Canada puts on a dominating display at New Castle, taking the Nation’s Cup award and all seven Rotax Grand Finals transfer spots.
Putting on a dominant display at the final day of the Pan American Rotax Max Challenge championship event, presented by RDD Motorsports and DeFrancesco Racing, Canada was nearly untouchable at the rain-soaked New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, Indiana.
photo: Nations Cup
A favorite heading into the event, Canada would walk away with the elusive Nation’s Cup trophy, a feature award at this international event and claim all seven of the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals transfer spots, smothering their United States rivals as well all of the other countries represented.
Rain had moved into the New Castle, Indiana area, setting the perfect stage for a very interesting Championship Sunda. Heavy rains were forecasted for later in the afternoon, with Pan Am officials moving the schedule up to try and avoid the deluge. Umbrellas and rain suits were the order of the day, along with slick conditions and spinning karts. Prefinal racing would set the grid for the championship finals, with drivers laying it all on the line – the wet line that is – to secure Pan Am championship titles. No one could have asked for more action, more surprises or even more rain on Sunday but the final day of the event was certainly one for the ages, as the international competition was at its peak despite the challenging conditions. Canada came out on top not only as a nation, but also claimed three Pan Am titles along the way as they were the class of the field in the wet.
Max Senior sponsored by Intrepid North America
Marco DiLeo (Canada) had the advantage of pole position for the start of the Max Senior sponsored by Intrepid North America prefinal, but lost out to Pier-Luc Ouellette (Canada) at the drop of the green. Luke Chudleigh (Canada) bettered United States’ Formal and Andrew Palmer at the start, with Kevin Monteith (Canada) up to fourth from seventh followed by Formal and Louie Pagano (USA). Palmer and Stepanova Nekeel (USA) would get into trouble on the start as Chudleigh was all over DiLeo’s bumper, who in turn was putting the pressure on Ouellette. Chudleigh gave it a go coming into 17, but couldn’t complete the pass. Coming though the twisty back section, Chudleigh was able to better DiLeo on the second lap and then set his sights on the leader. On lap four DiLeo would spin in turn ten, making quick work to get back on track yet falling back to tenth. Meanwhile Chudleigh had reached the former DD2 World Champion and struggled to get by until the long straight. From there the blazing fast pilot checked out as Monteith slipped off track in turn 15. Palmer would improve to get by Pagano, with Formal getting into the mix as the United States drivers battled for position. DiLeo had started his comeback after his spin, up to seventh by lap eight. An ensuing spin by Pearce Herder (Canada) moved DiLeo up a one more spot, while in the closing laps Palmer began to gain on Ouellette. Going three wide in corner 13, Palmer pinched PLO for the lead, and as Chudleigh slowed on the long straight DiLeo was able to slide into third at the line. Formal and Nekeel would find themselves in fourth and fifth at the checkered flag.
Palmer led the pack of 27 senior drivers slow and controlled to the green lights for the Max Senior final, but Ouellette was too much and jumped to the lead. DiLeo went to second shuffling Palmer back to third, and the first and second karts immediately extended a gap on the field. Palmer would soon slide off in 13, and was able to keep going but well down the order. Nekeel and Sebastian Ordonez (USA), who started in 13th, moved up into third and fourth. Formal had also been shuffled back at the start, but was back up to ninth at the start of lap three. DiLeo would lose a position as he went off in the same place as Palmer, allowing Nekeel and Ordonez by. A train of karts was beginning to form, all chasing Ouellette who had gained 11 seconds in quick order. DiLeo went past Ordonez by lap three and then by Nekeel for second a few flyers later. Pagano and Formal worked together up to fourth and fifth, with Formal attempting a pass for position on lap ten. Formal lost two spots in the failed pass, and as Chudleigh sneaked by, the two would then draft by Pagano on the next lap. With laps winding down, Chudleigh began gaining on Nekeel, and was able to get by as Formal also closed in. With a sizeable lead and easy win in hand, jaws dropped at Ouellette would slow on the last lap, coming to a stop under the starting gantry. Pointing to DiLeo as he drove by, Ouellette relinquished the Senior title in favor of his DD2 Grand Finals berth gained via the Canadian National Championships. DiLeo would then become the Max Senior Pan Am champion, with Chudleigh moving up to second to earn the Rotax Grand Finals ticket with Formal settling by for third. Pagano would cross fourth with Nekeel fifth, and Ouellette trailing in ninth.
