Rotax Grand Finals - Day 6


  16 November 2013
 

Day 6 (Friday, 14 November) of the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals saw the final round of heat racing (in the wet), plus the Last Chance Qualifier races to set the fields for tomorrow's pre-finals and finals.

All but one of the Australians have made it through to the final day of competition, and three of them (Joseph Burton-Harris, Jason Pringle and Adam Hunter) will start inside the top ten of their class.

Hamish Leighton started the Last Chance Qualifier race for DD2 Masters from grid 14 but contact in the opening turn of the race dropped him to the back. He got back to 15th but a subsequent issue saw him eventually classified 25th. Only the top 6 progress to the pre-final. New Zealand's Stuart Marshall finished 10th, meaning his meeting is also over.

Hamish Leighton gets turned around in the Last Chance race
Above: Hamish Leighton gets turned around in the Last Chance race
pic - Ash Budd/KARTX/Facebook

Based on their rankings after the heat racing, the other 11 Australians will start their pre-final from the following grid positions:

Junior MAX:
Joseph Burton-Harris - grid 8
Liam McLellan - grid 26
James Abela - grid 28

Senior MAX
Daniel Rochford - grid 11
Pierce Lehane - grid 12
Tyler Greenbury - grid 15

DD2
Jason Pringle - grid 9
Brendan Nelson - grid 23
Lucas Ward - grid 27

DD2 Masters
Adam Hunter - grid 10
Daniel Richer - grid 24

  • All the results are online HERE

The report below is the official Rotax report from rotax-kart.com

Just one heat race remains until the points of the finishing positions of each driver are added up, determining which competitor will move into the final round, and which ones must move into the Second Chance Race. The goal is to receive as little points as possible during heat races- the winners of each heat obtain 0 points, for instance. The lower the finishing positions, the more points a driver will attain. Upon competing in the Second Chance Race, those finishing in the top 6 places will be selected to move into the final round, tomorrow.
 
A quick look at the weather report today: Early this morning, the track saw heavy rain, washing away the fresh rubber from yesterday. Temperatures are expected at a high of 70 °F (21 °C) and low of 64 °F (17.78 °C).
 
One last reminder before we begin our race coverage: Mini and Micro MAX will also be driving today- they will take part in their second non-qualifying practice and a qualifying session.
 
Without any further hesitation, let us begin race coverage for Day 6 at the RMCGF!
 
Junior Heat 3- Group A + D
 
The start proved to be difficult, since the rain had washed away most of the track’s grip. Nevertheless, as the laps carried on, Kirkwood ran away with the lead, with a half-second gap on second and third place- the Estonian Jüri Vips and Spaniard, Ricardo Garcia. A great battle ensued between Vips and Kirkwood when Vips attempted to pass Kirkwood on the backstretch in lap 5, but was blocked by the American. After getting caught up in lapped traffic, however, Vips lost 8 tenths of a second to Kirkwood, landing in second and the UK driver, Zhou Guan Yu rounded out the top three. However, news was received that Guan Yu received a 10-second penalty due to the cause of a collision, pushing him back into 14th, and allowing Australian Liam McLellan to finish in the top 3.
 
Junior Heat 3- Group B + C

Rain started pouring as the Junior racers prepared themselves, causing seven drivers to miss their race. In consequence, the heat saw only 29 drivers competing for the win. It continued to rain throughout the heat, challenging drivers to adapt to the new conditions. UK’s Tom Harvey, however, stormed to the front, with over 7 tenths of a second. Harvey emerged the winner, with Australian Joseph Burton-Harris in second and Austrian Thomas Preining in third. However, news was received that Harvey was excluded from the race due to non-compliance with technical regulations. Although Sena Sakaguchi was bumped up to third position, he was disqualified as well, due to non-compliance with technical regulations, allowing for Jamaican Thomas Issa to slip into third place.
 
Senior Heat 3- Group A + D

Rain finally ceased as the first Senior MAX competitor group left pit lane. However, the group still opted to run on the rain tires. Carlos Gil lead the group to the first corner, but was passed on the outside by several drivers. UK driver Kyle Fowlie took the top position, while UK driver Max Aitken drove to third position in the first laps with Gil in second. Fowlie ran away with the lead- his lap times 2 seconds faster than those of second place. By lap 4, Fowlie had already distanced himself from second by 3.8 seconds. Fowlie won the heat, with teammate, UK driver Max Aitken drove up to third position, and Danish driver Martin Henckel Mortens making his way up to second, with 7.8 seconds back from Fowlie.
 
