K1 Speed Houston Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
March had two new racers attend the challenge both prove to be worthy competitors and will likely return to make moves in the standings.
The faster qualifying time belonged to Temple Run with 22.9 earned him a great pole place position but during the course of the finals fell back to fifth. Two of the top 3 finishers where no stranger to the podium last year. 2012 Champion, Teddy Hoang, finished second and Steve Plentl maneuvered his way into First Place. New to the podium was Larry Bell placing third.
K1 Speed Phoenix Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
This was an intense race between Robert Kane and Aaron Neely with only the podium finish on their mind. As the green flag goes Robert was off to a good start battling it out with Aaron. It was a see-saw battle for the lead till lap six when Aaron made an error on a turn and it was Robert all the way to the finish line.
K1 Speed Torrance Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
Sunday’s main event was filled with suspense, excitement, and a high level of competitive racing. Most notable between Craig Robertson and Timothy Tran. Timothy Tran grabbed the pole position with his fast lap of 27.108. However, after a second re-start because of some confusion on the part of Timothy’s mis-understanding of what a rolling start means. Second place Craig was able to take advantage of Timothy’s over cautiousness and blow right by him at the start of the race and took a commanding lead and finished first in tonights race. Second and third place went to fresh new faces of Puneet Khattar and Eric Duke respectively.
K1 Speed Carlsbad Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
Event 3 of the 2K13 season is in the books. This race was nothing short of thrilling. The start was intense with more bumper to bumper action than a SoCal traffic jam. Shortly after the race began it was clear this would be a battle between the top two qualifiers Kc Cook and Kyle Wicka. They pulled away from the pack and battled it out K1 style. Exceptional clean racing was demonstrated by both and in the end Kc Cook ended up out front to take the win. Kyle Wicka took second and K1 veteran Jon Simms pushed forward in the pack to round out the podium in third place.
K1 Speed Seattle Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
The A main kicked off with Patrick O’leary having the early lead over Theo Mechain and Garrett Foss, who were followed closey by Ricky Hendrson, Terrell Broomer and Chris Roberts. O’Leary would hold the lead for the first few laps while the drivers behind him began to battle in the infield sections of the track. Mechain would come under fire from Foss coming on to the back stretch and lose 2nd place early and nearly slip back to third as the hard charging Ricky Henderson would begin to pressure him, looking for any room to sneak by. Mechain would turn it up a bit though and begin to pull away back toward the front two. Midway through the race Garrett had caught up to the #10 kart of Patrick O’leary and began to look for a way by.
They ran bumper to bumper for a few laps, and then Foss pulled off a pass with yet another run out of the final turn on to the back stretch and would go by heading in to turn one. Foss was now leading, followed closely by O’leary who was now also under pressure from Theo Mechain. Mechain would pull off a pass very nearly identical to Garretts’ pass on O’leary and move up to the number two spot where he would remain until the checkers. Behind the front two, there was an intense battle going on between Terrell Broomer, Ricky Henderson and Patrick O’leary for the 3rd position. The three were locked together bumper to bumper for several laps making for an exciting race to watch. Eventually though Henderson would make a pass that stuck on O’leary through the chicane section and move to 3rd where he would finish. Patrick definitely put up a good fight for it though as he remained right on the bumper of Henderson for the closing laps, ready to pounce at the slightest bobble.
At the checkers it was Garrett Foss with a comfortable margin, followed by Theo Mechain, Ricky Henderson, Patrick O’leary, Terrell Broomer and Chris Roberts who was making his first GP start. With regulars Dana and Jayce Glenn being forced to sit this round out, it broke the tie in points for the top two spots. Garrett Foss now leads by 4 points over Theo Mechain solidly in 2nd. The Glenn brothers however remain tied for 3rd even after missing this round, but now have several drivers within earshot of stealing the final championship slot from them.