Rotax DD2 sponsored by ZCD Autosport
A wild start saw drivers sliding all over the track through the first corner, at the stripe and through turns one and two of the Rotax DD2 class, sponsored by ZCD Autosport prefinal. Rooster tails showed just how wet the track had become, this being the third race of the morning, just before karts slowed for an errant red flag on the Tracksa light system that led to a full restart of the mixed DD2/DD2 Masters field. Getting back underway, polesitter Tyler McEwan (Canada) held point as five karts went off on the restart, with drivers again battling the slick track through turns one and two. Canadians Matthew DiLeo, Eric Simon and Daniel Burkett followed in suit with Michael Ostrowski (USA) in tow. Reid Arnold (Canada) then joined in the mix, going side-by-side with Simon along the whole long straight. A ferocious battle was brewing between the two Canadians for second, with it ending badly for Arnold who wound up in the barriers. Simon would then spin the next lap by, as conditions began to deteriorate. DiLeo would find himself taking over the second place, with Ostrowski up to third and Zacharie Richard-Robichon (Canada) starting to gain in the wet. Richard-Robichon then began fighting with Burkett and Ostrowski, eventually getting by to take over third. Working lap nine, Richard-Robichon had his eyes on DiLeo as he began to reel him in with Burkett sticking close to Richard-Robichon’s bumper. Burkett then went on a mission going by Richard-Robichon leading up to the waving white flag and then passed DiLeo for second. McEwan went untouched to earn the final pole position, seven seconds in front of Burkett. DiLeo, Richard-Robichon, and Julio Moreno completed the top-five.
At the start of the DD2 final race, McEwan and Burkett would slot into P1 and P2 with DiLeo maintaining third through the first lap, as all three would put some space between each other. Richard-Robichon, who has started last due to a parc ferme time miscue, was up to seventh by the start of lap two and would go one position higher one flyer later. DiLeo was starting to close on Burkett, and tried to get the pass done in corner 17 but couldn’t make it stick. Richard-Robichon by now was up to fifth, and still made up more ground as he was up to fourth in only six laps. The top three went unchanged until the half way flags, when Burkett went off track right before turn 16 as DiLeo went by as Richard-Robichon closed in. Arnold was on a tear, coming into the picture as he began to close in on the fourth place pilot. DiLeo would be the next to go off track coming up on lap 13, tightening things up between the pack. Burkett was now in second, and had to hold off the advances of his competitors to earn the trip to the Rotax Grands. Arnold got by Richard-Robichon coming up to the two-to-go flags, and then bumped wheels with DiLeo as they both drove off into the grass but re-entered in their same positions. Arnold then made the pass stick on the last lap for third. McEwan was a master, taking a six-second victory and earning the trip to the Grand Finals along with second place finisher Burkett. Arnold maintained third for the final podium finish, with DiLeo fourth and Richard-Robichon fifth. In DD2 Masters, Stuart Clark (Canada) needed to overcome a three second starting infraction penalty to score the DD2 Masters win and subsequent Grand Finals spot, just barely eking out the win by 3.476 seconds over Dany St-Hilaire (Canada).
