Race ROUNDUP: KARTING CHALLENGE RD 9

lo206 junior

Collin Lloyd, Granger Perra, and Gregory Pelea all entered the weekend with bulls eyes on their backs. Lloyd kicked things off with a very impressive drive in qualifying to score the pole. From there, the trio hooked up in the Pre Final and began to pull away. Unfortunately, a chain failure for Pelea after taking the lead of the pack sidelined the P1 Racing driver. This surrendered the lead to Lloyd, who held off Granger's attacks to secure the pole position for the Final.

In the Final, Lloyd and Perra got together once again to put some serious distance on the field. Soon after the halfway point was displayed, they finally began to trade the top spot. In the end, Lloyd was able to best Perra and reverse the result of Round 8. Vance Devine finished third, trailing a little behind the pair of Perra in second and Lloyd at the top.  

iame ka100 junior

Jimmie Lockhart entered Round 9 of the Karting Challenge just needing a solid finish to clinch the inaugural IAME KA100 Junior championship title. The 2018 IAME Mini Swift champion was in pure form this past weekend, sweeping each session and continuing his winning streak.

The main story of the division came in the battles beyond. Bad luck and mechanical woes knocked Beckham Jacir and Luke Welcome down the order, giving the chance for Tyler Delgado and EJ Tamayo to snag the runner-up step on the podium. Tamayo was determined, and after the dust settled, he was awarded P2 with Delgado P3.

lo206 heavy

Dan Breitenstein and Marc Julien were the class of the field on Sunday in the LO206 Heavy division. It didn't appear that they would be as close as they ended up judging off of qualifying, as Breitenstein put a 0.3+ margin on the field. However, Julien kept him honest all the way through the Pre Final, and he went to work on finding an extra bit of pace for the main event.

In the Final, Julien remained on Breitenstein's tail through to the end. With a couple of laps to go, Julien opted to go for the lead. He began to defend ever so slightly on the final lap to try and hold back Breitenstein, taking the inside lane down the back stretch heading into the final corner. Breitenstein saw Julien moving low as an opportunity to try to go high, and he sent it around the outside to take the win by just 0.020 at the stripe. Rohan Ramsaroop joined Julien and Breitenstein on the podium finishing in third.

SHIFTER

Another solid turnout in the Shifter division brought competition right to Alan Isambard's doorstep. In qualifying, it was Guyana's Calvin Ming who bested the field. After a P2 qualifying run, Isambard opted to change engines and start from the rear of the Pre Final. He worked his way back up to second by the end of the heat, getting by Daniel Dibos and Jade Hubert in the closing stages.

In the Final, Isambard finally made his way to the lead. Ming knew that he needed to challenge early to keep Isambard within range, but a misjudged passing attempt coupled with contact from Sebastian Hazbun afterwards ended Ming's day. From there, the spotlight shifted to the battle for second, where veteran Daniel Dibos held off Hubert by 0.4 at the finish.

Isambard's win officially clinches his first career Shifter championship, with a whopping 3-digit point buffer heading into Round 10.

IAME MIcro SWIFT

Alessandro Truchout stole the pole in Micro Swift qualifying -- the first of his Karting Challenge career in the division. He led early on in the Pre Final, but he was eventually shuffled backwards. First, Anastasia Markovic slipped by. Then with two laps to go, Asher Ochstein made his move and got by both in the same lap. Ochstein held them back at the checkered, punching his ticket to start first for the Final.

In the Final, Markovic took no prisoners in her path towards the front. She got to the lead by the third lap of the main event and never looked back. All Ochstein could do was hold on for second, which he did, keeping Benja Fernandez and Alessandro Truchout at bay. Fernandez's third place run was his first career Karting Challenge podium, a solid drive forward from a modest qualifying run earlier in the day.

iame mini swift

Championship leader Max Garcia missed his first race of the 2019 Karting Challenge season by competing at the IAME International Final in Le Mans, France. His absence guaranteed a new winner for the first time in three races, which Enzo Vidmontiene was waiting for. Without any signs of fear or doubt, Enzo dominated the entire round in the IAME Mini Swift class. He qualified on the pole, won the Pre Final, and won the Final. 

The battle in focus came for second place, as Michael Costello, Beckham Jacir, Caleb Duenas, and Sebastian Wheldon shuffled back and forth in the Pre Final. Wheldon found some much-needed pace for the Main Event, though, and he used that to put a gap on the remainder of the group for a solid second place run. Costello emerged just behind Wheldon to take third.

LO206 SENIOR

Frankie Barroso rolled into Round 9 looking to extend his championship lead. He put in a solid qualifying effort, placing third behind Bobby Ross in second and Zack Skolnick on pole. From there, he quickly went to work, taking the lead at the halfway point of the Pre Final and fending off efforts from all sides to grab the pole starting position for the Final.

In the main event, Barroso and Ross hooked up early and began to gap the field. Calamity ensued behind the pair, with a mix of track limits penalties, crashes, and avoidable contact penalties moving the pack further and further back by the end. Ross was hungry to score his first career victory, but he was unable to play his cards well enough to beat Barroso. Barroso ended on top once again, with Ross second and Michel Garrido rounding off the podium in a very impressive drive from the back of the grid.

LO206 Cadet

Championship leader Mateo Pena was absent from Round 9 due to illness, which meant that Vittoria Fittipaldi and Franco Pastor had a prime opportunity to gain some championship points. The two were neck-and-neck throughout the entire day, but in the end, it was Pastor who came out with the victory with Fittipaldi settling for second.