EKN Driver Blog - Troy Castaneda - Rotax Grand Finals 2009

Troy Castaneda · Joined: 26 Nov 2009 Posts: 8

Hello from Egypt!!

My name is Troy Castaneda and I will be competing in the DD2 category in the Rotax World Finals. I will do my best to keep everyone updated as best as possible.

So after much anticipation, my mechanic/ tuner, Diego Valverde, and I finally arrived here into Sharm el Sheikh late Friday evening We went straight to the hotel and caught up on some much needed rest after the long 25 hour trip. Yesterday was the first day of registration so we made sure to get that done asap. The rest of the day we checked out the track and the facilities. The track is pretty tight in the infield with a couple of medium length straights, but definitely a lot of passing opportunities. Sand with a little bit of grass surrounds the entire track which means that anytime the wind blows, sand covers the track. Both Diego and I are really anxious to get out there and start racing, but we still have a couple days… Tomorrow we will draw from the raffle to choose our kart and then on Tuesday we will have two practice sessions.

When we registered, they gave us the rules as to what we are and are not allowed to do. Basically, we cannot do much at all especially with the carburetor; we can only choose between two main jets and the clip position, nothing else. As far as the chassis goes, we can change almost anything, but can only use what is given to us. Meaning, we cannot change out the axle, spindles, hubs etc… Early today we were taking a look at the karts and noticed that the paddles for shifting looked different than the normal “thumb push” shift. We soon learned that we will be using a new mechanism that you pull with your fingers to shift like a regular paddle shift system would be set up. I’m very excited and can’t wait!!

Anyway, that’s about it for now! I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend!

P.S. Time difference from California is 10 hours ahead…
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www.troycastaneda.com

Galo Barros III · Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:09 am Post subject:

Good luck!!!!!!!, any live video or a website that we can check the timing

Nate Waterfall · Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:00 pm Post subject:

Good Luck!!!!!!!

Interesting to hear about not being able to change axle etc...
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Nate Waterfall
Forza ICA!

Bob Phillips · Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 4:43 pm Post subject:

Good luck Troy and please do keep us up on what is going on. All of us Gatorz guys at home will be rooting you on. Race smart and again, good luck.
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Bob Phillips
Any view expressed here is soley my personal view

Troy Castaneda · Joined: 26 Nov 2009 Posts: 8

thanks you guys!

live timing and video can be found here;
http://www.maxchallenge-rotax.com/event2009/race_TV.html

also, i have and will be uploading pictures to my website;
www.troycastaneda.com

drawing karts now...
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www.troycastaneda.com

Wesley Phillips · Joined: 10 Dec 2001 Posts: 17

Avanti you spanish explorer!!!!!!

Ron Bennett · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:50 am Post subject: Fabulous

Troy,
January and I are very proud to have to represent us here in NorCal. We know you will do well. Focus on the things you do best, which is drive the wheels off that DD2. Kick butt. Remember what we talked about. We will be following your progress to the podium. You have the skill and talent to win.
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Medusa Racing

David Cole · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:05 am Post subject:

Keep the updates coming Troy. Let us know what type of changes you did to the kart after getting it today. Thanks.
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David Cole
eKartingNews.com News Desk Manager

Rob Howden · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:07 am Post subject:

Go get'em Troy!
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Rob Howden
Editor / Publisher
www.eKartingNews.com
www.eKartingNews.ca
www.eFormulaCarNews.com
www.indoorkartingnews.com

Gary Scharlach · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:45 am Post subject:

Well Troy, it has been one year behind the wheel of a #07 DD2 and you are in the Worlds! Remember what we have talked about and what you have worked on. Diego is your man, he will lead you down the right path. But remember, you have the whole US Team with you, work together and win together. Let's bring it home as a team!
NorCal. is very proud of you. Exclamation

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Gary Scharlach
Northern California Marin Karting Series
DD2 07

Carlos Calderon · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:44 pm Post subject:

Rock on dude! You're gonna smoke those chumps. Represent! Wink

Photos posted here: http://www.troycastaneda.com/?p=358
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norcalrotax.com

Pauline Shaver · Joined: 04 Dec 2009 Posts: 14

WOW!! this is awesome. Thanks to all that are corresponding and keeping us informed with pictures and facts. It's tough on grandmas who can't be there!!! Go Team USA - - we all know you have the talent and you have all the right mechanics, sponsors and confidence. All you need now is a few prayers and that is what grandmas do best!!! Love y'all
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GRANDMA

David Harwin · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:35 pm Post subject:

I'll be pullin for ya "Jenks"!

Jessie Luther · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:25 pm Post subject:

Good Luck Troy...From all of us at Kinsmen Kart club!
Kick butt over there!

Jessica

Troy Castaneda · Joined: 26 Nov 2009 Posts: 8

So yesterday we got our kart and today we will have our first 2 practice sessions. Yesterday was a pretty long day; we arrived at the track at 8 and ended up leaving a little after 9 in the evening… We had a participants briefing in the morning and then waited to draw our kart. They way we choose is a kart is by pulling a ping pong ball with a number written on it which signifies which kart I will race. They number all the karts and motors from 1 to 72 in each class. This number though does not represent my racing number; it’s just a way to organize the kart draw. My racing number is 220 which is decided by the alphabetical order they organized the class in…

Anyway, once we received the kart, I chose a seat, picked up my spare parts and practice tires. The rest of the day we just worked on double checking everything on the kart, put the seat in and went through tech. Today we will arrive at the track at 8 and head to a drivers meeting at around 10. We will actually go out on track around 1:00. Our first session is 20 minutes and we cannot change anything with the motor meaning everyone will have to run the stock gear with the stock carb settings. After that we can do what we want. Our second practice session will be 15 minutes long. Since the class has 72 drivers, we are separated into an odd and even group depending on our racing number. DD2 is the last group to go out and within DD2, the even number group is the second group which means that we will be the last group to go out at the end of the day.

They are pretty strict when it comes to people being inside the pit area especially later in the evening. After finishing prepping the kart we walked to get some dinner and left some of our bags in our pit area. When we came back to pick everything up to head back to the hotel, 2 security guards immediately came up to us asking for our badges and wouldn’t let us go near our kart. After explaining that we were just there to grab our stuff they let us go, but it was pretty cool actually to experience that because it shows they will have somebody watching the karts all night to ensure fairness during the week.

Well the kart looks fantastic and I can‘t wait to get out there!! A dopo, ciao!
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www.troycastaneda.com