WILL JOHN CROW RACE IN TAG MASTERS?

WILL JOHN CROW RACE IN TAG MASTERS?
Fri 20 Apr, 2:27 PM

Unconfirmed reports suggest that American champion, John Crow, is expected to enter at least one or two races of the current season of Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship.

The International Racing Associated Press has not been able to reach Crow for comments, but the rumors are that Crow has a desire to enter the world most competitive series, but is unable do to do due to certain contractual obligations.

Speculations in regards to Crow’ racing plans and the prospects that he may join Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship later this year has sent shockwaves among race fans worldwide, boosting the sale of Crow’s racing wear collections by as much 153%.

More Power for Sinicropi

More Power for Sinicropi
Fri 20 Apr, 2:05 PM

Scuderia Scorpio Rosso announced this afternoon that Tony Sinicropi will be powered by High-Rev next month.

The Italian flamboyant told reporters earlier “I am very optimistic about the next race in May as I will finally have an ultra competitive engine that will allow me to fight for a win. The Leoopard built by High-Rev should produce enough power to allow me to favorably change my driving style. I expect to be competitive next month and to take valuable points for myself in the driver’s championship and for the team as well.”

Earlier this month the team announced that the Chinese super star, Blair Chang, will partner up Sinicropi for the remaining of the year, however, Blair is not expected to join the team until June – Round 5 of Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship.

Unofficial Results – Round 3 – Hayashigawa retains championship lead – but Phillipsen and Kirkpatrick are closing in

Unofficial Results – Round 3 – Hayashigawa retains championship lead – but Phillipsen and Kirkpatrick are closing in
Thu 19 Apr, 11:33 AM

After 3 rounds of Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship, the Japanese super star, Larry Hayashigawa remains as the leader in the driver’s championship standing with a total of 595 pts.

The MakLaren driver is followed closely by Brian Phillipsen with 587 pts. With his second consecutive win of the year, the 8-time world champions moved from 6th in the standings of the previous month to 2nd. Many expects Phillipsen to take over the lead in the standings as early as the next round, but Hayashigawa is determined not to let it happen.

“I still have an advantage of 8 pts over him and my CRG/Leopard package has shown a lot of potential. We will work very hard during this break and we have a few things that we will try out for the first time in our wind tunnel. I will defend and hold my position in the world championship.”

Another driver that significantly moved up in the standings is the Irish, Jack Kirkpatrick. The Pherrari driver moved from 5th last month and is now comfortably in 3rd with 580 pts. However, should Tri-C World Counsel agree that Kirkpatrick’s engine change was illegal on Saturday, all points from April’s race could be taken away and it would severely hurt Kirkpatrick’s chance in winning this year’s world title.

Alex King lost his 3rd position he had last month and moved down to 4th in the standings with the total of 566 pts. It is important to note that this include the 200 pts earned in February as “work for points” system allowed him to claim such points. The Brazilian is under intense pressure from the team, MakLaren, to perform in May. Round 4 will be crucial for King’s championship hopes.

“I understand what is at stake here” said King. “I am used to be fighting for the lead in a race and in the championship, not to fight for a middle spot. I must admit that the transition from Senior Sportsman to TAG has been more difficult than predicted, but I am still confident that I can be competitive in this series.”

In 5th position is James Bratton with 545 pts. The Toyoda driver had a disappointing performance on Saturday and moved down from 4th. With SSC Racing providing trackside support to Tri-C TAG MASTERS, there is a good possibility that Bratton will find the speed he needs in the long main straight of Moran Raceway.

John Passon gained two positions and moved up to 6th with 540 pts and is only 5 pts behind 5th place, James Bratton.
“I am very motivated given my last performance and will target to swap positions with Bratton next month and maybe with King” said a relaxed and optimistic Passon.

The Sawber driver, Don Amigliore, alsog gained two positions in the standings. Amigliore is now in 7th with the total of 523 pts. Amigliore should be able to retain this position next month given that Steve Thompson is 34 pts behind him in 8th place with the total of 489 pts. Thompson told reporters earlier this week that he doesn’t not expect significant changes next month.

