The J3 Competition Race Team continued with another encouraging weekend at the third round of the 2009 CKI Championship at Cal Speed Karting during the past weekend. Situated on the outskirts of California Speedway in the Inland Empire, the climatic conditions which the team faced were fierce and the competition proved to be equally as extreme.
The team successfully installed the final preparations for Thursday as the team had an early start to the practice sessions. During Thursday’s on track action the team familiarized itself with the new circuit as the drivers found the limits of the surface and the technicians worked to develop valid setups for the conditions. Moving into Friday’s important qualifying sessions the team had high hopes as it displayed ample speed during the official timed sessions.
On track first was KF3 where Tristan DeGrand ended the session in fourth and Madrigal in sixth. Directly following KF3 was the KF2 category where Richard Benitez clocked the session at 45.178, which was sufficient to grab his first KF2 pole of the season. With momentum the final category to qualify was IAME Jr. where Tristan DeGrand led all competitors until the final minutes when his time was relegated to third with Madrigal taking tenth.
Saturday showed overall improvement as DeGrand and Madrigal found additional speed in both categories with DeGrand highlighting his KF3 heats with enough points to grid the pre-final in fifth while Madrigal’s points were good enough for fourth. Both drivers finished the pre-final with third and fourth place results, thus placing themselves in contention for the final. At the start of the KF3 final Madrigal and DeGrand were forced in a bottleneck on the start, thus making the work ahead of them difficult. Yet, both drivers put in exceptional efforts as they ran down the duo of DeLaO and Miinch in the late stages of the final with DeGrand taking the final podium spot in third and Madrigal in fourth. DeGrand’s efforts kept himself ahead in the KF3 championship points chase as the series heads into the final event later this season.
After clocking the fastest KF2 lap of the weekend, Benitez achieved mixed results throughout his heat races as the team tested different combinations for the final. Although Benitez lead all three heat races at various points, tire degradation was the issue of concern moving into Sunday’s pre-final. Surviving the pre-final was the key result the team was looking for as the final offered the team a chance at utilizing a new set of tires. With suitable rubber for the final, Benitez was a factor for a solid podium result until a last lap battle ensued with Phinny and Benitez would have to settle for fourth place finish.
The team capped off the weekend with DeGrand and Madrigal’s participation in the IAME Jr. category. After securing solid heat results, DeGrand would grid the final in fifth place. Madrigal however was not as fortunate as two DNF’s in her heat races coupled with a bottom-end failure on her IAME Leopard forced the young talent to gird in the twentieth position for the final. A shifty start force DeGrand and Madrigal once again in an uphill battle for the entire nineteen lap final. Both drivers persevered as DeGrand took home a solid fifth place finish while Madrigal had the drive of the final finishing in a remarkable sixth place showing yet again just how competitive she is.
Team Manager, Justin Stefani commented on the weekend:
“Although we did not quite get the overall results we hoped for, our driver’s showed their personal speed along with the ability of our equipment. On one hand, Benitez was pole position in KF2, DeGrand clocked a time .001 from the best in KF3 while maintaining his points lead, and Madrigal drove from twentieth to sixth in the IAME final. These achievements are serious and nothing to scoff at and we will use this as motivation heading into Norman, OK for the final.”
For further information regarding J3 Competition’s Race Department or the 2009 Kosmic Racing Kart line, Vortex Engines, ROK Series Engines, IBEA, JHC, OTK Kart Parts, and Tranzformer please contact our sales department at; Sales@J3Competition.com or 814-864-1846.
About J3 Competition
J3 Competition Inc. is an undisputed leader in Race Services since 2004, providing the necessary tooling and management to take drivers to the next level. Starting in 2015 through its COMPKART ™ brand, J3 Competition will provide a full line of high-quality chassis and products designed and engineered for the Karting industry alongside it potent Race Department. J3 Competition will aim to deliver the COMPKART ™ chassis line to the North American market as well as customers globally in 2015 and beyond with unprecedented performance and service. With its content, B2B, and B2C websites presently under construction, please visit http://www.j3competition.com along with all its social media outlets to stay up to date on the latest releases and happenings regarding the COMPKART brand.
