Posts Tagged ‘go kart league’
Monday, January 11th, 2010
A racer slides our electric kart through a corner in our Challenge GP kart league at K1 Speed Irvine!
The first race of the new 2010
Challenge GP season took place at
K1 Speed Irvine this past weekend, and the new format seemed to be well-received by the participants! Perhaps the biggest change to our kart league, besides the fact that the race was run in the reverse direction on our Super Track, was the new rolling start. In the past, the racers have lined up on our grid for a Formula One style standing start, but we decided to add one more new element to keep the series interesting and challenging for our regular participants. The rolling start allows the pole sitter to set the pace and potentially jump away from the pack at the drop of the green flag; however, it also gives those in the back of the pack an opportunity to try and build momentum to make a carefully timed pass just as the green flag is waved! Needless to say, we expect to see some dramatic starts as the season goes on.
A competitor heads backwards on the starting grid in our reverse layout!
The A Main race saw regular drivers Toby Rodriguez, David Messimer and David Kelmenson (who competes in our Torrance series on a frequent basis) claim the top spots on the podium. As the flag was waved and the race got underway, Toby put in some amazing laps and ran consistently fast. This performance on track allowed him to build a comfortable lead and take home the 1st place finish in our first race of the new year. Though David Messimer and David Kelmenson did everything that they could to challenge for the lead, on this day Toby was simply unbeatable! We expect to see Toby fighting for the top spot all season long, and we hope to see David Kelmenson put in a full season effort at our Irvine indoor karting track, as we think he has a chance for the championship as well.
Challenge GP A Main Podium: 1st Toby Rodriguez | 2nd David Messimer | 3rd David Kelmenson
In the B Main race, recent
Red Bull contest winner Khalifa Alasiri was able to take home the win. No stranger to our A Main races, Khalifa was able to set a good pace during the final, and his experience allowed him to finish ahead of the field. Finishing in 2nd place was Jason Foreman, who was able to defend his position against a hard-charging Brad Drew, who claimed the final spot on the podium. Overall, it was a great B Main race with some superb drives. With his win though, we expect that Khalifa will be eager to fight amongst our A Main competitors next month!
Challenge GP B Main Podium: 1st Khalifa Alasiri | 2nd Jason Foreman | 3rd Brad Drew
We would like to thank everyone for joining us for the first round of our new 2010 Challenge GP go kart league! We truly appreciate the support of our fans, and we look forward to hosting them once again next month for Round 2! If you would like to compete against the best indoor karters in Southern California or the Pacific Northwest, feel free to join our Challenge GP kart racing series! We hold races at several of our indoor go kart tracks throughout Southern California and Seattle, Washington, and it is a great way to experience the thrill of racing in a safe and affordable environment!
Tackling our Super Track in the opposite direction requires participants to learn a whole new layout!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, indoor go kart racing, indoor go kart track, indoor kart racing, indoor kart racing center, indoor karting, indoor karting center, irvine, k1 speed, kart league, kart series, orange county, southern california
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Irvine | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
The final race of the Challenge GP season at K1 Speed Carlsbad took place this past weekend and when the last competitor crossed the finish line, a new champion was crowned! The event was fantastic; the racing was close, everyone was in good spirits and there were some surprises on the podium. Long-time racer Kirk Meese pulled out the win over young up-and-coming racer Jordan Robertson, who finished in 2nd place and David Messimer who fought off Paul Ciralli for the final spot on the podium. Regulars John Simms and Jordan’s father Stephan also put up good fights but were unable to earn a trophy this time around.
December Challenge GP Podium -- 1st Kirk Meese | 2nd Jordan Robertson | 3rd David Messimer
Despite Paul’s 4th place finish, he was still able to claim the season championship! After finishing 2nd to John Tanaka last season in our Carlsbad Challenge GP kart racing series, Paul was consistent and competitive all season long, and his efforts paid off with a championship finish. The Top 3 finishers for the season were Paul Ciralli in 1st place, Jordan Robertson in 2nd (who impressed everyone this season with his continuous improvement and competitiveness) and Kirk Meese finishing in 3rd place overall. Our winners received gift bags and prizes from Meguiar’s Car Care and K&N Filters, whom we would like to thank for their support. It was a pleasure hosting our Jul-Dec 2009 Challenge GP season and we greatly look forward to the 2010 series!
