Mason Marotta was the quickest driver in Senior Max during Final Practice

EKN’s Paddock Insider is a new Trackside coverage addition, bringing you notes, updates and breaking news as it happens. The article will be a timeline of events as they happen during the Rotax Challenge of the Americas event in Phoenix. The information will not be seen anywhere else, including interviews and photos. Please feel free to comment and discuss our coverage and today’s action in the EKN Global Members Discussion area below: For complete coverage head to the EKN Event Page.

When a racing organization puts the Phoenix Kart Racing Association (PKRA) facility on its schedule, they do so with the absolute expectation of Chamber of Commerce weather.  This weekend’s forecast is not expected to disappoint, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low-80s for both Saturday and Sunday. The mid-February date for the second round of the Challenge of the Americas has offered an escape from the winter climates for those from the north, and a very raceable circuit for everyone who made the trip to Arizona.

There are some interesting stories in the paddock, involving the arrival of new drivers, some on new equipment, and the struggles of road travel.  But all of these will make way for the actual wheel-to-wheel racing on Saturday when the chase for the COTA titles and the four available Grand Finals tickets are re-fired.

BBR Karting Graphics

All three BBR Karting drivers are displaying the new graphics kit

This weekend – BBR Karting – the presenting sponsor of the EKN Live program for PKRA – is debuting a new graphic kit for their team. Owner Blake Choquer and his brother Bryce developed the new graphics over the span of a couple hours, wanting to show the unity and family atmosphere that exists at BBR Karting. The kit displays a compilation of photographs of the team, its drivers, mechanics and families from past events, all laid out on the general layout of the normal BBR design. The new and very unique look is getting great reviews from the paddock.

PSL Karting / PSL West Move to BirelART

Just prior to the weekend, Quebec-based PSL Karting announced their new partnership with BirelART, one that will move the successful company into the future. The long-time CRG powerhouse will be moving everything over from black to red, and they are aiming for the third round of the Florida Winter Tour to debut their new livery.  Staying in alignment with their East Coast connection, British Columbia’s PSL West is also planning to begin the injection of the BirelART product into their own program.  They are currently focused on putting the red chassis on-track at the final round of the Challenge of the Americas in Sonoma.

Gustavo Menezes Returns to Roots

Former karting standout Gustavo Menezes makes his 2015 karting debut in Phoenix

Over the past decade, we’ve had the chance to watch California’s Gustavo Menezes develop his skills as he proceeded up the karting development ladder.  From Cadets and 60cc Novice Shifter, through to JICA, TaG Senior and ICA, Menezes showed race-winning form and talent.  Now 19 years-of-age, Gustavo will head into his second year of F3 racing in Europe, running the European Formula 3 series with Carlin Racing.  He’ll be in the US until the new F3 season starts overseas, and will be running in the 12 Hours of Sebring in mid-March, and he told EKN that he’s looking to run more karting events.  For this weekend, he’s teamed with 2Wild Karting to run a Tony Kart in Senior Max, where he timed in fifth in Friday’s final practice session.

Terrible Travel

Significant travel is just part of the landscape when it comes to major event racing in North America. Two separate California teams encountered hurdles with their rigs while on the road to Phoenix.  NorCal’s Cambrian Go-Karts suffered a tow-hitch failure that sent their trailer off the road, but thankfully, they were only coming up to speed and the damage was minimal.  They were able to get the hitch repaired and back on the road.  2Wild Karting was hit with a barrage of tire issues, and eventually turned back to the shop to borrow a customer’s Sprinter van to make an all-night run to the track.  The team arrived exhausted on Thursday morning, and no doubt caught up on their sleep debt on Thursday evening.

Chassis Change

Ben Schermerhorn is among the few making chassis change from Tucson to Phoenix

A number of drivers arrived in the PKRA paddock and unloaded new equipment for this round of the COTA.  Colorado DD2 driver Ben Schermerhorn has made the move from CRG to Kosmic.  This is Schermerhorn’s second race in a DD2 and he has shrunk the gap to the leaders during the opening day in Phoenix, sitting just over two tenths off the lead pace in the Pre-Qualifying Timed Practice on Friday afternoon. The Schermerhorns remain a true family racing operation, traveling together and running out of their own trailer, which is not something you see much of anymore at series of this level. They’re a great story, for certain.  Another driver appearing with a new ride is Mini Max pilot Jacob Hudson, who is on a Formula K this weekend. Local driver Diego LaRoque is also steering a new chassis, having moved to a Benik for the second round of the Challenge.

Fast Friday

A Daily Wrap video of the Final Practice results from Phoenix:

Matt Jaskol was among one of the fast drivers in the Final Practice on Friday. Here is a look at one of his earlier practice sessions:

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