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| November 16, 2006 News |
| EKN Trackside: Rotax Grand Finals – Thursday Report |
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Thursday Paddock Podcast
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After wrapping up the available practice sessions and official qualifying runs on Wednesday, the North American drivers at this year’s Rotax Grand Finals returned to the Kartodromo Viana for the first wheel-to-wheel action of the event. Today’s excitement was all about the first two rounds of heat races, and intelligent runs were desperately needed by the Team USA contingent. Unspectacular performances in the qualifying sessions on Wednesday would ensure that the team members would start deeper in the grids than they would have liked
 | Acceleration Karting's Curtis Cooksey put in a strong Heat 2 performance to finish sixth
(Photo: Chris Walker - kartpix.net) |
DD2
The first qualifying race for the DD2 category was a crapshoot in the Service Park with the weather clearing quickly, however, not a single driver dared roll the dice with slick tires and the field was filled with Mojo rain shod karts. By the time the 15 laps had been completed, the race line was dry and 27 sets of rains were all but destroyed. After a rough start that saw much contact, Texan Jordan Musser stepped up as the top Team USA driver in this heat by attacking from his 17th place starting position before recording a DQ for being 0.3kg underweight. Musser would run as high as 12th, but he ended up 14th in the final tally. January Grove held station in her 20th position, while Greg Thek and Nathan Mauel would come home 21st and 22nd, respectively. It was a tough outing for the American contingent to kick off the day.
The Canadians had a much better time of it in the opening heat, with Quebec’s Pier-Luc Ouellette racing to a strong second. Teammate Jean Francois Valour battled in the top ten all race and took fifth at the stripe while Dennis Yasar remained in the front half of the field, advancing seven positions to 12th.
A first-corner incident in the Group C vs. Group D heat collected both American Curtis Cooksey and Canadian Scott Campbell but, while Cooksey continued, Campbell was relegated to the sidelines. Justin Melton would slip through before the carnage developed, advancing to tenth in the early laps before fading to 13th at the finish. Cooksey put in a spirited drive after the crash and teamed with Portugal’s Rui Vieira to work back into the top-20, actually ending up 16th on the official results, maintaining his starting position.
When the second round of heats got underway after lunch, Ouellette was impressive in leading a few laps after getting past polesitter Wesleigh Orr. The multi-time Rotax World Champ would eventually get back by, but Ouellette hung on to second and is currently looking like a challenger for the race win on Saturday. Starting 16th, Cooksey enjoyed an excellent start to advance to sixth on the opening lap, while both Musser and Grove would see their races end in a turn five pile-up. Cooksey would continue to advance to an impressive fifth but would slip back to sixth at the checker. Nathan Mauel and Justin Melton capped the best Team USA heat race yet, taking ninth and tenth to put three American drivers in the top-10.
In the final DD2 heat race – B vs. D – Greg Thek was the lone American and he enjoyed a solid run, scrapping through a wild first lap battle that saw many three-wide fights for position. Thek continued to push forward despite battling a brake system gremlin, taking 18th in the final tally, a five-position improvement from his starting spot. Campbell was the top Canadian in a run to 13th while Yasar was 19th, finishing right on Thek’s rear bumper.
 | Guillermo Freile recorded the highest finish of the Senior drivers with a 13th in round 2
(Photo: Ken Johnson - soa-design.com) |
Senior
The first half of the America’s Team Gearbox Senior drivers took to the track for the A vs. B heat race. At the start, it was almost a stand-still as the drivers stacked up in turn one with all of the American drivers making it through with Ben Searcy leading the way. The Alabama pilot moved up several positions at the start and was looking to improve on his status before going off track in turn seven. Searcy fell back several positions and found himself running behind Ryan Fowler, who had also moved up after starting 35th. The two were running 25th and 26th for a couple laps before Searcy was able to get by Fowler in turn four. About halfway through the 15-lap sprint, Fowler got loose under braking and spun heading into turn one, dropping him back to finish 30th. Joey Collins joined the fight for 25th with Searcy, who would take the spot at the line with Collins finishing 27th.
The second heat for the Seniors began with excitement for America’s Team Gearbox as last year’s Grand National winner Wes Phillips moved up from his 21st starting spot to seventh within the first three corners. As the lead group began its 15-lap battle, Phillips capitalized on their errors and was third by the second lap. As he settled in, the fourth place driver tried to pass coming out of turn three and made contact with Phillips’ right rear corner, spinning the American into the grass. Dropping to the tail of the field, he was able to work his way back up to finish 22nd, but a 15-second penalty was added when he filled an empty spot ahead of him on the formation lap, ending with 28th in the point calculations. This year’s Rotax Senior Grand National champion Mike Rolison recorded the best finish for the squad thus far with a 15th place finish, up three spots from his starting position. Guillermo Freile stayed at his grid position (22nd), while David Odenthal made up ground early before contact with a broken kart slowed him down, dropping back to 33rd.