“I am not holding my breath. We will do what we can but to say that I will be able to fight for a win next month is simply unrealistic. I don’t want to promise anything to my fans but the fact that I will give my body and soul to be competitive next month.”

The second Sawber driver, Brad Bowman lost 3 positions in the standings and is now in 9th with the total of 477 pts. Sawber is quickly becoming one of the most competitive teams among the mid packers and we could see Bowman move up next month.

Surprisingly, the American hero, Kurt Burris is found in 10th place in the world standings with 395 pts. This is primarily due to the fact that Burris missed March’s race and the system is not taking into consideration that he will earn an additional 200 pts as “work for points” and these additional points would allow me to tie with Hayashigawa for the lead in the driver’s championship standings.

These are unofficial results and the official results (for all positions) will be reported later as soon as Tri-C World Counsel hears the expected formal complaints from Pensque and MakLaren in regards to Kirkpatrick’s engine change.

SSC RACING CONFIRMS SUPPORT TO TRI-C TAG MASTERS

SSC RACING CONFIRMS SUPPORT TO TRI-C TAG MASTERS
Thu 19 Apr, 9:33 AM

In an effort to increase trackside support within Southern California, SSC Racing has confirmed that Chief Mechanic, James Perez will attend Round 4 of Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship at Moran Raceway on Saturday, May 12th.

“We appreciate the business and the praises we received from the karting community of Southern California. Rotax is an important segment of our business and given the increase in popularity of the TAG MASTERS class at Tri-C, we would like to do everything we can to better support our customers there. You can definitely count on us being at Moran Raceway on May 12th. We will be there to provide sales and services to all of our Rotax customers” said Sales Manager of SSC Racing, Joe Ramos Jr.

SSC Racing was established in 1995 and since then, it has become one of the major players in the US karting industry. The support of SSC Racing to Tri-C TAG MASTERS is simply priceless and certainly the racers powered by Rotax engines will benefit from it.

“I am very excited bout this news” said James Bratton. “Knowing that SSC Racing will be there on race day will bring a certain amount of comfort level because I know that I will be able to count on the support of true professionals”.

The rookie Jeff Green also appeared upbeat about the up coming race “I just recently bought a CRG Road Rebel with a Rotax Senior package and both are products from SSC Racing. It is great to know that I can count on them on services and on sales. I do need some help in getting to know my Rotax better so this support of SSC Racing is a great asset to Tri-C TAG MASTERS.”

Link: http://www.sscracing.com/page.cfm?content=185&display=12

JEFF WYSONG EXPECTED TO ENTER TAG MASTERS

JEFF WYSONG EXPECTED TO ENTER TAG MASTERS
Wed 18 Apr, 3:43 PM

The International Racing Press Associated picked up a lead this morning, which suggested that the runner-up of the 2005 and 2006 Tri-C Senior Sportsman World Championship, Jeff Wysong, is very close in finalizing a new deal that would allow him to enter TAG MASTERS still in the current season.

Sources suggest that Wysong is over the moon with this latest possibility but has already warned that he will not enter a race until he knows that he has a competitive package and that he is prepared to fight for a win.

It is likely that Wysong may join a team as a test driver as early as June and racing the last 3 rounds of the year in an effort to mount a championship challenge in 2008. Speculations are that Wysong could end up at MakLaren, Mucca Rosso and Scuderio Scorpio Rosso, depending on the chassis supply Wysong ends up signing with.

TAG MASTERS – Round 3 – BACK TO BACK FOR PHILLIPSEN

TAG MASTERS – Round 3 – BACK TO BACK FOR PHILLIPSEN
Wed 18 Apr, 12:52 PM

Beaumont residents woke up in the morning of Saturday, April 14th with the distinctive and screaming sounds of TAG machines as Moran Raceway hosted Round 3 of the Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship, the world most watched sporting event.

