Canadian Races Across The Globe and To Rotax World Final

press release

Canadian pilot Phillip Orcic continues to roll through 2008 with great success. Competing in the Gatorz Challenge of Americas Series, Orcic has garnered enough points to claim the Rotax Junior championship as well as a free trip to the Rotax World Finals in La Conca, Italy later on this year. Most recently, Phillip has traveled to Germany to compete in the German Open Championship Series.

Starting his season in North America, Phillip Orcic steered his Mach 1 Kart to two victories as well as two other podiums in the first six events of the Gatorz Challenge. Becoming the driver to beat, Orcic quickly garnered enough points to claim the all-expense paid trip to the World Finals.

After his North American success, plans to run German Championship were made after the joint venture between Orlado Racing and the Mach 1 Kart Factory Team was formed.  Presenting many new challenges and obstacles, Phillip looked to set his goals high and come home with victories and podiums. Even though Phillip has a lot of experience racing on the North American races, competing on the European soil is a completely different ball game.

“Our original goal was to finish in the first 34 and to get into the final.  During Friday’s practice, Phillip’s time was improving as he was getting used to the track, the track conditions and chassis set up.  He finished Friday’s practice with the realization that there is no room for any error in this type of a competition,” explained Orlado Racing owner Darko Orcic.

Saturday was a long and tough day for the team with the first official practice starting at 8:00am. Qualifying quickly followed and three heat races after that.  Phillip qualified 39th overall which set him up for a 19th place starting position for each of the three heat races.  In the first heat, Phillip improved slightly as he managed to move forward to the 16th position. In the second heat race, the Canadian pilot was on a tear as he moved through the more experienced European drivers, coming home fifth. Looking to match his previous result in the final heat race Orcic again moved forward to finish in P11.

With the three heat races complete, Phillip garnered enough points to transfer directly to the main event in his first German Championship event. Holding an 18th place starting position for the prefinal, Orcic was ready for the challenge before the skies began to open. Drastically changing track conditions coupled with little rain testing, Orcic welcomed the challenge and moved forward to the 12th position. Just past the half way point, the Mach 1 pilot was shoved off the track and relegated to the tail of the field eventually finishing 22nd.

As the final began the first lap was a good one for Phillip as he moved into the top ten after starting deep in the field. With an ever improving chassis and with his confidence growing, Phillip began to attack the race course looking to gain as many positions as possible. At the halfway point, Orcic climbed up to P6 and then went into defense mode as he tried to fend off the aggressive Europeans.  Throughout the rest of the race, Orcic was fighting hard and driving incredibly well and managed to cross the strip in the eighth position. 

“This was probably the hardest race for me,” expressed Phillip Orcic after the event. “I want to thank everyone that helped me get to where I am today and I can’t wait to move onto the next one.”

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