K1 Speed Sacramento Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
Round 3 of the K1 Speed Challenge GP Series took place Sunday night in Sacramento without the series’ points leader Justyn Cox, but the 6-kart field put on a good show on Sacramento’s special reverse layout nonetheless. Last round’s winner Garett Peterson showcased his adaptability and continued his hot streak by taking pole position by a narrow 0.011 seconds over newcomer Robert Hawley with a lap at 30.067 seconds. His success in qualifying held up in the race as well, as Peterson would go on to find another six tenths of a second in his kart and storm away from the field on the standing start, never looking back. Mario Castellanos, in his third start, jumped to Hawley’s inside at the start to steal the spot and held on to take his maiden A-Main podium finish of the season. Hawley finished third, the last kart on the lead lap. With Peterson’s second straight victory, and absences by both Justyn Cox and third-placed driver Shawn Brisco, he takes the points lead heading into the downward swing of the season.
K1 Speed Austin Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
It sounds like a broken record…yes we know! Ignacio Martinez wins yet again. This time he barely missed setting the track record in the 1st qualifier by .002 of a second. Let us remind you that this was in REVERSE direction on the track!
He never looked back in the Main Event and blew away newcomer, Steven Palmisano, and the Wiley veteran, Ted Smith, who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Who is going to be the one that steps up and beats him? Again, after the race there were some more whispers and rumbles of a bounty for the first person to beat the champ! Is it going to be you?
K1 Speed Ontario Challenge GP 3 2K13 – Season 1
We had another good turnout for the Supertrack Challenge GP Sunday night, with 15 participants. It was a packed field, with a lot of newcomers to the Challenge GP, ready to make a name for themselves. The qualifying rounds went very smooth, with Bryce Raygor coming out on top with a blistering fast lap of 47.250 on the reverse Supertrack.
The A Main was set, as 15 racers were ready to duke it out on the track to get the trophy at the end of the night. Bryce would take the green flag and instantly was able to gap Nicholas by a few kart lengths so he couldn’t make any early moves. The battle for second through fifth was becoming exciting, as they were all nose to tail, waiting for each other to make a mistake and capitalize. Both Christopher Morales and Robert Hernandez found a spot early on the third lap and were able to both get by Nicholas Sima. Meanwhile, Bryce had continued to lay down fast laps and was able to pull away by over 6 seconds to take the victory. Christopher Morales came in second, Robert Hernandez in third, Patrick Rebmann in fourth, and Noah Stein rounded out the top five.
We look forward to seeing more and more newcomers to the Challenge GP in Ontario. The next scheduled GP will be on April 7th at 7pm. Please make sure to show up 15 minutes early for registration.
K1 Speed Sacramento Challenge GP 2 2K13 – Season 1
With a newly-modified track layout, and a full fleet of the long-anticipated electric karts finally in place, Round #2 of the K1 Speed GP Challenge Series kicked off in Sacramento. The 7-man field began their event in competitive fashion with winged-sprint-car-driver Justyn Cox stealing the pole with a track-record lap at the very end of Q2 from USAC Ford Focus Midget standout Garett Peterson by .08 of a second. Shawn Brisco, making his second start of the season rolled off in 3rd place, with newcomers Marc Vickers and Erin Brandt lining up 4th and 5th, and RPM veteran Mario Castellanos and our third newcomer Michael Damotte rolling off 6th and 7th, respectively.
Justyn Cox got off to a very strong start and led the first 14 of the scheduled 16 laps, but couldn’t shake the determined Garett Peterson who was hot on his heels for the entire race. In the end, it all came down to the final lap when Peterson’s dogged determination finally paid off with a run off of the tight first turn and a blast to the inside of Justyn Cox for the lead heading into Sacramento’s sweeping turn 2. After regaining his momentum, Cox made a valiant charge on the white flag lap to make a bid to the inside for the lead coming out of Sacramento’s back chicane, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Peterson’s clever defensive driving techniques and heavy right foot. With a margin of victory a little more than a kart length wide, Garett Peterson notched his first victory of the 2013 Challenge GP Season with Justyn Cox finishing second, and Shawn Brisco rounding out the podium in 3rd place. Marc Vickers came home in 4th to head up the rest of the field, with Michael Damotte, Mario Castellanos, and Erin Brandt in tow, respectively.
K1 Speed Torrance Challenge GP 2 2K13 – Season 1
Alexander Phillips takes the GP 2 this time around fighting off Puneet Khattar and GP 1 winner Austin Farr. Farr keeps his lead over Khattar by only 4 points with Craig Robertson in 3rd with 12 points.
We’re looking forward to next month’s GP. Who will take it this time?!
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