“They are too loud and my ears hurt. I can’t talk on the phone because no one can hear me on the other line but engine noise. When they go by that corner my entire house shakes – glasses fall down and pictures can not be hung on the wall anymore. They should ban these guys from racing here” said Maria Guadalupe, a Beaumont resident living 127 blocks away from the track. However, the same could not be said from another local resident Lewis Palmer.

“Oh no, it doesn’t bother me at all, I love it! It is a privilege to live in Beaumont because we get the opportunity to see the best drivers and the best teams in the world – 5 times this year. Yes, it is true that when they go by everything inside the house shakes and a few things fall on the floor but I love it. The fact that this series race here in Beaumont has increased property value in the area by about 578%. I bought my home last year for $206,433 and just last week some broker representing a Russian buyer offered $1,399,615 in cash in addition to a 365-day paid vacation on a cruise around the world. That is insane, I can’t believe that my 2-bedroom 745 sf is worth this much.”

Local residents are getting used to the noise - TAG Engines and Fire Jets

Palmer’s statement is verified by recent real estate data as Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship is known to be a key factor in revitalizing the entire local region.

Life in local region has changed since the arrival of TAG MASTERS. It’s the ruthless competition - the fastest drivers in the fastest machines in the world competing for every inch of the track – and that is what race fans around the world saw as Speed Canal transmitted the race live worldwide on Saturday.

Race -

Heavily favored to win by odd makers in Las Vegas casinos, Ty Matta appeared set to win his first race in the series as the Filipino-Mexican-American pilot comfortably set the fastest lap in qualifying, taking his second consecutive pole. However, as it occurred last month, the Renawlt has proved to be outstandingly fast but also unreliable – leaving the door open for the 8-time world champion, Brian Phillipsen to set the race fastest lap of 1:07.032 and to score another win – second consecutive win of the year.

The race started with a fantastic move from Kurt Burris. The American hero made a daring move on the outside of turn 1 to take over the lead from Matta while Brian Phillipsen and Jack Kirkpatrick following closely. The Japanese super star, Hayashigawa, did not have a very good start and allowed Kirkpatrick to go by while Larry Rochelle, Alex King and John Passon followed.

Outpaced by Burris at turn 1, Ty Matta quickly programmed himself to regain the lead of the race as he settled down in second place in the first lap of the race. However, the Renawlt proved once again to be unreliable and let the Filipino-Mexican-American down in the downhill S.

“I did not have a very good start but I knew I was faster than Kurt and was getting ready to make a move on him when the kart suddenly stopped running in the downhill S. I thought it was an engine problem but I quickly realized that the throttle cable was the issue. It is disappointing because I was expecting to win today and we will have to re-group to try again next month.”

The race was primarily dominated by the Pensque team with Kurt leading the first 4 laps of the race, until the 8-time world champion, Brian Phillipsen, made a conclusive move to the lead, as Phillipsen explained.

“Once Matta went out I only had Kurt in front of me and I knew it was a matter of time until I could make a move on him. So, I waited for the right time and once I was by him, it was just a matter of maintaining my position and managing my lead. I never felt any pressure from either Kurt or Jack – they were never a threat.”

Kurt Burris could not disagree more with Phillipsen in regards to his assessment of the race. “Absolutely not. I had brake problems and you can check it for yourself. Had I not suffered brake problems, there is no way in this world that Brian would have made a move on me. With Burris Tires, my kart had a much better handle and was a lot more consistent than Brian’s kart. It didn’t happen today but my win will come.”

Suffering break problems, Burris had to let Kirkpatrick by and eventually settled down to third in the race with his fastest lap of 1:07.352.

Race fans show their support for the men of TAG MASTERS

One of the hottest topics in the paddock was the reliability (or lack of) in regards to the Pherrari’s engine. As previously reported, Kirkpatrick suffered a major engine explosion while leading the race last month and blew up another engine only a few days before Saturday’s race. Speculations were that Pherrari set a rev limit on Kirkpatrick’s engine and could be the reason for Kirkpatrick being unable to fight for pole and a relatively poor showing at Heat 1.