Senior Heat 3- Group B + C
 
Humidity levels began to rise, to an expected 88%. Although the sun was shining, seniors opted to use rain tires. By lap 2, Swede Philip Morin lead the pack of 35 drivers, in front of second placed Talvar and 3rd placed Hodgson. However, Hodgson passed Talvar and slowly began reeling in Morin. Eastwood, in 5th position, drove the fastest lap time of a 1:09.236, passing for 3rd with just 3 laps to go. Harry Webb, also began making his way up to the top 5, finishing in sixth. Eastwood, in the last lap was able to slip past both Morin and Hodgson for the lead, distancing himself with a gap of 7 tenths of a second and winning the race. Morin finished in 2nd, a second ahead of Hodgson who rounded out the top 3.
 
DD2 Masters Heat 3- Group A + D
 
Track conditions continued to dry out, however, DD2 Masters drivers decided to choose the wet tire. Rudolph lead the pack for the first few laps with American, Derek Wang, in hot pursuit, trailing 4 tenths of a second behind the leader. As the race progressed, Wang was unable to keep up with the speedy Rudolph, dropping back. As expected, Rudolph brought his Praga kart home for the victory, Wang in second and the Swede, Martin Victorsson rounded out the top 3.
 
DD2 Masters Heat 3- Group B + C 
 
After restarting the race for the second time, France’s Michael Dauphin took the lead. In the first lap though, Australia’s Adam Hunter had conquered the top spot with Morgado and Dauphin rounding out the top three. But action continued, as Canada’s Scott Campbell passed for the lead. Ultimately, however, Hunter passed Campbell for the win, finishing 0.06 seconds ahead of the Canadian and Tiago Ribeiro of Portugal rounded out the top three.
 
DD2 Heat 3- Group A + D

Danny Formal lead the DD2 group to the green flag. Lithuanian, Vasiliauskas, passed Formal in lap 1. Nevertheless, the American countered, passing Vasiliauskas back. The action doesn’t stop here- Formal and Vasiliauskas continued trading places, until Formal went off the track, handing the win over to the Lithuanian, Babington placing in second and the second Lithuanian of the field, Simas Juodvirsis, rounded out the top 3. Formal placed in 12th, by the end of the heat.
 
DD2 Heat 3- Group B + C
 
Both Ben Cooper and Pier-Luc Ouellette lead the pack to turn 1. The start of the race saw Cooper take the lead, with Ouellette dropping into 4th place, Miika Laiho drive to 2nd and Simon Wagner of Austria drive to third. However, after a mistake and driving off track, Ouellette fell to 33rd position. Meanwhile, Austrian Simon Wagner pursued Cooper. In the last lap, Wagner attempted to pass Cooper, but was unable to make it past the 3-time World Champion. On the backstretch, Cooper had to block a final attack by Wagner. The top 2 battling caused 3rd placed Laiho to catch up and take a part in the mix. However, Cooper finished in first position, 1 tenth in front of Wagner, who finished second and Laiho, who was just 0.066 thousandths off of second.
 
Junior Second Chance Race

After 3 restarts and switching the leaders, the race began with a clean start, but saw intensive battles throughout the 7-lap heat. Ultimately, Jordan Sherratt of South Africa won the race, and along with 5 others, will continue to the finals, tomorrow.
 
Senior Second Chance Race

The Senior Seond Chance Race saw American Sam Beasley storm off, with the lead and ultimately the win with over 4 seconds to second placed Bryan Eerden of the Netherlands. However, Beasley reportedly was underweight, disqualifying him, allowing Eerden to take the win.
 
DD2 Masters Second Chance Race

With great battles in both the front and the rear of the pack, the DD2 Masters Second Chance race saw Igor Mukhin of Russia finish on the podium with over
 
DD2 Second Chance

The DD2 second chance race saw the top 2 leaders, Ferenc Kancsar of Hungary and Ryan Frost of Hungary run away with the lead. Not surprisingly, the heat saw Kancsar win the race.
 

 

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