The final two rounds of the 2011 Gatorz Challenge of the Americas were held this last weekend at the Jim Russell International Karting Center, Sonoma, California. Like last month at Calspeed, the Challenge drivers had to contend with very wet weather conditions throughout the weekend.
Having missed out on Thursday and Friday’s practice sessions due to being at school, Brody hit the track for the first time Saturday morning for qualifying where he quickly laid down fast laps in the wet session, securing 4th position on the starting grid.
For the heat race, Brody would start behind Artie Carpenter. Following Carpenter through turn one at the start, Brody paced Artie for the remainder of the race as both drivers pulled away from the field. Carpenter won the heat race with Brody finishing second, ahead of 3rd placed Skylar Dunning.
Satuday’s very wet main race saw Brody start from the off-pole postion. At the drop of the green flag, Zink’s kart got hit in the side at turn one which put him back into third as the field approached Tic-Tac-Toe which was by now flooded with very deep water. Unfortunately this water flooded the air box on Brody’s kart causing the engine to lose power and ultimately dropped him to 6th at the checkered flag.
Sunday’s final round was more of the same wet weather racing.After making some minor chassis set-up changes overnight, Zink was able to qualify his #355 Kosmic Kart on the front row, taking the off-pole position, starting beside series champion Parker Thompson.
In the heat race, Thompson led the race with Zink in hot pursuit of the Canadian. Thompson won the heat race with Zink in 2nd and Parker McKean in 3rd. For the main race on Sunday afternoon the sun came out, but the track was still very wet and rain tires were still needed. Rain clouds were looming in the distance. At the drop of the green flag, Brody was able to edge past Thompson’s TonyKart into the first corner and pulled away to a comfortable lead, which he held for the remainder of the race taking the win, with Thompson 2nd and Jake Craig’s CRG in 3rd place.
“We have been fast at all of the Challenge races, it feels great to finally take a Gatorz win after all this hard work” said Brody after the event.
Brody would like to thank J3 competition for supplying fast Kosmic karts and parts, Chris Freckleton at Buddy Rice Karting for providing the engine power. Racetech Kart Seats. Also my Mom, Dad and Sister for supporting my karting.
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.