Max Junior sponsored by MRP Speed Schools-- Not surprisingly, a melee of karts went off into the grass at the start of the MRP Speed Schools sponsored Max Junior class prefinal race. Polesitter Jesse Lazare (Canada) held the lead through the fracas, and immediately checked out on the field. With Lazare out in front, Parker Thompson (Canada) was equally impressive going from his tenth place starting position to second at the green, followed by Alex Guenette (Canada), Olivier Bedard (Canada) and Thomas Issa (Jamaica). Incredibly, Lazare had already built a three second advantage by the end of the first lap. Bedard tried a move on Guenette at the stripe working lap two, but slid off the surface in the process. Gunning it back on track, Bedard made it back past Issa to maintain his position. Bedard tried again the next lap, this time making it by Guenette’s kart for third. Meanwhile, Thompson was working to catch Lazare and made his way to the first place kart’s bumper, trying to make a pass in corner 13 but was unsuccessful. Thompson lost some ground in the process, as Lazare was again able to break away from Thompson. Guenette eventually made his way past Bedard to retake third on the penultimate lap, and at the line it was Lazare and Thompson, followed by Guenette, Bedard and Issa.Again it was a barrage of spinning and sliding karts at the start of the Junior Max final, with Lazare maintaining point with Guenette taking over second followed by Issa. Dore Chaponick Jr. (USA) had catapulted to from 11th to third by the mid-section, with Thompson and Issa getting in trouble. Thompson was able to keep going but well down the running order while Issa’s day would be over a few laps later. A battle for third then ensued between Chaponick Jr., Jeffrey Kinsley (Canada), who was making his Junior debut, and Collin Daley Jr. (Jamaica). Thompson began his march back up immediately, battling with Samuel Fontaine (Canada) and Matthew Williams (Jamaica) as they went three wide during lap three in a battle for sixth place. Chaponick Jr. had dropped out of the mix, moving Kingsley up to third and Thompson working for fifth. Lazare by now had checked out, seven seconds ahead of the field by lap six as Thompson then found his way to third during lap eight. Not much changed as Lazare gained a 14 second gap on Guenette, just past the midpoint of the race. Thompson was reeling in Guenette as he tried to take over second, and looked like he might have a shot until Guenette rocketed back at the white flag. Lazare went on to take the win, adding the title of Pan Am Rotax Junior Champion to his stellar season thus far in 2011. Guenette held on for second, and will join Team Canada at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals with Lazare and Thompson, who had already qualified. Thompson completed the podium, followed by Daley Jr. and Artem Korolev (Canada), who made an astounding comeback from the 25th position.
photo: Jesse Lazare
Mini Max sponsored by SPORTALITY
The wet start to the Mini Max sponsored by SPORTALITY prefinal saw some slipping and sliding through the first corner, with Logan Sargeant (USA) able to maintain his first place starting position. By mid-lap however, Juan Manuel Correa (Ecuador) had overtaken Sargeant and was building a substantial lead over the entire 15-kart field. Patricio O’Ward (Mexico) slid by Sargeant working corner 13, with the polesitter staying close to O’Ward’s bumper. The two apparently tangled in the next corner at the end of the short straight, with Sargeant sliding off the track and both falling down the running order. Sebastian Sierra (Columbia) made his way up to second while a battle was brewing between Austin Versteeg (USA) and Tyler Ripani (Canada), with Ripani taking point over the FWT Mini Max champ, who then also succumbed to Gianfranco Mazzaferro (Canada) after the Canadian drafted by him on the long straight. Settling in and spreading out with four laps to go, all eyes would go to Versteeg as he slid down the hill in 13. The young pilot persevered and pushed his kart back up the hill and got it going again, but would be three laps down and classified in 11th place by the checkers. Correa sailed to a seven and a half second victory, setting himself up with pole for the final. Ripani was third followed by Mazzaferro, Devlin DeFrancesco (USA) and Cole Glasson (USA). The latter two would both face penalties, DeFrancesco in tech and Glasson for a starting infraction, moving Darren Keane (USA) into fourth. O’Ward and Sargeant would end up sixth and eighth respectively.
Polesitter Correa spun on the warm-up lap for the Mini Max final race, but just barely made it back into his position by the delineation line to maintain his first place starting position. Through the first turn at the green, Correa would go off in the grass at the stripe, only losing two positions in the process. Canadians Ripani and Mazzaferro would take over first and second, with DeFrancesco all the way up to fourth after starting at the tail of the field! The young gun was on a tear, even battling Correa for third but thought better and settled into fourth. Correa and Mazzaferro then spun while in second and third, moving DeFrancesco closer to the leader, with Annie Breidinger (USA) to fourth and Jeff Fulham (Canada) to fifth. DeFrancesco then set his sights on Ripani as he began to reel him in. Posting quick times in the rain, DeFrancesco was able to steal the lead working lap seven. Breidinger fell off as Fulham inherited third with Versteeg now coming into the picture. DeFrancesco had long checked out, cruising to an amazing eight-second victory with Ripani clocking 14 seconds on third. Versteeg nabbed the final podium position, as he was able to draft by Fulham on the long straight leading up to the checkered flag. Glasson would end up in fourth with Fulham rounding out the top five.