“The kart sucked at qualifying and we had to change the engine prior to the race because my engine was dead. I could not go past 20,000 rpm” said Kirkpatrick.

Roger Pensque (Pensque) and Ronaldo Denis (MakLaren) were not happy with the fact that Race Officials allowed Kirkpatrick to change the engine prior to the Main Heat. “The rules do not allow the driver to change engines unless there is a significant issue with the engine” said Pensque. Dennis also added “not been able to go past 20,000 rpm is not a significant issue to me. It basically means that Kirkpatrick wants an engine that will go past 20,000 rpm and Pherrari is using its influence to bend the rules. This is outrageous.”

A hearing has been schedule for April 28th in Geneva as Pherrari and MakLaren are both expected to formally protest against Pherrari’s engine change before Tri-C World Counsel.

Regardless of the change, the Irish, Jack Kirkpatrick did not seem to be able to mount a challenge for the lead as Phillipsen won the race over 3 seconds ahead of him.

“It was a difficult race for us today” admitted Kirkpatrick. “We did not set up the kart right for qualifying and we paid the price. We did have engine issues at Heat 1, contrary to what many are saying and the engine change is legal. It is true that I had a rev limit of 21,000 rpm as we didn’t want to take any unnecessary risk. Finishing in the points today was important and finishing in the podium was crucial for the driver’s championship. We will do better next month – you can bet on that!”

Indeed it was an important finish for the Irish as he collected valuable points as a second place finisher with his fastest time of 1:07.630.

The Japanese super star, Larry Hayashigawa, was very lucky to salvage a fifth place finish in the race. After a poor start, Hayashigawa had intense pressure from the second Pherrari driver Larry Rochelle.

“I think Hayashigawa was much wider than 55 inches” said Rochelle. I was faster than him but just could not go around him. I just didn’t have enough space to go around his kart.”

Japanese fan shows her support for Larry Hayashigawa

Rochelle was desperate to go by the Japanese as it would take crucial points from Hayashigawa in the driver’s championship and from MakLaren in the constructor’s championship. However, the more experienced driver, Hayashigawa defended well his position and forced Rochelle into a mistake at turn 1. Hayashigawa stated “I went backwards today in terms of set up. Things were looking very good in practice and in qualifying but the changes I made did not help and I had no grip, so I was off pace and forced to defend my position.”

Hayashigawa’s teammate, Alex King was following the battle of Larry vs. Larry closely ahead of him and saw Rochelle go off in turn 1 right before his eyes.

“It’s a very fast turn and I was closing in into Rochelle and adding the pressure so I think he wanted to get by Hayashigawa as fast as he could and was over aggressively at turn 1 and went off. In the process, an unidentified material or part flew off Rochelle’s kart and hit me. Luckily, I turned my head down and only my helmet was damaged – it was going straight to the visor and that could have been a problem.”

Once King went by Rochelle, he challenged his teammate for a position and eventually went by at the hairpin. However, King’s race pace dropped dramatically by lap 7 due to fatigue and he eventually lost fourth place to Hayashigawa.

The third round of the world championship was the stage of a new record breaking - Rochelle and King had the closest race finish – only .002 set the two apart with Rochelle finishing in fifth and King finishing in sixth.

“I could have done better today” said Rochelle “but I made mistake at turn 1 and later I spent a lot of time behind Alex. I think I was slightly faster than him but he held me up.”

King admitted at the post-race press conference that he held up Rochelle. “It was a valid position and important one and I tried to defend it. TAG MASTERS is very physically demanding and I was felling the demands of it. I overly exhausted and could not concentrate on racing anymore, so I tried to do my best to hold my position.”

John Passon finished in 7th place and had one of his personal fastest race lap – 1:07.880. The Mucca Rosso driver did not have a very good start and spent the entire race behind the battle of Hayashigawa, Rochelle and King.

“It is disappointing because I was faster than the three of them today, but I just couldn’t go around them. We were really evenly matched today in a way. I do think that Alex was holding both Rochelle and I and had he let us gone by we could have probably worked together to pass Hayashigawa. Today’s race was very encouraging for the team because we have improved our time and hopefully we will continue that next month.”

