Archive for the ‘Gatorz Karting Cup’ Category

Combining the two Southern California Rotax Max Challenge programs – the Gatorz Karting Cup and Los Angeles Kart Club – into a single August event produced large fields and rave reviews from drivers in both organizations. While all of the Rotax classes were run as part of the LAKC’s schedule of events, the Rotax racers would benefit from additional track time in the form of two eight-lap heat races and a twenty-lap final. Read the rest of this entry »

August 25, 2010 (Orange, Calif.) – With Southern California having two Rotax Max Challenge series – the Gatorz Karting Cup and the Los Angeles Kart Club – the two organizations have decided to join forces for this weekend. For the first time, the Gatorz / LAKC Rotax Shootout will run as a part of the monthly Los Angeles Kart Club event, which will be held on the Grande CW configuration of the Calspeed Karting Center in Fontana, Calif.

While heats and mains will be run on Sunday, qualifying will be held Saturday afternoon as each class will get a fifteen minute hot pit session that will set the grids for the following day’s heat race. The event will offer an increase in track time for the LAKC Rotax drivers, and it has also attracted drivers from outside the state with several drivers from Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada making the trip.

In Minimax, Gatorz Karting Cup points leader Royal McKee will face his biggest challenge from the winner of last month’s LAKC race, Nicky Hays, who recently made the move from MicroMax to Minimax. Noah Grey is also a front runner at LAKC events, while Blaine Rocha – Gatorz Challenge of the Americas champion in the class – will also attend the race.

Junior Rotax points leader Jeremy Kane has moved to Senior, leaving Dakota Dickerson as the points leader in the class. Dickerson also won last month’s LAKC Junior Rotax race, leaving him as the favorite ahead of Jake Craig, Breanna Miscione, and Nova Brown. A wildcard, as ever, is Nicholas Silva, who won the last Gatorz Karting Cup race at the Streets of Willow.

The most competitive race might come in Rotax Senior. With Louie Pagano and Jeremy Kane moving up to the class from Rotax Junior, the talented youngsters will face veteran John Crow – a former Gatorz Challenge of the Americas and Gatorz Karting Cup Masters class champion, as well as LAKC regular Brett Sheffer and Zach Woodsford.

Both series feature large groups of Rotax Masters racers and should provide for a very entertaining Rotax Masters group this weekend, which will likely be headed by brothers Jim and David Busby, as well as Steve Dzurilla. Dzurilla is the defending LAKC Rotax Masters class champion, while Jim Busby won the last Gatorz Karting Cup race at the Streets of Willow.

DD-2 will also be contested, with Matt Ostiguy expected to compete and win, as he is the defending Gatorz Karting Cup DD-2 class champion.

Live timing and scoring will be available on Sunday at LAKC’s website, at www.lakc.org.

August 16, 2010 (Orange, Calif.) – Making up its previously postponed June date at the Grange Motor Circuit, the Gatorz Karting Cup would like to announce that round five of the 2010 Gatorz Karting Cup will be held Saturday, October 2, at the Calspeed Karting Center. It will be held in conjunction with the Fontana round of the Rotax Pan-Am. On that Saturday, all Gatorz Karting Cup drivers will earn points for the series championship.

Round 4 of the Gatorz Karting Cup will be held August 28-29 in a joint race with the Los Angeles Kart Club, while round 6 and the series finale will be held October 9-10 at the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix.

The decision to partner with the Pan-Am was based on a variety of circumstances, including minimizing travel for teams located far from Southern California who also plan on competing at the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix, which will be the series finale for the Gatorz Karting Cup. With the added hurdle of a crowded race schedule in September and October, and Pan-Am’s willingness to accommodate the Gatorz Karting Cup drivers, the decision was made to make Saturday a Gatorz points race.

“We looked at several different scenarios for making up our June round, but in the end this is the best solution for us and for the drivers, teams, and shops that support our series,” said Andy Seesemann, owner of the Gatorz Karting Cup. “Racing on back-to-back weekends will minimize the travel for our teams and shops that are based out of town that will be competing in Lancaster.”

“We appreciate that Joe Ramos willing to work with us and include us in his program, and we hope that our Gatorz Karting Cup drivers will race the Sunday round of Pan-Am as well. And now that our schedule is set for the rest of the season, we are looking forward to three exciting rounds of Rotax racing.”

Gatorz Karting Cup racers will be competing for free entries, including tires, to the 2011 Gatorz Challenge of the Americas. With three rounds of the six-round championship remaining, the final races at Calspeed and Lancaster will determine the season champions in each class. Drivers will have to compete in five of the six events in order to be eligible for the championship prizes.

For more information about the final events of the 2010 Gatorz Karting Cup, contact Full Throttle Karting at (714) 289-0432.

