Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge Series Round #2 at Infineon
The Norcal Rotax Challenge series moved to Infineon Raceway for Round #2 on April 19. The day was cool and windy, bitter cold by the end of the race day. The strong wind was not only tough on the body, it also had a profound effect on one the races. The Turn out for the first race at Infineon was 51 entries in the 5 Rotax classes. This is an all time high entry for any Rotax race in Northern California. This was also the first of 4 National Qualification races for those drivers seeking to go to the Rotax Nationals in September. The racing was very competitive in all the classes, a trade mark of racing the near equal Rotax engines. At the end of the day, the winners got some nice prizes in addition to the new trophies from Jim Russell Racing. Series administrator Marin Karting handed out oil to all the class winners from April Design Works and driving suit care products from new series sponsor Molecule. Movie tickets, dinner gift certificates and J&D Snack Shack lunch vouchers were all raffled off as part of the awards ceremony.
Rotax DD2 - 8 entries in this the new 2 speed Rotax class with David Arnstein (CRG) taking pole in front of January Grove (CRG) and Glen Poy-Wing (Swiss-Hutless) . These three drivers would remain close throughout the day. In the Prefinal, Arnstein got the jump at the start, but January took over the lead soon after and went on for the win, but just barely. Arnstein was just .050 seconds back and Poy-Wing less than 1/2 second back. In the Main, Grove lead, then Arnstein, then January with Poy-Wing just waiting right behind. Near the end of the 18 lap Main, January and Arnstein toughed and this let Poy-Wing get by. Glen held the lead over Arnstein the rest of the way to take the win by less than a second. January finished third with first timer Daid Palic (CRG) in 4th and Chris DeBruine (CRG) in 5th.
Rotax Masters and Rotax Masters Lights - These two classes ran combined but scored separte at the end. 20 karts started this race group, 10 in Masters and 10 in Masters Lights. The Masters Light class (365#) is a Norcal regional class with the Masters class (405#) being the normal national class for over 32 year old drivers or Heavy Drivers under 32. In Qualify, the pole went to Masters driver Dan Dolloso (CRG) with off pole going to the top Lights driver Mary Beth Wilson (CRG). This was only Mary Beth's second Rotax race, fast learner is Mary Beth. Two Lights were on row 2, Mike Lawler (CRG) and Mert Solis. Row 3 were two Masters drivers Jerry Pretti (CRG) and Chris DeBruine (CRG). In the Prefinal, the racing was very tough at the front of the field as Mert Solis and Dan Dollosso battled the entire distance with Travis Duhn from Reno (Italkart) joining in the fun on the last couple of laps. The finish was Solis, Duhn then Dollosso. In the Main, Duhn got the jump at the start and pulled away a little each lap. Mert got ahead of Dollosso and the two battled hard again. Dan appeared to have the better kart, but the lighter Solis was able to counter every move that Dan put on him. In the end, Duhn took the overall win and 1st in Masters with Solis second and winner of the Lights class. Dollosso was 3rd (2nd in Masters) and hard charger Mike Lawler 4th and second in Lights. Jerry Pretti was 5th overall and 3rd in Masters with Jojo Bayabo (Swiss-Hutless) 8th overall and 3rd in the Lights class.
Junior Rotax - 8 drivers took the green in the most exciting race of the day. This class will grow to 12 next race as 4 more drivers are planning to run. The field also had a lot of top past Russell Series champions in the line up. Jordan Jaddallah (2007 Junior Rotax Champ), Donovan Wheeler (2007 HPV2 Champ), Austin Root (2007 Junior Puma Champ), Bobby Tift (2007 Junior 1-Comer Champ) and Andrew Wolocatiuk (2006 Cadet Arrive and Drive Champ) all have come to Junior Rotax for 2008. Jordan Jadallah (CRG), just off his 3rd place finish in the winter Gatorz Challenge, took the pole ahead of Donavon Wheeler (Birel) and Dixon winner Mikke Mejia (CRG). In the Pre-Final, Jadallah lead all the way, but not by far as he won just ahead of Mejia by .161 seconds and .194 seconds in front of Wheeler. It was evident that the wind was making the racing close as Mejia and Wheeler used the draft down the straightaway to stay close to Jadallah. In the Main, Jadallah and Wheeler pulled away from the field, Wheeler willing to stay in the draft. Jordan was quicker in the turns, but had to push the wind on the straightaway. Wheeler used this wind by staying in the draft down the shoot to get back up behind Jordan as they entered turn one on each lap. On the last lap, Jadallah came out of the last turn first with Wheeler right on his bumper, in the draft. Then at the last moment, Wheeler pulled out and made the move and shot past Jadallah just enough to take the win by some 18 inches. Mejia was 6 seconds back and took the 3rd, with Tifft (CRG) in 4th and Wolocatiuk (Trackmagic) 5th.
Senior Rotax - 15 drivers made up a strong field. In Qualify, the front row were two new senior drivers, both up from Junior Rotax in 2007. Cameron Pringle (CRG) took pole ahead of Jake Mottaz (Birel). Row 2 was Dixon winner Gregory Liefooghe (CRG) and the most improved driver so far in 2008, Carlos Calderon (CRG). Larry Fraser, a tough TaG driver, entered the race to see what Rotax was all about. Larry took 5th on the grid in Wes Phillip's Birel. The Pre-Final start was messy and took out 3 drivers and caused others to scramble. In the end, Pringle took the win over Liefooghe with Calderon 3rd, Matthew Powers (Birel) 4th and Nikola Radosavljevich (Birel) 5th. This was Powers first Rotax race after 3 years of running the Jim Russell Arrive and Drive Series. The Main had a repeat of the Pre-Final but worse when it came to the start. Out after turn one were 3 drivers including Powers and Nikola. Liefooghe got in front of Pringle early in the race and went on to his second win of the year. Pringle was just 1/2 second back. 3rd went to Larry Fraser who had to come from the back of the field due to a DNF in the Pre-Final. Jake Mottaz also had a come back drive to take 4th with Calderon taking the 5th place.
Other than the starts in the Senior class, the race day went off with few issues. Inspite the wind, most all stayed around for the awards ceremony and the extra raffle prizes. Race #3 in the Jim Russell Norcal Rotax Challenge will be again at the Jim Russell Kart Track on May 31, running the Sprint track layout. Check out race results on mylaps.com. For more information on the Norcal Rotax Challenge Series, contact Race Director Ric Shaw.
