EKN Trackside - US Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals

David Cole · Last edited by David Cole on Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total

It's Rotax week in the United States as all the best drivers from across the country will converge on the Michiana Raceway Park for the 12th running of the United States Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals. Seven national titles will be on the line, including 13 tickets to the Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal this year.

Unofficial practice has begun today and will continue through Tuesday. The event officially kicks off on Wednesday with the official practice day. Thursday will host qualifying and the first round of heat races. Friday is the completion of the three rounds of heats, along with the running of the Last Chance Qualifiers. Saturday will be the final day of action with the Prefinal and Final races to decide the 2012 United States Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals champions.

A preview, including the complete entry list as of Friday, will be published Wednesday morning. Be sure to follow the EKN Facebook and Twitter accounts for additional coverage not found anywhere else, including interviews and video clips of on-track and off-track action.
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Bill Wright · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 6:52 am Post subject:

Good luck to all the competitors. FWT staff members Carla Bjorklund, Glenn Biggs and myself look forward to seeing all our friends and supporters in South Bend. We arrive Thursday night and we're looking forward to a rare relaxing weekend at a race track, just watching some great racing. Very Happy

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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:51 am Post subject:

EKN Trackside: Wednesday Practice

The 2012 United States Rotax Max Challenge Grand Nationals is now officially underway with the running of the practice day. Each class will have four sessions today (8 min, 12 min, 12 min, 17 min). The final session of the day today will line up the qualifying groups for the Junior and Senior fields, as they are above 50 drivers each. We will give you the top-10 from each class as it happens today.

Here is the order for today:

Micro Max
Masters Max
Mini Max
DD2/DD2 Masters
Junior Max
Senior Max

If you have any questions or comments, let us know.
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:33 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Micro Max Final Practice Top-10:

1. Nicholas d'Orlando - 45.904
2. Nicholas Brueckner
3. Dylan Tavella
4. Harry Coulton
5. Giovanni Bromante
6. Devin Boutot
7. Reece Gold
8. Justin Sirgany
9. Tyler Gonzalez
10. Jack Miller

22 entries
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:53 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Masters Max Final Practice Top-10:

1. Johnny Blair - 43.138
2. Diego Pelosi
3. Scott Falcone
4. John Bonanno
5. Justin Peck
6. Paul Bonilla
7. Andy Seesemann
8. Jason Bell
9. Scott Roberts
10. Larry Hayashigawa

20 entries
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:02 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Mini Max Final Practice Top-10:

1. Devlin DeFrancesco - 42.983
2. Neil Verhagen
3. David Malukas
4. Anthony Gangi Jr.
5. Michael d'Orlando
6. Sting Ray Robb
7. Michael Benyahia
8. Mathias Ramirez
9. Christian Cole
10. Ethan Tyler

36 entries
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:20 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL DD2/DD2 Masters Final Practice Top-10:

1. Joey Wimsett - 41.528
2. Cody Hodgson
3. Ariel Castro*
4. Sabre Cook
5. Kristina Vorndran
6. Alan Rudolph*
7. Tim Lobaugh*
8. Derek Wang
9. Connor Wagner
10. John Crow*

21 entries
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:42 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Junior Final Practice Group A Top-10:

1. Thomas Issa - 41.796
2. Ashley Rogero
3. Sebastian Coulson
4. Patricio O'Ward
5. Jake Craig
6. Juan Manuel Correa
7. Gavin Reichelt
8. Sebatian Sierra
9. Brenden Johnson
10. Darren Keane

24 drivers
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:03 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Junior Final Practice Group B Top-10:

1. Santino Ferrucci - 41.452
2. Luke Selliken
3. Kyle Kirkwood
4. Trenton Estep
5. Oliver Askew
6. Austin Versteeg
7. Alex Hornburg
8. Brian Lockwood
9. AJ Myers
10. Alex Keyes

26 drivers
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:29 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Senior Final Practice Group A Top-10:

1. Andrew Palmer - 41.656
2. Mason Chelootz
3. Jesus Rios Jr.
4. Dan Roeper
5. Evan Mehan
6. Adam Taylor
7. Mitch Carey
8. Andrew Wiener
9. Michael Melancon
10. Chaz Nagel

21 drivers
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David Cole
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:39 pm Post subject:

UNOFFICIAL Senior Final Practice Group B Top-10:

1. Daniel Formal - 41.450
2. Phil DeLaO
3. Kyle Byers
4. Nick Rivellini
5. Nick Neri
6. Fritz Leemann
7. Sam Beasley
8. Stepanova Nekeel
9. Will Owen
10. John McCusker

29 drivers
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:42 pm Post subject:

That's it for on-track practice. We will have more notes from today with qualifying set for 9:50am tomorrow morning.
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Karl Rickert · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 6:16 pm Post subject:

Full UNOFFICIAL results are now available on the Race Monitor app, with the new update.

Thanks RM!
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David Cole · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 7:46 pm Post subject:

EKN Trackside - Paddock Notes:

Of course the one common comment that we here throughout the paddock is that there is no place to pass. It’s a frequent quote from driver to driver no matter what track to go. After viewing a number of races here in South Bend, the inner portion of the track will open up plenty of opportunities when you through 20 or 30 karts all going for the same real-estate. Turns five, six, seven, eight and nine will open up as the heat races go one, and provide great racing over the next three days.

One thing that could help that is the weather. As of tonight, there is a 60% chance of rain for tomorrow with possible scattered thunderstorms. Clouds threatened the area tonight but no major precipitation fell into the late hours. Rain is no stranger to the area and the Grand Nationals, as in 2005 the final day of action was conducted under wet conditions.

As mentioned in the Preview, four drivers will have the upper hand on the rest of the competition, already securing a place on the coveted Team USA squad for the Rotax Grand Finals in Portugal - Fritz Leesmann (in DD2 but competing in Senior), Phil DeLaO (Senior), Alan Rudolph (DD2 Masters) and Oliver Askew (Junior). Should any of the four finish on the podium in their respective classes, that will give the next driver in the finishing order the ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals.

A number of drivers in the hunt for the title have yet to compete at the Michiana Raceway Park facility - DeLaO and Leesmann in Senior, Luke Selliken and Jake Craig in Junior, Joey Wimsett and Cody Hodgson in DD2. Wimsett enters the weekend with nearly zero laps in the two-speed category. Earning his punches through Senior Max events this season, Wimsett received the kart and engine just days before the race, with only break-in laps back home in Oregon before arriving to South Bend.

Be sure to pass on the word to all your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter to watch our updates throughout the next three days from South Bend.
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David Cole
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David Cole · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:38 am Post subject:

EKN Trackside - Thursday Update:

It's go time here at Michiana Raceway Park as the 2012 US Rotax Grand Nationals will contest qualifying and the opening round of heat races today. Weather is questionable, as a rain cell could be hitting the track very soon, just as we are about to take the track for qualifying at 9:50am.

Here is the order for the day:

Micro Max
Masters Max
Mini Max
DD2/DD2 Masters
Junior Max
Senior Max
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