TAG MASTERS - Round 1 - Kirkpatrick Wins Inaugural Grand Prix

Beaumont, California (Saturday, February 10, 2007)

The inaugural Tri-C World Championship of TAG MASTERS occurred on Saturday, February 10th at Moran Raceway in Beaumont, California. The race was televised live worldwide and the 300,000 screaming fans that attended the sold-out event were not disappointed. “I have never seen anything like this before” said Joseph Reed, Director of TicketMaestro. “The tickets went on sale yesterday at 8AM and by 8:02AM, all of the 300,000 were sold out, TAG MASTERS is a phenomenon.”

Jack Kirkpatrick, the 2003 World Champion of Tri-C Senior Sportsman Novice, sent out a depressing message to the other TAG MASTERS pilots by simply humiliated them in dominating fashion with 1-2-3 punches. Kirkpatrick qualified on Pole with a lap time of 1.07.722, over a half second faster than second place sitter, Brian Phillipsen. He dominated Heat 1 before a convincing win of the Main Heat, a race which Kirkpatrick appeared very much under control of. Kirkpatrick was simply unstoppable at Round 1 of TAG MASTERS.

The 8-time World Champion, Brian Phillipsen did not meet expectations and disappointed thousands of his fans. “I have been on the road since last weekend. I drove out of Florida towards California to see my hero Phillipsen race and it is too bad he had mechanical issues today, I think he could have won the race” said Armando Diaz, a race fan from Miami, Florida. Phillipsen appeared furious with his DNF and did not want to comment on his mechanical failure during the post press conference. Insiders suggest that Phillipsen is under immense pressure to win every single race as the world is expecting him to win the championship title this year. “Brian has a lot of experience and is used in dealing with this type of pressure. You can certainly expect him to be competitive in the next race and certainly be a factor in the championship fight this year”, said Bernardo Ecclestone.

The second place finisher, Stuart Hayner had an impressive progressive performance. After qualifying in fourth position, Hayner made up a spot on Heat 1 and held off intense pressure from Japanese SuperStar Hayashigawa to eventually finish in second place in the Main Heat. “I knew he was there and I could see him coming very fast but I knew he had handling problems and would be quite difficult for him to make a move on me. There was no way that I was going to give up my position in second place” said Hayner. Larry Hayashigawa appeared very relief and surprised with his third place finish in the Main Heat. After a very disappointing qualifying performance (9th place), Hayashigawa worked his way up to take make to the podium. “I was having a bit of difficulties in the handling of my kart and I am not sure why, maybe something to do with the active suspension system. I had an opportunity to challenge Hayner for second place but had to back off as Kurt was coming very quickly so my team told me over the radio to conserve the kart and bring to the finish line. I am happy given the circumstances today.” Rumors persist that Hayashigawa may be splitting with his team as early as the next round of TAG MASTERS due to differences with teammate Jack Kirkpatrick. It was reported in Japanese media that Hayashigawa has formally complaint to the team alleging that Kirkpatrick is receiving preferential treatment, which can probably be validated by the fact that Kirkpatrick at the latest Tony Kart EVS model. Hayashigawa’s Manager, Hiro Katushita, declined to comment on his client’s contractual obligations but many believe that Hayashigawa is actively pursuing a new contract, possibly with CRG.

Kurt Burris, the American Star, set the Fastest Lap of the race of 1.07.613. Burris demonstrated an incredible display of speed and consistency. After an impressive qualifying performance (3rd place), Burris had to start dead last in the Main Heat as he failed to finish the Heat 1. Burris eventually finished in 4th place of the Main Heat and made very clear to all that he has the speed to be a front runner and a title contender. “I am very happy with my performance today despite a difficult Heat 1. The engine and kart felt very good, but most importantly the Burris Tires performed much better than expected. I am looking forward to Round 2” said a very confident Kurt Burris.

After many speculations and to the relief of TAG MASTERS fans, Tony Sinicropi made to Round 1 of TAG MASTERS. The Italian flamboyant looked extremely fast and impressive in the practice sessions and had a respectable qualifying performance (8th place), ahead of drivers such as Larry Hayashigawa, Dennis Uebersetzig and H.A. Arnarson. As always, Sinicropi brought much of the excitement to the fans and despite having a good performance, had to eventually settle down to a 15th place finish. The controversial Arnarson suffered a massive engine explosion in the Main Heat but appeared upbeat for the next race. “It is part of racing and these things happen. I was trying to push as hard as I could and the engine gave up. Our engineers will look into this and you can be certain that I will be back in next month”.

Round 2 of Tri-C World Championship of TAG MASTERS will take place again at Moran Raceway on Saturday, March 10th. Fans worldwide are expecting another exciting race. Jack Kirkpatrick is going to be out there to extend his lead in the championship and also to prove to the world that his performance on Round 1 was real and not based on luck. Brian Phillipsen is very motivated not only to reduce the gap in the championship title fight, but also to demonstrate to his sponsors and fans that he still has the speed he once showed – you can expect a very determined Phillipsen. Kurt Burris is going to arrive at Moran knowing that he was the fastest pilot of TAG MASTERS in Round 1 and will extract the most out of it. James Bratton knows he has the natural skills to fight for the win and John Passon has the experience needed to develop a winning kart. Alex King, the 2005 World Champion of Tri-C Senior Sportsman Novice, has confirmed attendance and is also very motivated. Alex’s Manger, Sir Robert Brooks, appears cautiously optimistic about King’s chances. “He has shown the ability to win races and to win a championship as he did back in 2005, but we know that he has been pretty inactive since then and considering the additional horsepower of TAG MASTERS, he will have a steep learning curve ahead of him. But, we are prepared to give the support he will need in order to be competitive. Just recently we signed an engine deal (Leopard) and we are very close in finalizing a deal with a new chassis supplier. We think he will be competitive and time will tell”. It is reported that other drivers such as Brad Bowman, Steven Thompson, Eric Lazar and Mike Taylor are actively following latest development in the wind tunnel and finding ways to make their karts faster.

DISCLAIMER – It is 2:49PM of 2/23/07. I have nothing to do at this time so I just started typing things up out of my imagination and for the purpose of entertaining. Do not believe a single thing that I wrote above with the exception of dates, race/qualifying positions and lap times of TAG MASTERS. Everything else is either made up or partially true based on conversations I had with related individuals. All “quotes” are not real. If I have offended anyone and you do not appreciate this type of amusement, please let me know and I will make sure I remove your name (apologies in advance).