US Rotax Trophy Series East Round 4 Report
July 20, 2021
The fourth round of the 2021 Rotax US Trophy Series East took place at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP). The world-class karting facility, which has played host to some of the continents top karting events since its inception played a critical role in the Trophy East series. The rain held out for the entirety of the event, however high temperatures with matching humidity levels elevated the working conditions for all the competitors making an already exciting series final round that much more intense.
NJMP controlled practice started on Friday with the one mile challenging Tempest circuit taking a strong level of grip from the remarkable MoJo D2xx and D5 tires. The final round provided yet again an elevated 25% in points up for grabs which brought four of the five championship titles down to the wire in Sunday’s finals.
“NJMP provided the perfect backdrop and challenge to end the Trophy Series East program as the fast and high-grip circuit gave the competitors and exciting experience. The championship points structure really ratcheted up as predicted and being able to crown five champions as well as the first batch of drivers who will represent Team USA Karting at the 2021 Rotax Grand Finals in Bahrain was exciting for all the competitors. — 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. The pole position was snatched by local driver Travis Pettit (Solo Kart) who laid down a remarkable time ahead of eventual winner Lucas Palacio. The top drivers battled fiercely throughout the heat races showing the parity of the platform as Palacio, Rist, Sammut, Pettit and Kovalovsky all engaged in a close battle. Sunday’s final came down to a two-kart battle for victory between Palacio and Rist with Rist looking to challenge in the late stages, however Palacio was able to manage the gap and take the final victory with Sebastian Rist in second and Marco Sammut rounding out the podium in third place. The final championship top three finishers in order: 1. Lucas Palacio, 2. Sebastian Rist, 3. Marco Sammut
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 Vivek Kanthan taking pole position as remaining positions were closely guarded behind Kanthan. The heat race activity was close between all the drivers with Whitt taking both heat race victories giving himself a real shot at the championship in the final as he went head-to-head with Vivek Kanthan. Eking out the final win by .08 second Vivek Kanthan took his third win of the series and subsequent championship, followed at the finish line by Gavin Whitt in second and Alexander Jacoby in third. The final championship top three finishers in order: 1. Vivek Kanthan, 2. Gavin Whitt, 3. Alexander Jacoby
Masters Max
The Masters Max class was well attended with the largest field of the season with $1,000 up for grabs alongside the series championship which was a tight battle between Vincent Carey and John Bonanno. The event started out with Adam Pettit (Solo Karting) grabbing the pole position from series regulars with newcomer Alex Gelcius sandwiching John Bonanno for an exciting start to the heat races. The heat races were action packed with Bonanno and Gelcius splitting race wins which provided Bonanno pole position for the start of the final. The final event was controlled from pole position by John Bonanno with some early pressure from Alex Gelcius, however Bonanno would go on to secure the win while Gelcius and series newcomer Adam Pettit rounded out the podium in second and third. The final championship top three finishers in order: 1. John Bonanno, 2. Vincent Carey, 3. Paul Hart Jr.
Jr. Max
The final round was nothing short of electric with Jake Walker (Kosmic) leading the series by one point over Aidan Lourenco (FA Kart) with Cooper O’Clair (Compkart) in third place still highly in position to claim the championship. Qualifying was close as Jake Walker held provisional pole until two laps to go when O’Clair took command with a wub-1:08 lap taking pole position and a valuable five points. Heat 1 was a breakaway between O’Clair, Walker and Feghali until water on the track led to a collection of all three drivers, thus promoting Stanton and Lourenco to the front. In Heat two, action again was intense with Walker taking the win from fifth followed closely by O’Clair and Ashton Henckel. Having he tiebreaker, O’Clair started the final from pole position with Walker outside as the two drivers pulled away from the field with O’Clair taking the victory ahead of Jake Walker and George Feghali who rounded out the podium. The final championship top three finishers in order: 1. Jake Walker, 2. Cooper O’Clair, 3. Aidan Lourenco.
Sr. Max
With a commanding lead in the championship heading into the final round Justin White had to only stay out of trouble to clinch the championship. However, straight out of the gate Julian Peacock made White sweat as he challenged White for pole position and missed out by a few hundredths. Series regulars along with a few newcomers all battling tightly in the heat races with White taking command and two wins with Aidan Fox starting off pole for the final followed tightly by Peacock, Manzari and Dancho. In the final White was able to pull away to a commanding win in the final ahead of Fox and Peacock in third. The final championship top three finishers in order: 1. Justin White, 2. Alex Dancho, 3. Julian Peacock.
“The inaugural Trophy East series proved extremely successful as we returned the Rotax Racing platform to its core. With the most reliable engine/tire package across the karting platform we are excited for the future as the momentum continues to build. We would like to thank all our competitors, staff, families and the fantastic race tracks we visited during the 2021 season!” – Justin Stefani
2021 TEAM USA Members
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Vivek Kanthan
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Jake Walker
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Justin White
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John Bonanno
NEXT TICKET SERIES
Rotax Trophy Series West (Two Rounds)
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Round 1 Grand Junction Motor Speedway | August 26-28 2021
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Round 2 Phoenix Kart Racing Association | October 1-3 2021
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Winner in each category will receive a TICKET to the 2021 Grand Finals
About Race Rotax:
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About J3 Competition:
J3 Competition is an American based distribution and competition product resale company that focuses on the sector of high-performance kart racing. With a tenure being recognized as a world leader in the development of the karting industry, J3 Competition is the United States distributor of BRP-Rotax products designed for kart racing including; Rotax, XPS lubricants, MoJo tires.
Contact: info@j3competition.com | +1 (814) 864-1846
About RTX USA Group:
RTX USA Group is based in Miami, Florida and the southern United States distributor for BRP-Rotax karting products. RTX USA is a successful consortium of global Rotax distributors who have over twenty years of knowledge in karting as well as with the Rotax product line.
Contact: info@rtxkarting.com | +1 (954) 900-6412.