Jul-Dec 2009 Challenge GP Final Results -- 1st Paul Ciralli | 2nd Jordan Robertson | 3rd Kirk Meese
Tags: carlsbad, Challenge GP, go kart league, indoor go kart racing, indoor go kart track, indoor kart racing, indoor karting, indoor karting center, k1 speed, kart league, kart racing series, kart series, san diego
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Carlsbad | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Racing enthusiasts take part in the Challenge GP go kart league at K1 Speed!
With the 2009 season of our
Challenge GP kart league coming to a close, we are already preparing for 2010, and we are pleased to announce that we are implementing some exciting changes! One of the most dramatic changes (and one which the participants seem to appreciate) is that our tracks will be run in the opposite direction! After six months of running “forwards” at
K1 Speed Carlsbad,
K1 Speed Irvine,
K1 Speed Ontario,
K1 Speed Torrance and
K1 Speed Seattle, we will even the playing field for new competitors by running our indoor go kart tracks “backwards” this Challenge GP season between January and June, 2010.
Our indoor go kart tracks take on different rhythms and personalities when run in the opposite direction, and for all intents and purposes become brand new tracks! For novice competitors, operating our tracks in reverse allows them to compete on a level keel with veteran racers; for individuals who have raced at their local K1 Speed indoor karting center a dozen times or more, changing the track direction gives them the opportunity to experience their favorite location in a whole new light! Needless to say, it’s great fun and we always love to watch as racers dissect a new layout and unlock the track’s secrets! We also feel that this is a great reason to take part in our Challenge GP kart racing series, as our reverse layouts are not available for our regular Arrive and Drive racing options (except in Anaheim).
In addition to the track direction, we are also making some slight changes to the point system. Each racer will now receive 2 points for his or her position in a race (for example, if someone finishes 1st in a race with 10 competitors, he or she will receive 20 points) and we are excited to announce that we will be rewarding the individual who sets the fast lap and earns the pole position at our indoor raceway an additional 2 points that will be added to his or her total! We suspect that this new change may lead to some heartbreak out on track, but it should result in some fantastic drives as well!
The dates for the 2010 season of our Challenge GP go kart league will be announced soon and we hope to see you competing on track next season!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart series, k1 speed, kart league, kart racing series, karting league, karting series
Posted in Challenge GP, News - K1 Speed | No Comments »
Monday, December 14th, 2009
With only 1 point separating 1st and 2nd place in our K1 Speed Ontario Challenge GP kart league, the last round of the season would be the race that determined the championship! Regular competitor John Tanaka led Garrett Regan by the slimmest of margins but went into the event looking to win the title and defend his championship from last season. However, Khalifa Alasiri (looking to be the proverbial wrench in John’s gears) followed up two consecutive victories by setting the fast lap during qualifying to claim the pole position at our indoor raceway! Not having the benefit of a clean line at the green flag, John faced an uphill battle.
At the start of the race, Khalifa started building a gap between himself and Garrett, who qualified on the front row in 2nd place ahead of John. With both Garrett and Khalifa in front of him, the only chance John had of taking the victory was an unlikely accident, but John didn’t need to win the race to take the title, as he went into the race with the points lead. Rather than risk a move that could result in him losing several positions, John ran a clean race back in 3rd place. Not surprisingly, Khalifa and Garrett both ran smooth, event-free races as well and the three finished in the order that they started.
Jul-Dec 2009 Ontario Challenge GP Winners: 1st Place - Garrett Regan and John Tanaka | 2nd Khalifa Alasiri | 3rd John Carroll
With Garrett finishing one spot in front of John, the two racers ended up tying for 1st position overall and will share the Jul-Dec 2009 Challenge GP championship at K1 Speed Ontario! Though Khalifa couldn’t take away the championship, his three consecutive victories were impressive and we expect that he’ll be in contention next season. His string of successes later in the season allowed Khalifa to finish in 2nd place overall ahead of 3rd place finisher John Carroll. The winners received prizes from Meguiar’s and our proud sponsor K&N Air Filters.
The winners of our Jul-Dec 2009 Challenge GP kart racing series stand atop the podium at K1 Speed Ontario!
