Kosmic drivers Michael Adams and Matt France began their respective 2010 seasons recently as the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship began at Goodwood Kartways in Stouffville, Ontario. Though neither ran events through the winter, and the state of their team was in flux before folding prior to the season, the returning pair were among the quick at event one and produced four top-ten finishes.
Adams led the way with a double-podium performance, yet the way in which he produced them was anything but ordinary. After getting just one lap in morning warm-up on Saturday, he qualified P16 in the timed session after the fastest from Friday had to qualify on rain tires in group two. Then, it all came good under racing conditions.
“For the prefinal and final everything just clicked,” Adams said in recalling the opening event. “I was able to put my Kosmic right where I wanted it, and while I gained a number of positions myself, I lucked out on a few others – but I’ll take them as they come! I was ecstatic with my finish and I was hoping the next day would be even better.”
To begin, it definitely wasn’t. “Warm-up was a disaster,” Adams said. “I have never seen anything like it before: frigid temperatures, high winds, frost and ice as well! The kart had no grip whatsoever. Then, when we were on the way to the grid for the prefinal, the engine just wouldn’t start! We got it to fire, but I had to start on the back row because I couldn’t catch the field in time. The carburetor was off, and I was four-stroking all the way down the front straight and losing about a second per lap. We found a variety of issues with the kart afterward, and by the final there were no problems. I raced from eleventh to fifth on the track, and with a last lap crash, moved to third.”
With races one and two complete, Adams currently sits second in the Rotax Junior Championship as the ECKC heads to Mosport International Karting this weekend, a track he looks forward to racing each year. France is also strong around the Mosport International layout, and heads to this weekend’s race sitting seventh in the Rotax DD2 Championship. He was second in pre-event racing over the weekend, and says he has high expectations going forward.
“I know Mosport well and have turned many, many laps there,” France said early this week. “I hope to turn that experience into a good result this weekend, especially after the disappointment of last year when I had shift cable problems in the prefinal and a blown engine in the final. The weekend test went well, and my goal is definitely the podium for this weekend.”
France impressed in his first outing of the season, just as he did a year ago when his first race led him to the podium. At Goodwood he was fourth in morning warmup, and maintained the spot through most of the day despite changing conditions that included snow! He was fourth in qualifying, fourth in the prefinal and was running in third early in the main event when a locked front brake in turn five led to his fall down the order. He then put on a charge that went from P23 back inside the top ten, finishing ninth on day one. France matched the final run on Sunday when he repeated in ninth, and claimed 195 points for his weekend’s work.
“The weather wasn’t fun, but at least it stayed wet all day,” France said in recalling opening weekend. “I found the Kosmic worked really well in the wet and to be honest, I was pretty happy with racing in the rain. Overall I have to say Goodwood went well, even if the results weren’t there in the end.”
Adams and France will be buoyed at Mosport by the return of 2009 ekartingnews.com Team-of-the-Year J3 Competition, of Erie, Pennsylvania. For more information on Kosmic, please visit j3competition.com or http://home/j3competition/public_html.kosmickart.com.
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.
