San Diego, California
May 31, 2008
Round 3 of PKC had the FX Racing Makita Team trek up to the historic Willow Springs Raceway just North of Los Angeles. The famed track is known as the first permanent road racing track in the country as well as home to many famous film and television spots with its close proximity to Hollywood. The tight 9 turn track is traditional sprint kart set up and has played host to the top racers over the years. This year is was no different with some of the best competition in a while.
Whoa…Rear Brakes
Philip Conte’s (Monster Energy/Makita/Trackmagic/Mid-Cities Honda) continued speed ontrack showed through as he carried his Trackmagic Hornet to the top of the time sheets on Friday practice. Prepped and ready for qualifying, Conte’s #8 kart was ideally tuned for the conditions by FX crew chief Greg Marlow, laying down a lap almost a half second up on the field.
Conte continued his pace through the first Heat running in front and crossing the line first. A jumbled start cost Conte a few spots and he comfortably settled in behind Grant Westmorland to claim second spot in Heat 2. After all the preparation, the team was ready to see Conte step out to his second race win of the year – not a spoiler here , but it was not to be. The 17 kart field again got jumbled up at the first turn and Conte came out on the bottom. A 4+ second gap built up to the leaders Westmorland and Henderson by lap 2. Conte kept up his pace and chipped away at the lead closing the gap to just 2 kart lengths until lap 13 where he lost control of his rear brakes.
The Lakewood, California driver kept cool to bring home the FX/Makita machine in 3rd place, collect the fast race lap on the way. Conte now sits tied with Marty Henderson for the Championship lead.
A Stacked Field
Newport Beach’s Bobby Legate (Monster Energy/Makita/Trackmagic) faced his biggest challenge of the season with a stacked field of Spec drivers including Nick Halen, Bonnier Moulton and Utah’s Mike Beeny. Confidence was high as Legate laid down a track record time of 41.9 early in practice Friday morning. Tuning for the ever changing track kept Legate and father Bob on his toes throughout the weekend.
Qualifying did not exactly fall into place, as the FX/Makita Hornet chassis only garnered a lap of 42.29 placing him 4th on the grid. The tightly matched field was nose to tail for all 10 laps of the first Heat with Legate holding down forth. The top 5 shuffled positions forward and back through the second heat with the #51c driver losing one spot to finish 5th.
The nose to tail battles continued for what seemed every lap, every corner for the top runners. The Spec class is really becoming the proving ground for shifter kart racing in Southern California. Legate exchanged positions and was fighting for third until a late bobble cost a spot. The FX/Makita driver take value points finishing ahead of competitor Patrick Cushenberry, and still sitting atop the championship standings. Nick Halen claimed the Makita 18 volt combo pack as the winner of the S3.
Sabiani’s First Start
Taking over the spot temporarily vacated by Jim Barnes, Allen Sabiani (Monster Energy/Makita/Trackmagic) made his first ProKart Challenge start in the S4 light class. Sabiani, only a few months into a shifter kart, showed well with the fast pace and high competition of regional racing. A native of France, now living in Santa Monica, Sabiani qualified 6th starting ninth overall on the grid of 18.
A solid start in Heat 1 put Sabiani in contact with the top three until dropped wheels cost a few positions. Like most races of the day, the tight start conditions cost the #77 driver a few spots at the start, but the aggressive driving help move up a few positions landing in 5th at the end of 10 laps. The 20 lap main would put the driver’s fitness to the test, however Sabiani stayed strong to run consistent laps at speed. A 6th place finish (7th overall) showed well for the driver’s first outing with the series.
Again Challenged by TaG
The TaG formula has not been kind to Steve Wiener (Monster/Makita/Trackmagic) in the 2008 season. A handful of DNF’s in the SKUSA SuperNationals follow with a lack luster results in the first two rounds of PKC has left Wiener and certainly the FX Racing crew scratching their collective heads. After making the switch to the new Trackmagic Hornet, Wiener was well prepared to make an impact up the grid.
The weekend did not start well as continued reed failures in his RoK engine prevented any consistent running in practice. The San Diego based driver faced more challenges as he lined up for the qualifying grid suffering another reed failure as the session went green. Heat 1 ended in poor result as reeds again played part in the performance.
Continued hard work by expert wrench Kyle Kuntze put Wiener back on pace for Heat 2 and the driver stayed in contention until an error moved him back. By the end of the 20 lap run, reeds again played a component as the RoK was unable to re-fire after an off-track excursion. In all not the weekend Wiener or the crew will mark down on the highlight reel.
The FX Racing Makita Team will next head back to their home track of CalSpeed for round 4 of ProKart Challenge June 27-28. For more news, check out www.fxracingusa.com
FX Racing USA, LLC is a professional motorsports and marketing organization with headquarters in San Diego, CA offering programs ranging from auto and kart racing to corporate team building and training. For more information, visit www.fxracingusa.com.
WILLOW SPRINGS PHOTO GALLERY |
