The attendance for the penultimate round of our July-December 2009 K1 Speed Irvine Challenge GP season was fantastic, with 26 competitors from throughout Orange County and Southern California showing up to compete at our indoor karting center. Considering that many of us have had to be a bit more careful with expenses this year, we have been continually blown away by the enthusiasm and support that people have shown for our Challenge GP kart racing series. At our Irvine location alone, we have had nearly a hundred different individuals come out to participate in our racing series; we cannot thank our customers enough for their dedication! The round this weekend was another great event that produced close racing and good conversation, and it should go without saying that we are very much looking forward to seeing how the season will come to a close in the final round next month!

Race fans from throughout Orange County and Southern California compete in our Challenge GP kart racing series at K1 Speed Irvine.

Overall point leaders Toby Rodriguez and John Tanaka were both very fast in qualifying and started in the A-Main race at the front of the pack. As both are fighting for the championship, we weren’t surprised to see each give it his all on track and both men ran near flawless races. Despite his best efforts though, John was unable to best Toby Rodriguez, who took his fourth win of the season. With only one round remaining in the series, Toby has a good chance of taking the Challenge GP championship away from John. Khalifa Alasiri, who has been performing well all season long, fell in behind John to take the final spot on the podium.

Challenge GP A-Main Winners: 1st Toby Rodriguez | 2nd John Tanaka | 3rd Khalifa Alasiri

In the B-Main race, Alfredo Anguiano held off a hard-charging Bill Kreig to take the win, though there were several moments where it looked as if Bill was going to make the pass. As the spectators can attest, Alfredo earned his win this Sunday, because Bill did not make it easy on him! Though Alfredo and Bill didn’t get to compete in the A-Main this weekend, they can comfort themselves knowing that they delivered a fantastic performance for the crowd! Following closely behind the back-and-forth battle between Bill and Alfredo was regular Jonathan Wright, who ended up finishing the race in 3rd place.

Challenge GP B-Main Winners: 1st Alfredo Anguiano | 2nd Bill Kreig | 3rd Jonathan Wright

If there was one race that perhaps didn’t go as smoothly as it could have, it was the C-Main! As the karts got funneled into the first series of turns, Rob Drew unfortunately was spun out and lost several positions. Despite falling victim to the mayhem of the first several laps and ending up in last place, Rob was determined out on track and was able to make his way back up to 6th position by the end of the race. Though Rob was unable to earn a podium finish, he definitely earned the respect of his competitors! The race winner was Joe Erwin, who finished ahead of 2nd place finisher Steve Wetterau. The final spot on the podium was taken by Formula Drift driver Justin Pawlak, who campaigns the Mazda RX-8 drift car for the Bergenholtz Racing team. Justin was able to quickly adapt his drifting skills to our karts, as he performed very well against some veteran K1 racers.

Challenge GP C-Main Winners: 1st Joe Erwin | 2nd Steve Wetterau | 3rd Justin Pawlak

Join us at K1 Speed Irvine on December 6th for the final round of our Challenge GP indoor karting series. The championship will be on the line, and the racing is sure to be exciting!