road Atlanta via Fed-Ex, Osborne’s tuner Ted Dale dusted off the T-Car. Once prepped, Dale sent his driver out onto the track as the first to take to the green for the 10-minute session.
Right away, the record fell as Osborne turned a stunning 1:26.494 on his out-lap. Chris Taylor (Turfrey) was second fastest on the first lap and then dropped his time to a 1:29.366 on the second circuit to sit ahead of Kiker, who led the ICE group with a 1:32.040. Eastty was third in class and fourth overall out of the box but he had yet to get up to speed. Throughout the session, Eastty battled with gearbox issues on his FPE twin, which were hampering his ability to engage sixth gear at redline. Forced to short-shift, Eastty did what he could and was driving as hard as possible.
On his fourth circuit, Osborne lowered the record even further, blistering to a lap of 1:25.855 that would set the bar for the day. Eastty continued to adapt to his problems and lowered his time to a 1:30.070 while Taylor remained in second with his low 1:29.
 | Andy Kiker was able to earn the ICE pole after just two practice sessions today
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
In the ICE class, Kiker had things his own way running a 1:31.269 while Western Division champion Ryen Miller (PVP) sat second having cut over two seconds off his time with a 1: 33.704. Class frontrunner Jim Ingram ran the entire session and looked good but he was not running a transponder, by mistake, and will be starting from the tail of the field in the Prefinal.
The fifth lap of the session saw both Taylor and Eastty turn up the wick. Taylor cut another tenth of his time to post a 1:29.2 as Eastty closed the gap with a 1:29.4. The Texan hotshoe would find even more a lap later when he ran to an off-pole-winning 1:28.358. It was a solid time, but was still 2.5 seconds behind Osborne’s new track record. Should the team be able to make the necessary adjustments to the gearbox set-up, Eastty should have an easy run in second.
When the session closed and the checkers fell, Osborne had won the Formula E pole and the new track record with a 1:25.855. Eastty sat second and will start the Prefinal from the outside of the front row while Taylor will grid up alongside Johnny West (Stockman) on row two. Completing the top five in Formula, Reggie Brown (P-1) turned a 1:34.917 to take the inside of row three beside Marc Croslyn (Formula 1).
 | Superkart rookie Ryen Miller showed he can run with the big dogs with his outside pole run in ICE
(Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) |
In ICE, Kiker held his position as the top 250cc Single driver in the country with a pole-winning 1:31.269 which had him fourth overall. Miller was second in class with a 1:33.704 and he will take up station on the outside of the first row for the start of the Prefinal. Row two will see Sid Swift (Anderson) and Scott Lowenstine (MSR) while Cory Simpson (Nemesis) and David Lirette (Nemesis) were fifth and sixth, respectively. |
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