It was a great season and we would like to thank everyone who participated! We look forward to 2010 and are excited to announce that our Challenge GP events will be run on our Reverse Super Track!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart racing, indoor go kart racing, indoor go kart track, indoor kart racing, indoor karting, indoor karting center, inland empire, k1 speed, kart league, kart racing, kart racing series, karting, ontario, riverside
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Ontario | No Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Competitors in our Challenge GP indoor karting league navigate our Super Track at K1 Speed Irvine
The final round of the Jul-Dec 2009
K1 Speed Irvine Challenge GP karting league took place this weekend and a new champion was crowned! There was a full grid for the race, and we were pleased to see that some new faces showed up to compete as well, including
K1 Speed-sponsored driver Gustavo Menezes who recently earned two podium finishes at the SKUSA SuperNationals XIII event in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the caliber of drivers out on track, we expected an exciting race and the competitors did not disappoint!
Two racers in our Challenge GP indoor kart league fight for position at K1 Speed Irvine
After qualifying, Toby Rodriguez, Taylor Hays and Khalifa Alasiri led the front of the pack in the A Main race, with regular racer and defending champion John Tanaka starting back in seventh place. Gustavo Menezes was able to qualify in sixth in his first ever Challenge GP race and was able to compete head-to-head with some of our veteran racers! Clearly, Gustavo’s skills in TaG 125cc karting helped him adapt to our high performance electric karts and our indoor go kart tracks quite quickly, as he was a rocket out on track!
Challenge GP A Main Podium - 1st Toby Rodriguez | 2nd Taylor Hays | 3rd Khalifa Alasiri
At the drop of the green flag, Toby, Taylor and Khalifa quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field after running consistently fast lap times. Back in the middle of the pack, Gustavo Menezes was on a mission to make up positions and he went to work quickly to gain ground. Gustavo’s first pass was on Ahmed Alasiri; going into a hairpin corner, Gustavo slightly tapped the back of Ahmed’s kart with a late braking maneuver which allowed both John Tanaka and him to take the inside line and make the pass. The next person in Gustavo’s sights was Bill Kreig, who is a very fast and very consistent driver. Heading into a slow speed corner, Gustavo once again late braked and this time was able to pull off a clean pass free of contact. Unfortunately for John, he was not able to follow this time and would tail Bill for the remainder of the race. Toby Rodriguez ended up winning the last round of the season, ahead of Taylor Hays who finished in second place and Khalifa Alasiri who finished third. Defending champion John Tanaka could do no better than sixth and Gustavo Menezes was able to make his way up to fourth in his first ever event!
Challenge GP B Main Podium - 1st Michael Arnold | 2nd Justin Davenport | 3rd Michael Tekstra (not present)
In the B Main race, Michael Arnold was able to climb to the top step of the podium ahead of second place Justin Davenport and third place Michael Tekstra. The B Main event was another exciting race, with veteran Michael Arnold once again proving his worth out on track. This sixth and final round of the season also produced some series champions though! The overall champion for our K1 Speed Irvine Jul-Dec 2009 Challenge GP season is Toby Rodriguez, who accumulated a total of 172 points over six races! Second place overall went to defending champion John Tanaka with 162 points and Bill Kreig claimed third place with 141 points. An honorable mention must also be given to Alton Arnold III who finished tenth in the A Main race but fourth place overall in the season with 138 points, just 2 points shy of Bill Kreig!
Jul-Dec 2009 Challenge GP Series Champions - 1st Toby Rodriguez | 2nd John Tanaka | 3rd Bill Kreig
We would like to congratulate all of our winners – both our series champions and our individual race winnrers! Though we should probably be used to it by now, we are constantly impressed with how exciting our Challenge GP events are! We would like to thank all of our fans, supporters and competitors for a great race and a fantastic season, and we hope to see you again next year! Be on the lookout for our 2010 Challenge GP kart league schedule soon – our tracks will be run in the opposite direction next season so veterans and new racers alike will be on a level playing field!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart series, indoor go kart racing, indoor karting, indoor karting center, irvine, k1 speed, karting league, orange county, racing series
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Irvine | 2 Comments »
Monday, December 7th, 2009
With the Top 3 positions and the championship already determined in the 2009 K1 Speed Seattle Challenge GP season, the final round this past weekend was for pride and bragging rights! Series champion and track record holder Randy Olivarez set the fast lap and earned the pole position at our indoor raceway, but runner up Javier Cantu-Lucero earned the second spot on the grid and was looking for the win. Newcomer Austin Treloar impressed everyone with his qualifying time, which was just a tenth of a second off of Javier’s qualifying time, and managed to start from the third spot on the grid in his first ever Challenge GP race! Considering that there was a full grid with 11 drivers, we were pleased to see him so far up the grid and expect to see more out of Austin next season!
