Norcal Rotax Challenge - Race #1 Dixon Report
Spring time is here and what better way to start the 2008 racing season than to open up the 2008 Norcal Rotax Challenge on a great sunny day at the Dixon kart track on March 30. 33 Rotax karts joined 90 Dixon club members for the first race of the Dixon season on the challenging reverse track layout.
In the Junior Rotax race, 5 drivers came to battle for the first win of the year. The surprise of the weekend was young Brody Zink from Reno. Up from Jr 1-Comer in 2007, Brody had an eventful practice day trying to settle on what chassis to run. Brody and his Dad obviously made the right choice when Brody (Birel) took the pole in Qualify followed by Donavon Wheeler (Birel) and Joseph Keaton (Monza). In the heat race, Zink lead the whole way showing his fast times were not a fluke, but veteran junior driver Mikee Mejia (CRG) came from 4th on the grid to take second in the heat race followed by Wheeler. In the Main, Brody took the initial lead with Mejia right on his tail. By mid race, Mejia found the way by Zink to take the lead. Zink stayed close to the end of the race with Wheeler right on Brody’s bumper at the end. 4th went to Keaton and 5th to Bryce Hylbert (Birel). As they head off to race #2 at Infineon in 3 weeks, 5 to 7 more Junior Rotax karts are expect to join the series, so some great action is expected in this class in 2008.
Nine drivers entered the combined Rotax Masters (405#) and Rotax Masters Light (365#) race. After three years in the Jim Russell Senior Arrive and Drive series, Jerry Pretti (CRG) bought his own kart over the winter and joined the Rotax Masters class. In this his first race, Pretti went off and took the poll much to the surprise of several Masters veterans. 2nd in Qualify was 2007 class champion David Carlisle (CRG) with 3rd going to Chris DeBruine (CRG). The top Rotax Masters Light driver was Marc Pingol (Swiss Huttless) in his first Rotax race with 2nd in Lights going to Mary Beth Wilson (CRG), also in her first Rotax race. Like Jerry, Mary Beth spent the last three years in the Jim Russell A&D Series.
In the Masters heat race, Pretti took the early lead, but Carlisle ran up the back of Pretti in turn 2 and took himself out of the race. Veteran Jay Brosius (CRG) worked his way from 4th on the grid to take the lead near the end of the race for the win followed by Pingol (lights), Pretti and Debruine. In the Main, Brosius held the point for the 12 lap race distance but closely followed by a much improved DeBruine. Pingol took 3rd and the Lights win followed by Pretti and then Wilson. Carlisle worked his way up to 4th then in making the pass for 3rd he went off course and had to settle for another DNF. A tough start for the defending champ.
In the 2 speed DD2 class, seven drivers took the track for the first race of the year. Unlike last year, all the drivers in this race were of Masters age. Maybe a Rotax DD2 Masters label should be put on this class in 2008. Bruce Weir (Birel) took the pole in his first DD2 race followed David Arnstein (CRG) and veteran January Grove (CRG). In the heat race, Arnstein got the jump on Weir early and took the lead. Grove then got by Bruce to take 2nd in the 10 lap heat race. Weir finished 3rd followed by Cameron M Craig (Birel) and Dave Moody (Birel). In the Main, Arnstein opened up a slight lead over the fast lady Grove. But by mid race, the gap went away as Arnstein may have been feeling the effects of running 2 classes on this day on the most physical track in Norcal. January pressed Arnstein hard into turn one then set up a great pass coming out of the hairpin to take the lead. By race end, Grove opened up a 3 second lead with Weir also closing in on Arnstein. Arnstein though hung on to take 2nd with Weir close behind followed by Moody then Chris Debruine (CRG).
The Senior Rotax race was the largest field of the day with 12 drivers and there were great battles through out the entire field. The term “practice makes perfect” could not be applied any better to Gregory Liefooghe. Over the winter one could find Gregory at the Infineon and Dixon tracks testing all the time. The 2007 Norcal DD2 champ will be focusing on Senior Rotax this year and his winter efforts paid off big time in Race #1. In Qualify, Liefooghe (CRG) took the pole by a quarter second over Nicola Radosavlievich (Birel) with top Masters driver David Harwin (TonyKart) taking 3rd. Harwin, who took 6th at the Rotax Nationals in 2007, plans to run the Senior class in Norcal to get more competition this year before he takes another crack at the Rotax Masters crown at the Nationals. In the heat race, Liefooghe continued his dominance with a 2 second win over the up and coming Nikola followed by fast lady Kirstin Gee (Birel) in 3rd, Ray Bustamante Jr (CRG) in 4th and Harwin in 5th. Gee and Bustamante are both up from Junior Rotax in 2007 and made impressive showings in their Senior Rotax debuts. In the Main, only a mechanical error, or brain fade, could keep Liefooghe from the win and neither showed up. Gregory took a 2 ½ second win over Radosavlievich, followed by Gee, Bustamante Jr and Harwin. But the best racing was for the next 5 spots where the real battles were in the Main. Adrian Bustamante (Birel) pressure Harwin for most of the race before settling for 6th, David Arnstein (CRG) and Chris Gard (CRG), Carlos Caldron (CRG) and Dominic Borelli (CRG) battled the whole way and finished within one second of each other to take the 7th through 10th positions. First time racer Jason Guinto (CRG) was another 2 seconds back making much improvement through out the day. But the hard charger of the race was Jessica Harmon who was driving her first outdoor kart race for Lemans Karting and was very quick and very competitive running up as high as 6th in the Main. A couple of bumps slowed her up during the race and then her kart eventually threw a chain, but look out world, this lady can drive.
A great day at Dixon was a perfect way to start the 2008 Norcal Rotax Challenge season. The Rotax series wants to thank the Kinsmen Kart club for a great event and is looking for a return to Dixon on July 27. Next Challenge Series race is April 19 at Infineon where from 45 to 50 Rotax karts are expect to take part in the first of 4 National Qualifier races.