photo: Mini Podium
Micro Max sponsored by Keane Racing/Homestead Karting
With three heat race wins, Antonio Serravalle (Canada) started the Keane Racing/Homestead Karting Micro Max sponsored prefinal from the pole position. The first class on the schedule went out on slicks for the ten-lap race, and with light rain starting to fall again on the weekend, it made the track precariously slippery and would definitely shake things up near the top of the running order. Serravalle held point on the start, but with the rain starting to fall even harder the polesitter would spin with Santiago Terife (Venezuela) inheriting the lead. US Grand National Micro Max champ Philip Varner (USA) went to the lead the next lap by as the field began to come to grips with the tricky track conditions. With Varner leading on the penultimate lap, he would succumb to the track spinning in corner 13, sliding down the wet grass. Not giving up and pushing his kart back up the hill, Varner gave the lead over to Michael Benyahia (USA) on the last lap and as karts spun left and right all over the course, Benyahia held a comfortable ten second lead at the line. Terife would best Anthony Famularo (Venezuela) for second with Serravalle in an unfamiliar fourth and Justin Sirgany (Jamaica) fifth. Varner would eventually cross in tenth.
Santiago Terife went from his off-pole starting position in the Micro Max final to the lead, although the young pilot would be assessed a three second penalty for a starting line infraction. Serravalle slipped from fourth into second, with Benyahia in third as drivers began to settle into a rhythm around the 17-turn one-mile circuit. The rain had let up over the shortened lunch break, but once again a slight drizzle started to re-dampen the track. Santiago’s twin brother Sergio pulled up to Serravalle by lap two, with Serravalle feeling the pressure as he fell back to fourth. The Terife brothers were running one-two with Jacob Ewaniuk (Canada) making his way from last to fifth by the third lap. The pilot then got by fellow Canadian Serravalle for fourth, with the two swapping positions back and forth through the next two corners. Serravalle got the edge eventually, but was still faced with a bumper full of Ewaniuk. Disaster would strike for Ewaniuk right after he crossed the finish line on the start of lap four, as he would spin on the slick track in turn four and fall back to eighth. Meanwhile Benyahia fell back to seventh moving Leonardo Rinaldi (Venezuela), Victor Javier Prato (Venezuela) and Mathias Soler (Columbia) up as Santiago Terife increased his lead over his twin brother by 11 seconds. Prato was able to make a move on Serravalle for third on lap eight leaving the two battling for position. Prato then got by Sergio Terife working lap ten, as Serravalle fell back to fifth when he tripped up in turn two allowing Rinaldi by. Ewaniuk had made his way back up to sixth, as was also able to capitalize on Serravalle’s error as did Soler. At the line, Santiago Terife had enough distance between himself and second place that his three-second penalty would be irrelevant. Prato held on to second as did Sergio Terife in third, making it an all-Venezuelan podium in the Micro Max class. Rinaldi came home fourth, and Ewaniuk fifth, but a two-position penalty for a driving infraction would move Soler up. After dominating in the heat races, Canadian Antonio Serravalle would be classified sixth.
photo: Satniago Terife
Known as a Rotax prowess, Canada swept all seven of the final Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals spots available, adding to an already stacked Team Canada. Also up for grabs was the Nation’s Cup, calculated from the top two drivers from each country in each class during the finals, with the highest points tally taking home the elusive trophy. Not surprisingly, Canada was awarded the prestigious award, after their dominating performance at New Castle. With 1-2 finishes in Max Senior, Max Junior, DD2 and DD2 Masters, Canada was untouchable in the final tally with 392 points. USA took second in the Nation’s Cup tally with 282 points on the heels of the two podium positions in Mini Max as well as the third and fourth place finishes in Max Senior. Venezuela was not far behind in third thanks to the Micro Max sweep. Canada’s RMC representative Michel Boisclair would accept the Nation’s Cup trophy on behalf of Canada at the prize giving ceremony.
The reformatted Pan American Challenge was a huge success in 2011, owning to the organization and vision of Bill Wright and his Formula Kart Productions crew. With the event going off without a hitch, we can only expect the event to come back in 2012 bigger and better, with its international vibe and exceptional competition.
Bill Wright
Formula Kart Productions, Inc
Product and Event Promotion / Video and Live Streaming Productions Exclusive owner and promoter of the FWT / Administrator of the Pan American RMC Safe Race Systems LLC Exclusive North American Distributor Tracksa Light Marshalling Systems
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