Team News

April 17, 2010 Sonoma, California
Red Line Oil Karting Championship Race #2 Recap

For the past three years, there has been one weekend of racing at the Jim Russell International Karting Center, at Infineon Raceway in which the race day was half light rain and half dry. The real rain drivers wished the race day would have been all rain so as to really experience the true skills of racing in the wet stuff. This past Sunday, the rain enthusiasts got their wish; a full day of rain. But, they got more than they asked for as the day was a full blown rain storm with wind and constant rain the entire event. Even though the rain cut down on the entry numbers, it did not dampen the hard driving of those that turned out to brave the blustery day. At the end of the race day, one driver was picked for the MOLECULE Dirty Driver award and that driver was Steve Peterson. Steve received a MOLECULE driver suit cleaning kit. Steve's suit really needed a good cleaning after Race #2.

GoPro / Cambrian Go-Karts Junior Rotax and Mini Max

The featured race of the day was the combined Junior Rotax/Mini Max race where the winner of the Junior Rotax class was selected to receive the GoPro HERO Camera. In Qualifying, Bobby Tifft took the pole in the Junior class followed by Josh Feiber. In Mini Max, pole went to Michael Michoff over Cole Davis. In the split start Pre-Main, Tifft took the initial lead, but went off and plowed through some water giving up the lead to Josh Feiber who took the win, followed closely by a surging Brody Zink. Third overall was a good battle between Davis and Michoff for the Mini Max class win. Michoff had a slight off later in the race allowing Davis to take the win. In the Main, Feiber took the early lead with Tifft moving up quickly to take over 2nd overall. Tifft got by to take the point with Zink taking over 2nd and chasing down the pole sitter and in the process setting fastest lap of the race. Brody could not find a clear opening in the spray to get by and had to settle for the runner up spot with Feiber taking the 3rd position. In the Mini Max class, Davis held the lead for the entire way but was closely pursued by Michoff for most of the race until a spin set him back a bit. Michoff recovered to take 2nd in class with Nate Fleischli taking 3rd in Mini Max.

For the win, Tifft received the GoPro HERO Camera award. For Race #3, the Rotax combined Masters / Masters Light class will be the featured class of the day, with the winner taking home the GoPro HERO Camera.

Rotax Masters and Masters Light

This was again the largest race group of the weekend with four Masters drivers and seven Masters Light entries. In Qualifying, Jerry Pretti (Light) took the pole over Andre Eriksen (Masters), Mert Solis (Light) and Gavin Sun (Masters). In the Pre-Main, Eriksen took the lead early and never looked back. The heavier drivers had the advantage in this race with four of the top five drivers being the heavier Masters class drivers. Sun took 2nd followed by Pretti and Peter Breidinger (Masters). In the Main, Eriksen took the lead and again never gave it up. The win was no cake walk with Jerry Pretti staying very close behind and ready to take advantage of any mistakes. Eriksen drove mistake-free to take his second Masters class win of the year. By taking 2nd overall, Pretti was the top Light class kart with Eric Sterner taking 3rd overall and 2nd in Light. Sun came home 4th overall, 2nd in Masters, followed by Mert Solis (3rd in Light), Jojo Bayabo (4th in Light) and John Breidinger (3rd in Masters).

Rotax Micro Max

After his wrist injury last fall, Wilson Skjerven returned to his racing form from last summer and took the pole for the Micro Max class followed by Annie and Toni Breidinger. In the Pre-Main, Annie Breidinger put her head down and charged into the lead at the start with Skjerven in close pursuit. Both Annie Breidinger and Toni Breidinger had some rain racing experience due to their Gatorz series driving and they put it to good use as they drove very smoothly while Skjerven had moments where he was fighting the lack of grip. Annie Breidinger came home 1st in the Pre-Main followed closely by her twin sister Toni Breidinger. In the Main, both Toni Breidinger and Skjerven had their spinning moments and this allowed Annie Breidinger to cruise home to a convincing win. Toni Breidinger came home 2nd and Skjerven 3rd.

80 Shifters

Five drivers braved the elements with Formula 80 Justin Gald taking pole over Greg Richter and Tom Nelson. In the Pre-Main, Gald took the early lead until he spun off in the wet. Nelson, the 2009 Masters Champ, took over the lead and went on to the win over Richter and Steve Peterson. In the Main, Nelson took the early lead but it turned into a two kart race between Nelson and Gald. Justin made a pass stick with less than two laps to go and went on to a slim win over Nelson. Nelson was the Masters class winner with Richter coming home 3rd overall.

Senior Rotax and Italian Motors USA IAME TaG

A seven kart field took the green flag with Carlos Calderon (Rotax) taking the pole over Raymond Bustamante (Rotax), Amber Friedberg (Rotax) and Michael Torrano who was the top TaG kart. In the Pre-Main, Calderon drove a flawless race and came home eleven seconds in front of Bustamante and Friedberg. The top TaG was Casey Monahan who finished 5th. In the Main, Bustamante made the untouchable Calderon work for the overall win by staying close. Bustamante's pressure paid off when Calderon spun off midway through the Main. Calderon was not going to give up easily and made a charge in the later half of the race but spun once more and had to return to the track and settle for the runner up spot. Bustamante took the win, Calderon 2nd, Matt Weiss (Rotax) 3rd and Friedberg 4th. Michael Torrano came home 5th overall, and 1st in IAME TaG.

With Race #2 in the books, the racers will have six weeks to dry out and prepare for Race #3 on May 23rd. Race #3 will be run at the Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway, on the fast Reverse National track configuration. All results for Race #2 can be seen on www.mylaps.com.