The second round of the 2011 Pan American Challenge at South Bend Raceway proved to be a competitive step forward again for J3 Competition. With over ten percent of the total entries aboard J3 Competition’s Kosmic brand, it is certain that the momentum has shifted. J3 Competition hosted eight official drivers competing in Micro Max, Mini Max, Max Jr, and Max Sr. as everyone looked to reach the qualification for the Pan American final in September.
2011 FWT Mini Max vice-champion Patricio O’Ward stepped into South Bend with aspirations of returning to the top step after a slight dry spell. On Saturday O’Ward put a brilliant qualifying effort in as he secured fast time. From the pole position O’Ward proceeded to take the pre-final and final win in commanding form aboard his J3 Competition Kosmic. On Sunday, O’Ward secured outside pole in a close battle in qualifying, which he backed up with a close second place finish in the pre-final with the fastest lap as well. After a confusing start in Sunday’s final a complete restart was issued before the first lap was ever taken in the final. After restating all competitors in their original gird positions, O’Ward went directly to the lead on the first lap and continued to lead the entire event until two laps to go and subsequently took home a solid second place finish. After a post-race protest, O’Ward was removed from the results as race control decided their original start and re-start procedures were incorrect after the event was completed.
Working in the J3 Competition framework for the first time in South Bend was Micro Max pilot Gianluca Petecof. The Brazilian rookie showed consistent progression throughout the weekend as he took a solid top ten result finish in Saturdays final. J3 Competition looks for great things from Gianluca moving forward throughout the 2011 season.
The Max Jr. field was as competitive as ever with over twenty pilots where J3 Competition entered Canadian Alex Guenette and American Brennan Harrington. With mixed weather on Saturday Guenette and Harrington qualified second and sixth respectfully. After a crazy weather change in the final Guenette and Harrington both looked poised to challenge for the win with Harrington eventually taking home third while Guenette was involved in an incident and was relegated to a 19th place finish while taking fastest lap of the final honors. Sunday looked positive as Guenette qualified second again with Harrington in fourth. The duo worked well through the final as Guenette secured a second place finish with Harrington completing the podium in third. Also,oining the team for the event was Kart Nation junior pilot Clark Toppe who worked well within the J3 Competition infrastructure as he moves in his preparations toward the US Nationals.
On Saturday in Max Sr., DeGrand qualified in third place with Palmer and Madrigal both rounding out starting positions in the top ten. The pre-final proved positive with DeGrand taking third and Palmer in fourth. Great management of the out lap in the final allowed for DeGrand to take the lead, which was follow up by Palmer slipping into third, however, the final on Saturday was marred as a red flag stopped the race as Palmer was taken out by a fellow competitor which resulted in a trip to the hospital for Palmer. After the red flag restart in the final, DeGrand would finish in third place with Madrigal in sixth place. On Sunday Palmer returned to lap the circuit and receive his Pan Am qualifications and was able to take a top ten finish as DeGrand finished fourth with Madrigal in sixth.
“The event awarded our team some very good results along with being able to further develop areas which we have been working toward” stated Team Director, Justin Stefani. “All our drivers competed with great ambition and achieved their high-level of performances in a professional manner, and this characteristic is what is continually propelling our team.”
J3 Competition Race Department is exclusively utilizing the 2011 Kosmic Racing Kart line coupled with Supertune USA powered Rotax engines and Unipro data logging systems in the 2011 FWT series. For further information regarding the J3 Competition Race Department please email Technical@J3Competition .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.