Jul-Dec 2009 K1 Speed Seattle Challenge GP Champions - 1st Randy Olivarez | 2nd Javier Cantu-Lucero | 3rd Sean Naslund (not present)
Once the green flag dropped, Javier tucked right in behind Randy and was ready to make a move as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Going into the first hairpin corner, there was some contact in the front of the field which forced Randy wide, allowing Javier to take the inside line alongside. Though it wasn’t the cleanest pass, Javier was able to make it stick and took the lead away from Randy. On lap 14, Javier made a mistake but Randy was unable to capitalize; trailing Javier as close as he was, Randy ended up simply bumping into the back of his kart and lost the momentum he needed to make the pass. The race winner ended up being Javier, followed closely by series champion Randy Olivarez. The battle for third place was close, but in the end newcomer Austin Treloar ended up claiming the final spot on the podium ahead of his fellow novice Challenge GP competitor Brad Herley. It was a great race worthy of the final round of the decade!
December Challenge GP Podium - 1st: Javier Cantu-Lucero | 2nd Randy Olivarez | 3rd Austin Treloar
It was a great year at K1 Speed Seattle for our Challenge GP kart racing league and this was perhaps our most exciting season yet; the defending champion Sean Naslund put up a great fight at the beginning of the season but Javier Cantu-Lucero and Randy Olivarez both stepped up and were extremely competitive all season long. We really look forward to next year and expect to see great things from our regular competitors as well as newcomers like Austin and Brad! Stay tuned for an updated calendar of events in 2010 soon!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart racing, go kart series, indoor go kart racing, indoor karting, indoor karting center, k1 speed, kart racing, karting, karting league, karting series, redmond, seattle
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Seattle | No Comments »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
The November round of our Challenge GP kart racing series at K1 Speed Carlsbad brought out some very strong competitors, including Paul Ciralli, Khalifa Alasiri and Kirk Meese. The father-son team of Stephen and Jordan Robertson was all too happy to disrupt the plans of these seasoned competitors though, as Jordan Robertson performed extremely well in both the qualifying round and position race; hovering on the tail of Paul Ciralli, Jordan was able to place pressure and fight for the win all race long! Though Jordan was unable to make a pass for first position, he finished just .22 seconds behind Paul for a 2nd place finish and was able to stay ahead of Khalifa Alasiri, who wound up taking the final spot on the podium in 3rd. It was an impressive performance by all accounts, and we expect to see Jordan continuously improve as he gains more experience.
Challenge GP Podium: 1st Paul Ciralli | 2nd Jordan Robertson | 3rd Khalifa Alasiri
We would like to thank everyone who came out and competed in Round 5 of our Challenge GP series as well as offer our thanks for their continued support. If you would like to participate in our Challenge GP go kart league, we will be announcing our new schedule for the Jan-Jun 2010 season soon. If you would like to see some of the best indoor karters in Southern California battle it out in person, feel free to join us at our indoor karting center in San Diego, California on December 20th for the final round of the year! We hope to see you there!
Tags: carlsbad, Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart racing, indoor go kart racing, indoor kart racing, indoor kart track, indoor karting, indoor karting center, k1 speed, kart racing, kart racing series, karting, san diego
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Carlsbad | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
At the penultimate round of our 2009 Challenge GP kart racing series at K1 Speed Torrance, John Tanaka was once again dominant. Leading the race from the first position on the grid, John never looked back and easily took the win ahead of Paul Ciralli and Adam Langsdale. The battle for second place was exciting though, as Paul trailed Adam for several laps before making a move in the last corner that catapulted him into position to take the first series of sweeping corners on the preferred line. Despite having to go wide of the apex through the S-curve to accommodate Adam to his right side, Paul was able to make the move stick and ended up finishing the race in 2nd place. Adam was able to hold on and win the 3rd position on the podium.
A-Main Podium: 1st John Tanaka | 2nd Paul Ciralli | 3rd Adam Langsdale
The B-Main event saw regular racer Michael Arnold lead the field to a well-deserved win. Michael is not a stranger to A-Main events, so when he does compete in the B-Main, he is often very competitive and that proved true this weekend as well. In 2nd place behind Michael was Joe Batwinis, who finished ahead of 3rd place finisher Tyler Bryant.