After a multi-kart incident in turn one started off the A vs. C heat race, the event’s Race Director called for a red flag and a restart of the race. On the restart, Phillips got another great jump, but it was all for nothing as electrical problems shut down his engine and ended his second heat on the sidelines between turns two and three. Searcy became the lead Team USA driver until pushing off the track at turn one, dropping him toward the back of the field. Throughout the race, Odenthal and Collins battled for the 22nd spot on the track with Collins eventually winning the battle. At the line, they both moved up a spot, finishing 21st and 22nd. Fowler was also on the move, advancing 10 spots to 25th, just ahead of Searcy.
Rolison got a great start in the Group B vs. Group D heat, starting 18th and jumping into ninth by lap three when the red flag came out for an injured driver who had flipped on the racetrack. On the restart, the pack was bunched up and another kart climbed the back of Rolison heading into turn one, knocking the exhaust off the motor. He continued to drive for two laps, trying to connect the exhaust back to the Rotax engine by hand, but he was forced to come into the pits, finishing 30th. The only other Team USA driver in the race was Freile, who drove an outstanding race. After moving up to 16th before the red flag, he continued to move forward, picking off a driver each lap. By lap 11, he had settled into 13th and remained there until the checkered flag, recording the best finish by a Team USA Senior driver thus far into the event.
 | Timmy Megenbier scored two top 15 finishes to put him in the hunt for the final
(Photo: Chris Walker - kartpix.net) |
Junior
During the opening heat race of the day, Group A versus Group B, hard rain tapered off to zero precipitation by the end of the 15-lap run as driver Timmy Megenbier led the Team USA fight, attacking from the 11th grid slot to take ninth at the checkered flag. Small advancements will be the key in these heat races, especially considering the conditions. Jarvis Gennari started 25th and was part of a good four-driver fight throughout the qualifier. The Florida pilot made a few key passes as he figured out the fast line, coming home a solid 21st to begin his heat race journey. Connor Dimond was not quite as lucky after getting a good start, spinning in the second hairpin midway through the race. Thanks to some attrition and the overtaking of a pair of karts, he made up some ground to 25th in the final tally, still a good result considering the fact that he started 27th. Any move up in the rankings in these wet weather heat races must be considered a victory.
American Michael Self posted the best result in the C vs. D pairing, recovering from trouble at the start that dropped him back to 26th from his 21st place starting position. In a race that saw the rain came to a stop and the sun reveal itself, Self dug in and went to work, passing a couple of drivers while staying out of trouble as others spun off. Running 20th at the checker, he was advanced to 19th after the fact when second place finisher Hiroki Takagi of Japan was docked 15 seconds for jumping the start. Self turned his fastest lap on final lap of the race, which bode well for the next round of heats. Austin Isaac was also in the second heat race, starting 26th and finishing in the same position.
After the lunch break, the Juniors got back at it with Groups A and C, led by Team USA’s Megenbier. Again starting 11th, the Illinois driver scrapped aggressively to fight his way up to 12th after slipping back a little, and he would end up 14th at the checker. Isaac got an incredible start and catapulted from 25th to ninth in the early going, but he would drift back to 17th by the end of the race, still a strong eight-position improvement. DiMond had his first clean run of the weekend, his engine finally running at 100%. Without the time to dial-in the chassis as they fought with the motor, DiMond jumped from his 14th row starting position to take an excellent 18th. The young Californian was thrilled with the chance to show his skills and will be focused on another top-20 tomorrow to help boost him up the LCQ starting grid. Canada’s Riddle was 22nd in the final tally.
The B-D heat race gave an opportunity for Gennari to push forward, recording his best finish of the week thus far. Both Gennari and Self were quick at the start and advanced several positions from their deep starting positions but Self would get unlucky when he spun in turn five, restarting well down the order. Gennari would race up to the tail of the top ten, settling in to a smart 12th place finishing, amazing considering the fact that he started 25th. Self would recover to 16th while Canadian Tyler Wheeler had an off that demoted him back to 18th at the stripe.
Wrap-up
Capping the day, Cooksey and Megenbier currently sit in the best positions of all the Team USA drivers, both with a pair of top 16 finishes. Gennari was also impressive on this day and he will need a big result in Friday morning’s final round of heat races. The EKN staff will back at Kartodromo Viana first thing in the morning to detail our drivers' quest to make the big show here in Portugal. |
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