8-18-10 "Battle at the Border" ! Round five of the NW Gold Cup/Rotax Max Chalenge Series at “GMR” Canada

Round five action played out this past week in Chilliwack, British Columbia. Once again competitors would find themselves north of the border in the land of the Maple Leaf. Hype going into this race was considerable to say the least, and as it would turn out, the event did not disappoint. This was an all-star event, with some national bragging rights up for grabs! Northwest karting news was there for the three day event taking in all the action.
The Place: Chilliwack B.C. At the beautiful Greg Moore Raceway.
The Track: 4015 feet in length, 26.25 to 36.5 feet in width, 12 corners 7 right 5 left. Comments: Fast, technical, passing opportunities excellent.
The Drivers: Excited, high energy, looking forward to some great racing.
The Weather: Mid 80’s full sun, in a word “Incredible”

Rotax Micro/ Tag Gazelle
In Heat 1 it was Edward Portz (cmc) who charged to the front of the Micro Max class,leaving Seth Appel, and Mason Morgan having to step up their game. Portz ran a great race holding onto first, followed by Appel in second, and Morgan in third, with Wick in fourth. Meanwhile, a very determined Sara Brinkac battled it out with Job Kandris throughout the weekend taking the win in Gazelle.

IAME Leopard Jr 3:
The man of the hour in IAME Jr was without a doubt Artie Carpenter, setting the pace from the beginning with an impressive pole position time of 52.24. Leading this pack of competitive racers on the start of Heat two was Kailia Walter, while Carpenter, having clutch problems in heat one had some work to do starting in the back of the pack. Half way through the session, Carpenter had made his way through the entire field and took the lead. At the start of the main it was Walter who again would take the lead knowing she had Carpenter right behind. Carpenter made the pass for the lead down on the inside of Turn two, and never looked back. Trevor Yip and Keegan Laithwaite battled throughout the main event for the second place spot, while Paige Wallin and Colton Schultz battled for the fourth place spot, no one giving so much as an inch. In the end, Carpenter took home the win, followed by Yip in second, Laithwaite third, Wallin fourth, and Schultz fifth.

Mini Max:
Jake Preston started off the Mini Max weekend by putting his kart on pole. It would soon become a heated battle for first however. The weekend would be determined by who had the lead at the very end. The number 9 of Kyle Wick and the number 51 of Jake Preston went back and forth all weekend for the lead, while a very determined Sting Ray Robb and Marco Eakins ran hard to stay up in the mix. Wick grabbed the lead coming out of the start in the main event followed by Eakins, Preston, and Sting Ray. Preston took Eakins down on the inside of turn two, and later took Wick on the inside of Turn one for the lead. This left Sting Ray and Eakins to battle for the third place spot as Sting Ray made a move down in turn one, but was not able to catch the leaders. What a show as Wick and Preston passed each other back and forth right up until the very last lap, as Preston dove down past Wick on the last lap to take the win. Wick came in second, Sting Ray third, Eakins fourth, and Franchini fifth.

IAME Cup Sr:
In IAME Sr it was Team Ital Kart’s Michael Valiante who set the tone for the weekend laying down a very fast lap time of 52.22 to take the pole position. By the main event it was Jurca who came out in front on the start with Ruscitti, Valiante, and Sandeen right behind. Devon Sandeen was determined to get into the mix as he dove down to the inside of turn one to get by Valiante, and then Ruscitti to take the second place spot. Valiante was then able to make a move on Ruscitti in turn three to take third while trying to get back to the front. In the end it was Ruscitti who would take the checkered, followed by Sandeen in second, Valiante third, Jurca fourth, and Hargrove rounding out the top five.

Jr 1 Briggs Gas Animal/ Jr 2 Briggs Gas Animal Hvy:
Sting Ray would take the pole on his Wildkart with a fast lap of 59.12. These competitors would drive the wheels off their karts all weekend leading up to the main event. In the main it was Zamora getting the jump on the start and taking the lead, with Bryce Peterson holding onto the second position, followed by Sting Ray, Kyle Adams and David Schorn. Sting Ray was determined to get to the front however, making a move on Peterson coming out of turn eight for position two. Sting Ray raced to catch Zamora and was able to dive down into the inside of turn one to take the lead and win the race. Zamora came in second, with Schorn in third, Adams fourth, and Peterson rounding out the top five.

