J3 Competition Race Department brought a very talented group of drivers to the second round of the FWT in Palm Beach, Florida for both the Rotax and Formula Kart weekends. In total, J3 Competition and its Kosmic brand were able to secure key results, which will helped aid the team in the final championship push heading into the final round in Ocala, Florida.
The Formula Kart weekend started the two week stint off well as reigning TaG Masters champion Brian McHattie was able to take a solid win on Saturday backed up with a second on Sunday aboard his Kosmic Mercury chassis. Following in the stout TaG Cadet category, Patricio O’Ward and Kosmic newcomer Juan Manuel Correa took their J3 Competition prepared material to the front on both Saturday and Sunday, with O’Ward taking two fourth place results while Correa captured a double podium finish with a second and third place result aboard his Kosmic with the tutelage of driver coach Jay Howard.
Ending week one the team prepared for the FWT Rotax weekend and once again J3 provided a broad base as it entered drivers in Micro, Mini, Junior, and Senior Max divisions. With phenomenal weather in Palm Beach, J3 Competition was able to test and develop further clarification on their material selection heading into the weekend’s events.
Starting with Micro Max it was team driver from Sweden, Rasmus Lindh who put in two solid qualifying efforts with a second and eight places which would position the pilot well for the finals. With razor close racing on both Saturday and Sunday, Lindh was able to pull the highly impressive double victory on Saturday and Sunday, thus catapulting himself into the championship lead. Becoming more and more familiar with the FWT competition and rule set, Lindh will look to take a tough championship home after Ocala.
The junior squad at J3 Competition was reduced by one as Tristan DeGrand moved to the senior ranks, thus leaving Canadian Alex Guenette and Gustavo Lima to carry the team’s colors. With close competition, Guenette was able qualify fourth for Sunday and just outside the top ten for Saturday while Lima secured two good starting positions as well. As the racing went green, Guenette would end up as the recipient of a first corner shunt at the start of both finals, however, Guenette was able to recover on Sunday and post a top ten result on a very competitive drive to the front. Teammate Lima missed the first corner mayhem on both days and took home a fifth and seventh place result, thus putting himself within the top ten in the championship chase.
In Rotax Mini Max, Patricio O’Ward needed to secure some solid results to keep his championship title hopes alive. With the great support from J3, O’Ward qualified on pole for Saturday and tenth for Sunday’s event. On Saturday, O’Ward enjoyed an intense battle for the win as a trio of drivers broke away from the field and in a last lap effort O’Ward took second by only .062 of a second. On Sunday, O’Ward showed poise as he marched from tenth in the pre-final to take the lead in the final for a brief period as he finished in another close second place. O’Ward will now head to Ocala looking to turn his run of second place finishes to wins and a potential Mini Max title.
Finishing the weekend was the highly intense Rotax Sr. category where J3 Competition had, Tristan DeGrand, Kara Guenette, Nicolas Morales, and Andrew Palmer lined up aboard Kosmic/Supertune powered machines. As qualifying commenced it was immediately apparent that the racing was going to be too close. DeGrand and Morales highlighted qualifying with top efforts within a tenth off pole time while Palmer and Guenette were situation outside the top ten. As the team went to work it was apparent the team speed was answered as Palmer, DeGrand, and Morales were often recorded as the top drivers on the time charts. In a wild final on Saturday Palmer took the honors of finishing third place after a brilliant drive while teammate DeGrand finished on track in fifth, but was penalized to eighth for pass in a great effort too. Sunday was nearly too close to call as DeGrand, Morales and Palmer battled in the lead draft of ten competitors with Morales taking a DNF while DeGrand and Palmer finished seventh and eighth.
Aside from the Race Department at J3 Competition, Advanced Karting pilot Daniel Formal took top honors on Saturday with a solid win in the final aboard his Kosmic chassis, thus making the podium very blue with Palmer to his side. On Sunday the Ogden USA driver, Jay Howard lead most of the final and took an exciting third place finish aboard his J3 Competition prepared Kosmic with Ogden power.
Justin Stefani, Race Team Manager, J3 Competition commented: “The second round of the FWT showed the constant development our team is always working toward as well as our suppliers. Looking around the paddock it’s rewarding to see how our program has put Micro, Mini, Junior, and Senior drivers in position to earn key results. This fact along with our team chemistry is really motivating to our organization as we begin to really move into the 2011 season.”
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.
