US Rotax Trophy Series East Round 3 Report

June 30, 2021

The third round of the 2021 Rotax US Trophy Series East visited the picturesque and ultra-smooth circuit at Lafayette Motorsports Park located just outside Syracuse, New York operated and owned by the Goddard family. With clear and hot weather, the sun was shining from Friday onward providing high-grip track conditions which were matched with exciting racing in every category. It was apparent at the end of Friday practice that the MoJo tires were laying down a nice surface which provided a tuning and conditioning dynamic for both tuners and drivers alike. In addition, the third-round event in Lafayette had an elevated 25% factor on the final points allocation from round two which added further to the excitement on Sunday.
“We were thankful to have enjoyed wonderful weather alongside the meticulous facility at Lafayette which provided everyone in attendance with an enjoyable experience. The championship points structure really ratcheted up during the third round, thus elevating the series heading into the fourth and final round later this month at New Jersey Motorsports Park.” — Justin Stefani

Micro Max
The Micro Max category had continued participation matched with a close battle amongst the top four drivers for the podium positions. Pole sitter and eventual winner Lucas Palacio came under more fire at round three as young drivers Logan Kovalovsky (GFC) and Sebastian Rist (Compkart) kept him honest with some very tight racing during the weekend. In the waning laps of the final, young Sebastian Rist went for a move to takeover the lead only to come up slightly short while taking an excellent second place finish in the final. Kovalovsky rounded out the podium as he clawed his way back from a tough second heat race to round out the final spot on the podium. All the other drivers showed competitive improvements with Gush, Holly and newcomer Asana holding their own while series contender Marco Sammut having a challenging weekend, he still heads to the final round with a chance at the championship.

Mini Max
The drivers aged from 10-12 years old provided excitement with the top five driver’s times separated by a couple tenths in qualifying with Gavin Whitt taking pole position. The heat race activity was close between all the drivers with Whitt taking heat race one victory as Vivek Kanthan took the win in heat two. The final remained close in the early laps as at the halfway point Kanthan began to pull away and assert himself as the eventual winner. The battle for second remained strong as Alexander Jacoby kept pressure on Whitt and on the penultimate lap put in a strong pass on Whitt in turn three to secure the second spot on the podium with Whitt taking third. The championship points battle in the Mini category has heated up nicely heading into the final round with several drivers still mathematically in play for the ticket to Bahrain!

Masters Max
Poleman John Bonanno continued his dominance in qualifying and the heat races as he managed to win both heat races while taking the valuable five points for pole position as well. With good speed across the category shown by Vincent Carey, Gary Peterson and Chris McGinley the entire class had strong battles throughout the field, however no battle was more intense than the one between Bonanno and Carey for the win. Bonanno came under pressure from Carey with a few laps remaining and Carey was able to best Bonanno and take the victory with Bonanno and Peterson rounding out the podium in another exciting Masters Max event. The championship battle between Bonanno and Carey has flipped with Carey taking the lead, however with another 25%-point factor added to the final round the championship is still wide-open.

Jr. Max
Excitement is an understatement as the junior drivers battled close throughout the entire grid with pole position being a tight battle as O’Clair claimed the top spot closely followed by Fhegali and Walker. With a tricky turn one for the heat starts each heat race was action packed as O’Clair managed to claim both heat race wins as Lourenco, Walker, Fhegali, Goulart and Stanton all battled bumper to bumper. The start of the final saw Stanton makes a charge in the first couple corners to take second place early on only to be challenged by the trio of Goulart, Lourenco and Walker. Walker secured second place in the remaining laps as he initially looked to take second at the line, but a close last lap led to Aidan Lourenco taking second place at the line by mere thousandths of a second. The junior championship battle will see up to six drivers having a mathematical chance at the ticket to the Rotax Grand Finals come July 16-18 at New Jersey Motorsports Park at the series final round.

Sr. Max
A sunny and grippy qualifying session did little to shake out the front row as it became apparent early on that that Justin White would be the driver to beat, however local pilot Mathew Goddard put in a challenge for pole position has he qualified second, less than a tenth off White. During the heat races and subsequent final Justin White was able to control the pace from pole position and complete a perfect points day putting himself in a solid place for the championship. The remaining battles throughout the heat races and final were too abundant to comment on as action-packed passes were constant throughout the entire day. In the final, Matthew Goddard secured a second-place finish helping his championship points while Jack Hixon returned in a solid run to round out the podium in third as Peacock, Dancho and Vajda all took valuable points keeping their hopes alive heading to the final round in New Jersey.

NEXT ROUND
Round 3: New Jersey Motorsports Park July 16-18, 2021

• Full Championship Podium Presentation
• Crowning of the first Team USA Karting Members
• $1,000 To Win Max Senior and Masters Max [Winner-Take-All]
• Added Raffles
• Added Appreciation Awards