World Formula Medium/ Masters:
What a day it was for these two groups. Daniel Cahill kicked off the WF Medium class by taking pole with a fast lap of 58.35. All weekend Cahill, Austin Moon, and Chris Genge would battle it out for the lead. In the main event however, after Cahill got the lead on the start, it was Austin Moon who would drive under Cahill in turn one to take the lead. Genge wasn’t ready to give up it would seem as he drove hard and was able to make his way up to second, with Cahill right behind. In the WF Masters class Gabriel Kajdy would yet again take the pole position laying down a very fast lap of 58.76. With Kajdy out it front, the battle for second would be a fierce one between Barlee, Mullins, and Schorn. By the main event, Kajdy took the lead on the start having his hands full soon after as Barlee would challenge him for the front. As the racers went around the track into the far back corners Kajdy disappeared off the track and was not able to finish the remainder of the race, as Barlee came out in front. The man on the move in this event however was Michael Schorn, driving hard making his way through the pack up to second, and boy did he earn that one, with Mullins and Green right there behind him.

Rotax Jr:
The rotax jr’s have been putting on a great show all season and this weekend was no exception. Mathew Moniz set the pace early putting his Mach 1 kart on pole with a fast lap of 52.09. As it would turn out, Moniz would have to watch his back this weekend as Marcus Brodie was never far behind; with Byers, Carpenter, Hudson, and Helmuth looking to come to the front as well. There were many battles throughout the weekend as these talented young drivers raced hard and never backed down while fighting for their positions. By the main event, Moniz and Brodie would begin their fight for first, while Carpenter was unfortunately collected up in an incident on the start placing him at the back of the field. It seemed that turn one and turn three were the turns of choice for Moniz and Brodie as they made multiple passes back and forth between the two for the lead. Meanwhile, Helmuth and Hudson (on his new Tony Kart) would battle hard for their positions, and as Delavergne and Beck got into the mix there were a total of five karts all within inches of each other duking it out for the fourth position. Carpenter was working hard to catch all the action and was able to make his way back up to fifth place. In the end it was Moniz who earned his win, with Brodie right behind in second, Byers in third, Delavergne who had a solid run up through the field to claim the fourth spot, and Carpenter in fifth.

Rotax Sr:
This would turn out to be the premier class of the weekend with more then 20 entries, two western Canadian champions, one U.S. National champion as well as several regional title holders made for a field deep with talent. Chris Glover would take pole with a fast lap of 51.90. With Glover holding a commanding lead on the field throughout the weekend, there was only Andrew Zimmer and Michael Hogg who had any real shot at catching him. The weekend was not without controversy as Sunday would find Derek Wang and local favorite Bryce Choquer positioned towards the back of the pack for the start on the main, this was do to an on track incident in an earlier heat race. Main event action would find Glover taking the lead on the start, followed by Zimmer, and Hogg. Meanwhile Brandon Cusack would work his way up to the fourth position. It wouldn’t be long however before the hard charging Choquer would make his way back up to the front and ultimately pass Cusack on the inside of nine with just two laps to go. In the end it would be Glover taking the checkered, followed by Zimmer second, Hogg third, Choquer fourth, with Cusack rounding out the top five.

Tag Masters:
Starting off the weekend in Tag Masters was Jayson Clunie putting his no. 3 kart on pole with a fast lap of 54.09. It seemed there was no beating Clunie as he dominated all heat races, while Jim Hargrove drove hard trying to make his way to the front throughout the weekend only to have a mechanical malfunction on his kart in the main. Helmut Buhl stayed consistently in second place throughout, it was Gabriel Kajdy who was able to make his way through the pack and get up to third in the main. In the end it was Clunie who took home first place, followed by Buhl in second, Kajdy in third, Cornwell in fourth, and Johnson rounding out the top five.

Shifters:
Remo Ruscitti would set the pace putting his kart on pole with a fast lap of 51.21. It was a long battle all three heats with these racers competing within only inches of each other. By the main event it was on, and the pack was three karts wide heading into turn one on the start. Jurca came out in front with Ruscitti right behind in second. The race now was for first between Jurca, Ruscitti, and Valiante. Meanwhile Hargrove, and new comer to the class Brandon Scheiber were in a battle of their own for the fourth spot. If there was any questions wether or not Scheiber would be able to run in this class he laid them to rest with a solid effort, and a fourth place finish for the weekend; In the end it was Ruscitti who would take home the win, followed by Valiante in second, Jurca third, Scheiber fourth, and Hargrove rounding out the top five.
That’s a wrap, Northwest Karting News will see you in two weeks at PSGKA for round six of the 2010 NW Gold Cup/Rotax max challenge.