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Curtain Rises on Rotax Challenge of the Americas

press release

20 January 2015

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Exciting weekend of racing in Tucson, Arizona for premier winter karting series on the left coast

The eighth season of the Rotax Challenge of the Americas program commenced over the January 9-11 weekend at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona. Over 100 karters gathered to contend in the premier winter karting series on the left coast, with four of the Rotax Max Challenge divisions beginning their journey toward the 2015 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals tickets up for grabs to the series champions. The weekend in Tucson was historic for seven of the 10 drivers to win over the two days of racing, standing on top of the podium as first time winners in the series.

Above: Sting Ray Robb opened the Challenge with a win in Junior Max
pic - SeanBuur.com

Racing in the Nash Motorsportz Senior Max class during the opening weekend could go down as the best in the series eight-year history. Brenden Baker began the event as the driver to beat, leading Friday Final Practice, and scoring the pole position on Saturday. He was joined at the front of the field by Mason Marotta, Luke Selliken and former Junior Max series champion Louie Pagano in the Prefinal. Marotta took over the lead during the first half of the race, while the rest of the trio fought for second. Baker eventually emerged with the position, but came up short of catching Marotta before the checkered flag. The first half of the final saw Marotta and Baker pull away from the rest of the field, appearing to set up a duel for the victory. On lap 16, Baker got itchy, and began fighting for the lead. Their scrap allowed the second group of racers to close in, with more charging forward as they continued to fight for position. Selliken muscled his way into the lead taking the two laps to go signal. Coming to the white flag, he and Baker made contact and shuffled off course. Three-wide action, contact, and drivers fighting for every inch over the last lap saw Pagano came through as the leader, crossing the line first. After the high emotions of the race and the win, Pagano’s triumph was for not as an improper part on his Rotax engine was discovered. Marotta, who crossed the line second, was handed a five-position penalty for a carburetor infraction, thus giving the win to Canadian Cedrik Lupien, who emerged in the top-three after the last lap skirmish. Jake Craig was classified second with Selliken landing on the podium in third.

Above: Brenden Baker dominated the Sunday action in Senior Max
pic - SeanBuur.com

Baker made it an easy call on Sunday, leading the way throughout the day for the sweep in Round Two. His 50.353-second lap gave him the pole position in qualifying. Baker led all 17 laps of the Prefinal with Marotta giving chase. The start of the Final had Blaine Rocha, 2013 Junior Max series champion, sneak through the opening corner for the lead, only to have Baker reclaim the position before reaching the start/finish line for the first time. Saturday winner Lupien and Marotta each took a turn at the point before Baker reclaimed the top spot on lap 13. From there, Baker extended his lead to two seconds, earning his first Senior Max victory. Senior rookie Christian Brooks fought his way forward in the closing laps, gaining the second spot from Marotta on the final circuit.

Only six drivers made up the CRG-USA DD2 class on the weekend, but the quality of drivers made it one to watch every time on track. Texas driver Michael Ilavia scored the pole position Saturday as the only driver to dip into the 49-second bracket. Last year’s vice-champion Sabré Cook came from the third starting spot, taking over the lead on lap two of the Prefinal and walking away with the win. She made it look easy, laying down consistent laps in the Final to score the first victory of 2015. Ilavia was a solid second with Christian Bird able to land third. Veteran driver Matt Jaskol, making his first series start, landed on Sunday’s provisional pole position, only to have it taken away following a technical infraction, giving Cook the pole position for the Prefinal. She and Ilavia fought for the lead early, and contact was made, dropping both to fourth and fifth. Cook fought back, retaking the lead by lap five, going on to score the win. The Final was another great 25-lap event, with the drivers shuffling for position early. Eventually, Cook, Ilavia, and Jaskol pulled away. Cook continued to run consistent laps, but Ilavia would not go away. On the final lap, Ilavia made a surprise move at turn nine, catching Cook off guard. Ilavia held on to the checkered flag, scoring his first series victory. Cook settled for second with Jaskol in third.

Above: Sabré Cook added another DD2 victory to her resume
pic - SeanBuur.com

New for the Cambrian Go-Karts Masters Max category in 2015 at the Rotax Challenge of the Americas, a Rotax Grand Finals ticket to the series champion. That has brought in a number of former series champions and big names from throughout the west coast. Former champion John Crow set the tone on the weekend, landing the pole position for Saturday’s opening round. The Prefinal was among the best races of the event, with the top-eight all within striking distance at one point. The race came down to Scott Falcone challenging Paul Bonilla - both former series champions. Falcone made a deep braking move in the second to last corner, drifting wide on the exit and allowing Bonilla to sneak away with the win. Bonilla retained the lead at the start of the Final, and managed to lead all 25 laps for the win. Crow hounded him early, but lost the position to Joey McGuire by the halfway point. McGuire however was handed a penalty in technical inspection, moving Crow up to second and 2014 US Grand Nationals champion Ken Maxfield to third. Bonilla went on to sweep the second round on Sunday. Scoring the fast time in qualifying, Bonilla went wire-to-wire in the Prefinal and the Final. Crow matched his pace in the Final, recording the fast lap, but could not challenge for the lead. McGuire recovered from his issues on Saturday to finish the weekend in third during Sunday’s Final.

