The J3 Competition Race Department rounded out their impressive 2016 season this past week at the SKUSA Super Nationals XX held in Las Vegas, NV USA.  The team took on a completely new circuit situated at Las Vegas convention center which provided a very fast and technically matched challenge for the drivers, who all took immediate praise to.

“As good as the final tally was for our team at the 20^th annual Super Nationals, this still does not paint the full picture of how dominate our efforts were.  With multiple drivers in the X30 categories battling for Wins, Heat Wins, Fast Laps, Etc. the depth and the meticulous attention to details yet again, showed the level which we operate at. For that, we must thank our drivers, clients, technicians, partners and supply partners for the efforts they put forth for this monumental event” — Management

Our impressive driver lineup and category by category recap follows.

X30 Sr.

Josh Car (Champions Program Recipient) -Australia

Austin Garrison – USA

David Ilavia – USA

Lane Vacala – USA

After a solid day of testing on Wednesday the team was already working on developing its very important qualifying setup as with 88 entries a solid run in Thursday’s qualification session would be critical for success on Sunday.  As the first session ended Vacala would catch traffic on his best lap ending his group in 12^th.  At the conclusion of the second group of qualifying Josh Car missed pole position by .002 ending in 2^nd as Ilavia had a very solid run to slot in 7^th with Garrison close behind in 9^th overall.

As with all temporary circuits the starts of each heats were difficult.  Car enjoyed the pole for two of his heats however, being pushed wide twice at the start hindered his potential finishing positions relegating the Aussie to start the final in 14^th having already clocked the fastest time in heat race three.  Ilavia too was shunted in heat one which raised his point totals, but two solid heat finishes put him in the show on Sunday starting in 25^th.  Garrison played his heat races well, however he too encountered a two place penalty, which forced the mainstay driver to start the final in 6^th.  With an off qualifying effort, Vacala was forced to race the LCQ where he showed good pace and race craft, but the task was too tall as he missed the opportunity for Sunday’s event.

Sunday’s final started off sour for the team as Garrison was forced to retire on lap one as #344 pushed Garrison driver into the barrier at the onset of turn one, a real disappointment for the effort the team had put forth.  The remaining drivers Car and Ilavia showed great promise and  proved the team’s setup selection was correct as both moved forward with Ilavia crossing the line in 15^th, while Josh Car had a full clinic on display for the spectators to witness during the final.  Car methodically disposed of the competition on his way to a photo finish of 3^rd place taking a well-deserved spot on the podium as he came from nearly four seconds back on the first lap to nearly win the final.

“Our selection for Sunday was absolutely correct and our drivers delivered.  It’s always easy to say what could have been had the heat races played out a bit more fair and of course the start for Garrison was a shame, but the effort put in the final by our drivers was evident as they proved lap after lap what our team is capable of.” – Management

X30 Masters

Leonardo Nienkotter – Brazil

Kris Walton – Australia

The COMPKART chassis was at the pointy end with Kris Walton clearly dominating by winning all of his three heat races to start on pole position for Super Sunday.  Nienkotter battled his heats to set top times and would start the final in fifth place.   Walton took the lead at the wave of the green flag where Nienkotter was shuffled back due to some aggressive driving in the early corners.  Walton, with the package to win decided to not fight and pull away in second place with fellow competitor Renato David.  With two laps to go Walton made his move to secure the lead, unfortunately two other competitors thought otherwise and smashed Walton off into the barriers whereby he was still able to recover to take a 5^th place finish as the opposing drivers were eventually penalized.  This incident provided Nienkotter the opportunity to take the fight in the final stages crossing the line in second place another great double result for the team.

X30 Jr.

Nicholas d’Orlando – USA

Harrison Hoey – Australia

Jac Preston – Australia

Dante Yu – USA

The team’s junior drivers were on point as well from the beginning with Hoey and Yu taking qualifying spots in the top ten for their heat races.  d’Orlando missed the P2 group in his final practice session forcing himself to qualify in P1 group where he set fast time (18^th overall) and Preston too ended his qualifying further down than anticipated.  After the first set of heats the junior field settled down with race warnings and the drivers were able to put in some solid results in the final two heats.  Yu ended with a point total to start Sunday in 5^th, with d’Orlando in 7^th, and Hoey in 25^th after contact in his heat races.  Preston who showed tremendous growth over the event advanced to Sunday via his second place finish in the LCQ on Saturday.

As the final kicked off the action was fast paced as d’Orlando asserted himself immediately in the early stages as a threat to win as he carved his way to the front with teammate Dante Yu directly in tow a very confident duo.  The two joined the fight for the lead with a few laps to go just as the rain began to fall.  With the championship still in Yu’s sight, he lost traction coming through turn 12 ending his day and championship and what was an end to a tremendous season.  d’Orlando continued to battle at the front as he secured a podium finish in 3^rd an impressive run and one that left team wondering what if the rain hadn’t fallen.  With a battered up chassis from a first lap incident, Harrison Hoey showed why he is a top junior driver as he battled his way to finish the final in 15th place with a massively bent front steering a very impressive finish considering the damage.  The hard charger of the race went to with LCQ transfer driver Preston crossing the line on the heels Hoey 16^th place a fantastic result for the young driver from Australia.

About COMPKART:
COMPKART is the original and proprietary chassis line by J3 Competition.  Designed with unique technical offerings as well as sharp aesthetics, COMPKART has been leading the way since its CIK/FIA homologation –  34/CH/20.  With several titles both nationally and internationally already under its umbrella, it’s no wonder why the brand continues to spread across the globe with enormous success backed by the brands unparalleled service.