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| March 17, 2006 News |
| EKN Trackside: Stars of Karting Race of the Americas – Friday Report |
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 | PSL Karting's Jan Velez-Walter was quickest in the wet for ICC
(Photo: David Cole - SKI) |
As we reported in our midday posting, the opening rounds of today’s practice schedule enjoyed clear skies and the much-awaited beginning of the new championship. After an off-season of testing and regional competition in the warmer southern states, it was time to figure which new team and driver pairings are going to be successful out of the box.
With precipitation expected for the weekend, as per the weather reports, the hope for a full day of dry track time on Friday was thwarted at 3:30pm when a steady rain began to fall during the second ICC group of the fourth. Despite the fact that the weather had been threatening for quite a while, only three drivers were prepared to make the immediate switch to wets as Alan Rudolph, Gary Carlton and, eventually, Ryan Yop were the only pilots to bolt on Bridgestone wets to complete the available track time.
Before the rain came, the drivers enjoyed three sessions of full speed lapping. In ICC, KLS Racing’s Fritz Leesman (GP) posted the quickest lap from the second group with a 42.518-second lap in the third round. The ‘Texas Tornado’ Collin Lynn (Birel) was second quick with a 42.604 to sit just ahead of new Italian Motors recruit Tad Funakoshi (Italkart). David Jurca showed well for the Tony Kart USA team by leading the first group with a 42.819. OVRP.com’s Kyle Wiegand (Topkart) timed in fifth overall.
The fourth ICC session was split when the rain hit during the second group, but in the opening group, Jurca led the way with a 42.863 to top Kyle Marcelli (CRG) and Lorenzo Mandarino (GP). With a completely wet day expected tomorrow, everything is up in the air.
 | British driver Jake Rosenzweig leads ICA pilots in the rain along with teammate Alexander Sims
(Photo: David Cole - SKI) |
In the full wet fifth session, Jurca showed the way for the first group with a 54.849 to lead Philip Giebler (Intrepid) and Philippe Gelinas (Sodikart). A winner in the rain at Shawano last summer, Gelinas will be tough if the rain continues into Saturday. In the second group, Jan Velez (CRG) turned up the wick with a smoking 54.052 to lead the entire category. Trackmagic’s Carlton posted the second fastest time ahead of Rudolph and Funakoshi. Jurca’s fastest lap still placed him fourth overall.
The ICA drivers enjoyed a fully dry fourth session and last year’s West Coast champion Joel Miller (Tony Kart) was on top of the charts with a 44.908. J3 Competition’s Kosmic drivers Anthony Llopiz and Brandon Bealer sat second and third while Chris Keller (Gillard) and Colby Jenn (Italkart) rounded out the top five. In the fifth and final session of the day, run entirely in the wet, PSL Karting’s Jake Rosenzweig and Alexander Sims, both on CRG, were quickest with Rosenzweig leading the way with a 55.402. ICA rookie James Kennedy (Birel) came home third ahead of Juan Sanso (CRG) and Keller.
Saturday’s action will see a morning warm-up and practice sessions while Gatorz Pole Qualifying will begin at 11:30 am Central. EKN will get these results online as soon as possible and we will be posting the top fives to the official forum thread within seconds of each checkered flag. At 2:50 pm, the Prefinals will go off with the two groups each for the ICA, Cadet, JICA and ICC classes and just one for the Spec Racer division. |
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