Above: Paul Bonilla doubled up in the Masters Max category
pic - SeanBuur.com

The Rolison Performance Group Junior Max division welcomed two new drivers to the list of series winners. Sting Ray Robb and Nick Brueckner, both beginning their second season in the category, dominated the weekend with each taking home a main event win. Qualifying both days belonged to Brueckner, posting a 51.840-second lap on Saturday, and 51.715-second lap on Sunday. Brueckner led all 17 laps of the Prefinal Saturday, with Robb striking early in the Final. Taking over the lead on lap two, he went on to score the victory. Brueckner ran a close second with Canadian Kellen Ritter earning his first podium finish of the series.

Sunday, Robb won the Prefinal after taking away the lead early on from Brueckner as they once again finished 1-2. Robb led the first half of the main event, until he and Brueckner jostled for the lead. Their fighting allowed David Ilavia and Ritter to close in, making it a four driver battle. Coming to the white flag, Brueckner and Robb went wide at turn 10, allowing both Ritter and Ilavia through for the top two positions. On the final lap, Ilavia attempted a pass at turn nine, and contact was made. This allowed Brueckner to slip through for the lead and the victory. Ilavia crossed the line in second but was handed a 10-second penalty for the contact with Ritter. That promoted Robb to second and put Junior Max rookie Trey Brown on the podium in third.

Two different nations were represented on top of the podium in the PSL West Mini Max category on the opening weekend. Canadian Griffin Dowler won a dramatic race Saturday while Mexican driver Sebastian Alvarez dominated the Sunday proceedings. Utah driver Payton Durrant scored the pole position in qualifying on Saturday, only to see Alvarez take the point away in the opening corner of the Prefinal for the race win. 2012 Micro Max series champion Jacob Blue Hudson had one of the quickest karts early on, and helped to bring in a group of drivers to battle Alvarez for the win in the main event. On consecutive laps while jostling for the lead, contact was made and took Durrant, Hudson, and Austin Torgerson out of contention. Dowler emerged as the leader and held on for the remaining laps for the win. Marco Kacic made it a Canada 1-2, with 2013 Micro Max series champion Jak Crawford landing on the podium in third for his first Mini Max start. Alvarez was able to hold off a late charge by Durrant in the qualifying session Sunday to earn the pole position for the Prefinal. Alvarez would go the rest of the day unchallenged, winning the pre-main by over a second and the Final by nearly five, leading all 18 laps. Junior rookie Torgerson won the battle for second with Dowler once again on the podium in third.

Above: Sunday was all Sebastian Alvarez in the Mini Max division
pic - SeanBuur.com

Diego LaRoque went scoreless in 2014, and made sure that was not the issue this year, winning both main events of the Motorsports Development Group Micro Max division. LaRoque edged out Josh Pierson for the pole position on Saturday by 73 thousandths of a second. They were joined by Cole Keith Cotham in the fight for the Prefinal win, with Diego crossing first and Cotham second. Pierson and LaRoque were able to break away from the field with the two exchanging the lead a number of times. LaRoque led the most important lap, taking the checkered flag first ahead of Pierson. Cotham was third, but a technical infraction took him off the podium, putting Ashton Torgerson into third. Pierson came back to earn the pole position on Sunday, three hundredths quicker then LaRoque. The start of the Prefinal saw LaRoque involved in contact, dropping him down to the tail of the field. Fighting his way back to fifth, another spin dropped him down the order eventually finishing seventh. Torgerson won the Prefinal race with a drag race to the line, edging out Pierson. LaRoque joined the three leaders quickly in the Final, as the four fought for the final win of the weekend. LaRoque was able to hold off a final charge by Pierson for the victory, with Cotham in third.

Above: Diego LaRoque stood on the Micro Max podium both days at the series opener
pic - SeanBuur.com

The second stop of the 2015 Rotax Challenge of the Americas program returns to the Phoenix Kart Racing Association facility in Glendale, Arizona on February 13-15. For more, visit rotaxchallenge.com to register and review more information on Round Three and Four.

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