A successful first half of the 2011 season led the J3 Competition Race Department to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT for the 2011 USRMC Nationals. A stout entry list lead to great racing during the event with J3 Competition having a colorful presence with drivers in multiple categories, starting with Max Sr. driver’s Andrew Palmer and Tristan DeGrand, Max Jr. driver Brennan Harrington, Mini Max standout Patricio O’Ward and MicroMax driver Michael d’Orlando.
Having recently completed a significant test at the Miller Motorsports Park, the J3 Competition Race Department acclimated their material and program to the stark climate of Utah immediately on the first day of track activity. With valuable data collected during the test, J3 drivers were on point in multiple classes as action officially kicked off on Thursday.
First up was the Max Sr. class as Andrew Palmer and Tristan DeGrand qualified fourth and fifth respectively. With great starting positions in their heat races, DeGrand capitalized as he would take two heat wins and a fourth place to assert himself as the early front runner for the crown with pole position for Saturday’s pre-final. Palmer looked impressive in his heats as well with two top five results, however a DNF in his first heat after leading the field into turn one, which was created by a competitor blatantly taken him out of contention forced him to play a difficult hand. This result then forced Palmer to grid in 21st for the pre-final.
All competitors were required to start the pre-final on new rubber, where DeGrand secured a third place finish, while Palmer would not be as lucky as he made contact on his way up through the field. At the start of the final, DeGrand when to the point as he had done so regularly over the event and then engaged in a fierce battle throughout the entire event with the top three pilots. At the stripe DeGrand would be classified third while Palmer had a run from 21st to 8th until making contact a few laps from the end. Unfortunately, in post-technical inspection DeGrand would be excluded from the final results for an apparent clutch infraction.
Team Disqualification Comment:
“After managing a successful event, the disqualification of Tristan DeGrand for a technical infraction on the clutch has left our organization in a mist of uncertainty”, stated Justin Stefani. “The operating procedures within our organization have always been to thoroughly clean and inspect Rotax clutch components before each competition session as we know this is a large gray area within the BRP-Rotax technical regulations. The final post technical inspection marked the seventh trip for Tristan to this department, thus making this decision a definite pity knowing that the OEM supplied products we were utilizing are apparently not provided to the technical regulations.”
The Jr. Max field had a strong turnout and Brennan Harrington put his name in the front mix of drivers, Harrington finished a trio heat races in fourth place thus creating a good starting position for the pre-final. The start of the pre-final was kind to Harrington as he finished in fifth place with a solid time good enough to battle for the podium in the final. The final started out well for Harrington as he immediately jumped into third place and challenged the position until the middle stages of the event and fell back to take home a well-deserved fourth place finish.
Micro Max pilot and team newcomer Michael d’Orlando posted quick times in practice sessions and backed up his long-run speed with three solid heat race results giving the young New Yorker a top ten starting position for the Saturday’s events. d’Orlando finished the pre-final in eleventh and then moved his way up to photo finish in the final with Sirgany in the final as he took a solid seventh place finish.
After being at the top of the time charts for most of the practice sessions, Mini Max driver O’Ward qualified in twelfth place. A strong run in each of his heats put O’Ward in a good position in the pre-final where he made good on his efforts with a solid sixth place finish. The final was not to be as O’Ward battled hard to claim sixth in the final ranks with New Castle Pan Am next up on his schedule.
J3 Competition would like to thank its technicians (David Dodson, Bob Williams, Blake Wankowski, and Sean Scott) along with the team families and product partners for the diligent and quality work they provided the J3 Competition Race Department throughout the USRMC Nationals.
J3 Competition Race Department is exclusively utilizing the 2011 Kosmic Racing Kart line coupled with Unipro data logging systems.
For further information regarding the J3 Competition Race Department please email
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or call at 515-528-5502. For information regarding any of the great J3 Competition products and or service please contact
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or visit www.J3Competition.com
Mailing Address: Hours: 9:30-6pm (EST) M-F
8233 Oliver Road Phone: 814-864-1846
Erie, Pennsylvania 16509 Fax: 814-866-2697