B-Main Podium: 1st Michael Arnold | 2nd Joe Batwinis | 3rd Tyler Bryant
It was a great weekend of racing in Torrance and we look forward to the final round of the season on December 27th! If you want to watch some of the very best indoor karters in Southern California compete, we invite you to come out and join us! If you want to compete, be on the lookout for our new Challenge GP schedule soon!
Watch the video: K1 Speed Torrance Challenge GP Indoor Karting – Onboard with Paul Ciralli
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart racing, indoor go kart racing, indoor kart racing, indoor kart track, indoor karting, indoor karting center, k1 speed, kart racing, kart racing series, karting, los angeles, racing league, torrance
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Torrance | 2 Comments »
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Though there were some familiar faces present for our Challenge GP go kart racing series in the Inland Empire this weekend, the race was dominated by John Tanaka and Khalifa Alasiri. The two seasoned competitors quickly distanced themselves from the field as they made their way around our half-mile Super Track, and were running nose-to-tail the entire race. Their pace was so fast in fact that 3rd place finisher Garrett Regan – someone who has several podium finishes to his name and is contention for the Ontario Challenge GP championship – finished some 6.70 seconds back! The two racers were giving it their all and the result of their effort was clearly demonstrated on the track! John and Khalifa crossed the checkered flag separated by a mere 0.77 seconds, with Khalifa taking the win over John Tanaka.
It was a great race at K1 Speed Ontario this weekend and we would like to thank everyone who came out to compete. The final round of the Jul-Dec 2009 K1 Speed Ontario Challenge GP season is taking place on Sunday, December 13th. If you would like to watch the champion be crowned or would like to compete against the best of the best, join us at 7:00PM! We hope to see you there!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart arena, go kart league, go kart racing, indoor go kart racing, indoor go kart track, indoor kart racing, indoor karting, indoor karting center, inland empire, k1 speed, kart racing, kart racing series, karting, ontario
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Ontario | No Comments »
Monday, October 26th, 2009
There was a great turnout for our Challenge GP race at K1 Speed Torrance this weekend but the story of the day was John Tanaka’s brilliant drive from 3rd place on the grid to win the race. As a former Challenge GP champion, John has a reputation for being fast, consistent and aggressive, and he put all three traits to good use on Sunday. In an A-Main race that included legendary import drag racer and Bergenholtz Racing team owner Ed Bergenholtz, John was able to qualify in a very respectable 3rd place. Once the green flag dropped though, John quickly went about making his way to the front of the pack.
John Tanaka (1st), Michael Arnold (3rd) and Sean Brazeau (2nd) share a laugh on the podium at our K1 Speed Torrance indoor karting center in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Arnold, who competes on a regular basis in the Challenge GP series, qualified in 2nd place for the main race and had the unenviable task of holding off a determined John Tanaka. The pressure appeared to be on Michael’s mind as he made his way around the track, as he was regularly checking over his shoulder only to find John matching his every input. This mental distraction ended up being Michael’s undoing; heading into the braking zone of the first hairpin turn about halfway through the race, John was finally able to make his move and complete the pass to take the second position. With a short amount of laps remaining though, it looked as if though John may not be able to catch the race leader Sean Brazeau. Amazingly, John was able to close the gap between himself and Sean and on the last lap of the race, forced his way inside of Sean at the same spot on the track that he passed Michael! With less than half a lap left, John took the lead and never looked back, winning the race in a drive that had the spectators shouting from the sidelines! It was a truly great drive worthy of a Challenge GP champion, and it helped solidify John’s lead in the point race.
We would like to thank everyone who attended our Challenge GP race in Los Angeles this weekend, including John Tanaka, Sean Brazeau, Michael Arnold, Ed Bergenholtz, and the winners of the B-Main race, Gary Culbertson, Paul Ciralli and Korta T Autrey for a great event! If you would like to compete against some of the very best indoor karters in Southern California or the Pacific Northwest, we invite you to attend the next Challenge GP event at your local K1 Speed indoor karting center. Our Challenge GP races allow veterans and novices alike to compete in genuine wheel-to-wheel racing for an affordable price, and are great fun! There are two rounds remaining in the Jul-Dec 2009 season, so we hope to see you there!
Tags: Challenge GP, go kart league, go kart series, indoor go kart racing, indoor go kart track, indoor kart racing, indoor kart racing center, indoor karting, indoor karting center, k1 speed, kart racing league, kart racing series, karting league, los angeles, torrance
Posted in Challenge GP, K1 Speed Torrance | No Comments »