The remaining three spots in the top 10 were taken by Rick Holevas (8th), James Bratton (9th) and Brad Bowman (10th). All three drivers battled each other out for most of the race.

Holevas had a very respectable performance as he qualified in 13th place and gained 5 positions. “It was an enjoyable race today. The vast majority of the race was pretty much me, James Bratton and Brad Bowman fighting for a position and in the end I overcame them both. It was not easy.”

Toyoda’s leaves the race with more problems than they came with. James Bratton is simply unable to find the straight line speed needed to be competitive at Moran Raceway. “I don’t have it, I simply don’t have it. The engine basically slow downs right before turn 1 and I still don’t have grips. So here we are again, a month later with the same problems we had last month. Nothing that the team has done worked today.”

The Sawber driver, Brad Bowman, continue to satisfy team sponsors as he finished in the top 10 once again – for the second time in the year. “Very pleased with our race today. It was a hard battle with Bratton and Holevas and unfortunately, it did not turned too well for me, but it could have. So, I could have finished 8th today and that is motivation for us, for the Sawber team to continue to push and work harder.”

Another 6 divers were able to complete the race. Steve Thompson (11th), David Ayotte (12th), Craig Pfeifer (13th) and Donald Amigliore (14th) all finished very close to each other. Thompson had a very ill handling kart and could only manage a personal best lap of 1:09.667. Ayotte followed closely with his personal best lap of 1:09.929. Behind Ayotte came Pfeifer who was actually faster with a personal best lap of 1:09.804 but simply lacked the horsepower to make pass at Moran Raceway. The second Sawber driver, Donald Amigliore had a best personal lap of 1:09.681.

The veteran Eric Lazar finished in 15th and appeared optimistic with his result. “We have been working very hard for the past 24 months developing a new steering wheel for me and it is finally here. All of the kart controls are within the reach of my hands so it is much easier to drive now. The steering wheel follow the example of a Formula 1 steering wheel and with time, I will certainly pick up speed.” Mike Taylor had the honor to cross the finish line in last place (16th). Taylor’s engine was misfiring from the very beginning of the race but the team decided to keep going and use the race as a testing stage for the next race.

Once again, George Gallardo had to withdraw from the race. As occurred in March, the Italian complained once of severe cramps and it is not yet known if that was the real reason for his withdraw. Jeff Green and Cory Murdock did not officially communicate to Race Officials of their intend to withdraw and both have been fined $250,000 for a DNS.

The total of two drivers did not finish the race. As previously reported, Ty Matta had a broken throttle cable while he was in second place. Art Laski suffered a broken exhaust spring while in 10th place and was forced to retire.

Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship will return to Moran Raceway once again on May 12th and race fans worldwide can expect a very exciting race – perhaps the most exciting of the year. Brian Phillipsen has already 2 race and Jack Kirkpatrick has one. However, Ty Matta and Kurt Burris have both proven to be extremely fast. Larry Hayashigawa continues to lead the driver’s championship and is determined to strategically win the championship. Rochelle, King, Passon and Bratton all have similar speed and are fighting to establish dominance within this sub-group. They desperately need to move up and fight with the front runners to keep hoping for a driver’s title. All other drivers, including but not limited to Holevas, Bowman, Thompson, Ayotte, Laski, Gallardo, Lazar, Greene are working extremely hard with their respective team to gain an edge over the other. Round 4 will be one of the most competitive race of the year – all drivers and teams are expected to be on their limits.

Round 3 - Qualifying - Second Consecutive Pole for Ty Matta

Round 3 - Qualifying - Second Consecutive Pole for Ty Matta
Tues 17 Apr, 11:14 AM

Ty Matta once again dominated qualifying, for the second consecutive time this year, and is quickly setting the reputation for being the fastest driver in the world. The Renawlt driver was clearly the fastest driver of the grid today as he set his pole lap of 1:07.163 – exactly .570 ahead of second place sitter Jack Kirkpatrick.