July 16, 2010 (Orange, Calif.) – The 2009 Rotax Grand Nationals, like nearly every one before it, was a showcase for the  west coast-based Gatorz Karting Cup and Gatorz Challenge of the Americas. As the most competitive Rotax Max Challenge series on the west coast, both the Gatorz Karting Cup and Gatorz Challenge of the Americas have prepared a large number of drivers for this weekend’s Grand Nationals.

The 2009 Grand Nationals champion in Rotax Masters, Mike Daniel, returns to the Grand Nationals to defend his championship after winning the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas championship by the slimmest of margins. Joining him from the series will be CotA race winner Scott Falcone, as well as former national champion Andy Seesemann, Andre Eriksen, and Bruce McKean.

The Rotax Senior entry list at this weekend’s Grand Nationals has seven drivers who competed in Gatorz Karting series this season – including Challenge of the Americas race winners Mason Marotta and Joey Wimsett. Neil Alberico and Ben Schermerhorn will also be competing, as will two Junior drivers moving up to Rotax Senior – Challenge of the Americas champion Louie Pagano and Jeremy Kane.

Junior Max will have three Gatorz Karting drivers on the grid – race winners Kiel Spaulding and Nicholas Silva, as well as Dakota Dickerson. Three Gatorz karting drivers will be in MiniMax – Gatorz Challenge of the Americas champion Blaine Rocha, his teammate, Davey Manthai, Jr., and Trenton May .

Gatorz Karting will be represented in MicroMax by CotA champion Connor Robustelli, Annie Breidinger, Toni Breidinger, and Chloe St. George. In DD-2, the series will be represented by Derek Wang and by Jim Busby, Jr. in DD-2 Masters.

“Every year, I am proud to see the number of drivers competing at the Grand Nationals that also competed in our Gatorz Challenge of the Americas and Gatorz Karting Cup events throughout the year,” said series owner Andy Seesemann. “Whether we are their home series or not, they are coming to compete in Gatorz Karting for the elevated level of competition and the whole Gatorz experience.”

The Gatorz Karting Cup’s next event will be August 28-29 at the Calspeed Karting Center at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, in a joint race with the Los Angeles Kart Club.  The series will complete its season as part of the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix, October 9-10, in Lancaster, CA.

About the Gatorz Karting Cup

The Gatorz Eyewear Golden State Karting Cup is the premier Rotax Max Challenge in the United States. The Southern-California based regional series is home to both the serious karter, as well as the weekend warrior – as well as any karter who has a desire to race in a professionally run series that offers abundant track time. For more information, visit www.gatorzkarting.com.

June 14, 2010 (Orange, Calif.) – In a move done to ease the financial and logistical burden on the drivers and teams of the Gatorz Karting Cup, the series is announcing the postponement of the planned June 19 race at Grange Motor Circuit, the fifth round of the 2010 Gatorz Karting Cup.

The Rotax Pan American date at Newcastle Motorsports Park, which was held this past weekend one month before the Grand Nationals at the same facility, saw a large number of Gatorz Karting Cup drivers competing at the venue. To simplify logistics, many of those teams and drivers inquired about a date move for the Grange Motor Circuit to eliminate a cross-country trek with trucks, trailers, and karts, which would be necessary in order to answer the green flag this coming Saturday.

Closer to home, the pending IKF Grand Nationals at Willow Springs Kart Track led several local teams to ask the series about the possibility as well, as the IKF Grand Nationals, a hallmark event on the Southern California karting schedule, was putting an extra strain on local teams and drivers as well. This unique combination of circumstances led to the postponement of Grange.

“It is not typical for us to move or postpone a date, but our June 19 date at Grange was obviously going to be a problem for many of our series drivers and teams who have supported us throughout the year, and for several  years,” said series owner Andy Seesemann. “This year we have a special circumstance with the Grange date being right in the middle of Pan-Am and the Rotax Grand Nationals – which are only a month apart – and that would put a lot of strain on our drivers.  In times like these, we are going to bend over backwards to make sure that they are able to race and that’s what we have done.”

The series will make an announcement on the make-up date for round five of the Gatorz Karting Cup in the coming weeks.

April 22, 2010 (Orange, Calif.) – The Gatorz Karting Cup, the largest and most prestigious Rotax Max Challenge in the United States, has announced that it will take part in the 2010 Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix, scheduled for October 9-10 in Lancaster, Calif. The series will bring its Minimax, Junior Rotax, Rotax Senior, and Rotax Masters classes to the popular street race, which will now serve as the season finale of the 2010 Gatorz Karting Cup. The SLGP will also be the first time that the Gatorz Karting Cup competes on a temporary circuit.

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