“Track conditions were not ideal, certainly not the same as last month, but nevertheless, I am very pleased with my performance today” said Matta.

The Filipino-Mexican-American pilot appeared calm and confident for the race.

“To be honest, I could have pushed a little more if I really wanted but did not felt it was necessary. I knew I was way faster than anyone else by sector 3 so I took a bit easy in an effort to save my tires for the race. I think we will do very well and hopefully I won’t have any mechanical issues as I had last month.”

The 2003 Tri-C Senior Sportsman Novice World Champion, Jack Kirkpatrick appeared satisfied in qualifying in second place. Last month, the Pherrari driver suffered a major engine explosion and earlier this week, Kirkpatrick had once again issues with his engines. Many believed that Pherrari would have a rev restriction on Kirkpatrick engine but the team has yet to confirm that.

“It’s a shame that I didn’t have a good enough kart to fight for pole. It did not handled well and I think that is the reason I am not on pole. However, starting in the front row is important and I am prepared to go down the straight neck and neck with Matta. I have absolutely no concerns in regards to my engine and I will push as hard as I have to in order to fight for a win today.”

Heavily criticized last month for failing to qualify in the top 3, Brian Phillipsen was able to edge out his teammate, Kurt Burris, for third place with a lap of 1:07.788 – only 0.055 behind Kirkpatrick. The outspoken driver appeared irritated when his lap time was compared with Ty Matta’.

“Once again, you guys are already making a big fuss about Matta’s qualifying performance and once again I am telling you all that I don’t really care about qualifying. Sure, it is important to qualify up front but it does not mean that I am faster nor slower than anyone else. The race pace is what really matters. The race result is what really counts. My goal is to win a race, not to qualify on pole” said Phillipsen.

Kurt Burris returned to the cock pit of the Pensque this month and quickly established himself as a front runner by qualifying in fourth place. The American hero felt confident of a good race result:

“I think I could have qualified better today, but I am not really going to complain about anything. I think we need to make some final adjustments. I don’t think the gear I had was ideal and I think my tire pressure was a bit off as well. All in all, starting from the second row makes me feel pretty good about the race. We have a good strategy in place.”

Championship leader, Larry Hayashigawa had his best qualifying performance of the year. The Japanese super star will start from fifth place in the race and admitted to struggle in getting up to speed right away for a single lap as required in qualifying.

“We are very weak in qualifying and it is something we are well aware that needs to improve. Considering I had too much grip today, I can not really complain about qualifying in fifth. It is an inside position and hopefully I can pick up a few spot at the start and go from there.”

George Gallardo had an impressive debut last month as he qualified in third. However, the Italian disappointed today as he qualified in 6th place with a lap time of 1:08.257. Gallardo was forced to withdraw from the race last month (March) as he complained of extreme cramps. The Italian was cleared fit to race earlier this week, but many insiders suggested that it was too early for a return to competitive racing.

“I am ready and fit to race” said Gallardo. “It was my first race in the world championship last month and I guess I wasn’t prepared for the intense pressure, but I am now. My poor qualifying performance has nothing to do with what happened last month. I am just struggling with the balance of my kart and that is it. I am hopeful that we will find the proper set up and be competitive later in the day.”

In an effort to build momentum to challenge for the constructor’ s championship, Pherrari brought Larry Rochelle to partner up the Irish, Jack Kirkpatrick.

“This is not a permanent position” said Pherrari boss, John Todt. “Larry comes with a very impressive racing record and we will see how he adapts to our team and to this series. His job today is to get used to this level of racing and hopefully to get some points for us.”

Rochelle had a respectable debut as he qualified within the top 10. “I am never satisfied with my performance, unless I am number 1. I qualified in 7th with a lap time of 1:08.365. I understand that some may find it impressive for qualifying in the top 10 in my first race, but I want more and I will fight hard for a position in the race.”

Things are not expected to be easy for the rookie Rochelle when the green flag is shown. Next to him, the experienced Mucca Rosso driver, John Passon will start from 8th and can make things difficult for Rochelle.

“I know I know I know that I could have done better” said Passon. I just lost a bit at turn 2, but I know that I have a good package today that will allow me to fight harder in the race. I expect a difficult race, but I feel good about my chances of a good result today. The revised 75-DR engine seems to be working very well for me today.”

James Bratton continues to struggle with his Toyoda. The revised bodywork XR-754 has disappointed and latest development made to Bratton’s Rotax engine has not been sufficient.

“I am really disappointed” said James Bratton. “We worked so hard for the past month and we thought we could actually fight for pole today but we are still way off, way off. I just don’t have the grip in the corners and when I get to the main straight, I don’t have the top end speed. It’s frustrating!”

Claiming the last spot in the top 10, Alex King qualified with a lap time of 1:08.658, a very disappointing performance for the Brazilian.

“I am very disappointed. The kart is still very nervous at turn 2 and 3 so I lost a lot of time there. We don’t have the right set up and the issue is that we don’t really know what the problem really is, so we can’t even attempt to make it better. The only encouraging thing I can take out of this is that I was a full second behind my teammate, Hayashigawa at yesterday’s practice and I am now about half second behind. Hopefully, I can find a way to close this gap during the race.”

Steve Thompson, Art Laski and Rick Hovelas fought a close battle for the 11th, 12th and 13th places respectively. Mucca Rosso did not have enough time to give a full set of new tires to Steve Thompson, so he was forced to qualify with new set of front tires only.

“Kart as very difficult to control during practice so we decided to change tires” said Thompson. “However, we did not have enough time and we had to make a decision to go with new front tires only. The handling was better, but I had a very hard time with my back end.”

The only driver in the grid with a Motori-Seven engine package, Art Laski failed to meet team’s expectations. “We targeted top 10” said Laski “and I would have accomplished that. I was on my way to top 10 but I got stuck behind Jeff Greene at the exit of turn 17 so that ruined my momentum and my chances of a better qualifying position.”

Rick Hovelas appeared satisfied with his 13th qualifying position. “I have to be realistic, we are under a very tight budget and have limited resources. The 13th spot was the best we could do today” said Hovelas.

The Sawber team of Brad Bowman and Donald Amigliore took the 14th and 15th spots respectively. Bowman was realistic about his chances in the race today:

“It’s extremely competitive out there and we are about 3 seconds behind the pole sitter. We have done a lot of work back the factory and we understand that a lot more needs to be made. Realistically, we are targeting to be in the middle of the pack today. We have a lot of work scheduled during the next couple of weeks and hopefully we will be able to fight for the top 10 next month.”

Craig Pfeifer took the 16th spot with a lap time of 1:10.694 and had a comfortable margin ahead of 17th place Jeff Greene with a qualifying lap time of 1:13.428. The rookie, Jeff Greene, complained of handling issues with his kart. “There is no grip, absolutely no grip. We will go back to the garage and see what we can do to improve our race pace.”

The last row was filled by Cory Murdock with a qualifying lap of 1:15.768 and Mike Taylor with a lap of 1:16.243.

The expectations are very high for the race later today. Ty Matta has proven to be very fast and is certainly the favorite to win today – will Renawlt give him a reliable package? Kirkpatrick second place in qualifying did not convince experts that he has a kart that is good enough to fight for a win today. Pherrari has had too many engine issues lately. Brian Phillipsen is the most experienced driver and always dangerous despite not having an impressive qualifying performance – can he win back to back? The American hero, Kurt Burris is always a crowd favorite and set the race fastest lap in February. The Japanese super star, Hayashigawa, is the championship leader – will he retain this position after the race today? The Italian George Gallardo has been clear by doctor officials – is he really fit enough to complete a race distance? Which drivers in the back of the pack will move up to the middle of the pack? Which driver in the middle of the pack will surprise and fight with a front runner?

Time will tell – stay tuned for Round 3 of Tri-C TAG MASTERS World Championship – NEXT!