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June 3: Yamaha Power… KRA #2 Written By: Vogel Racing We took the new Yamaha to the KRA make up event #2 in Newcastle on Sunday. In a kart previously only capable of one top 5 qualification Christian was able to qualify outside pole in his first quali run of the day, sans draft (the draft is critical at Newcastle.) The KRA series runs 2 individual Yamaha Jr. Events, and in the second event he qualified 4 th. In the past during the races, holding onto the lead draft was impossible, due to our previous engine being “o.k.” In this event, it was just a matter of a clean drive, and running up front was no problem! Christian was able to net back to back third place finishes in the features, and actually led for a time in the last feature, something previously impossible. To further clarify my point: Same pilot, same tires, same chassis and set up, same tire pressures, same competition, same track… different engine, very different result. I might be stepping out on a limp here, but we are leaning toward the engine being the difference this weekend! For all of you racing Dad’s and Mom’s out there, the significance of this story is simple. Marc delivers what he says. I have yet for him to represent anything he has delivered to our team as anything other than what it was. Racing is such a mix of secrecy and myth, I have found most people in the sport either do not understand most of the technical aspects of karting (including many engine builders), and are quick to share their errant knowledge; or do understand the technical side, and won’t share any information due to the competitive nature of the sport. With Marc he delivers what he represents. Nuff said! Oh yeah, Grant did run this weekend as well. Normally Grant is the focus of much of our story line. He is aggressive, and he can drive average equipment to the front. This weekend was no exception. On our old engine, he finished second in both of his feature races in Yamaha Jr. Sportsman, with the quality drive of fellow competitor Chase Stempfley snatching away victory in the first feature, and a couple of critical mistakes in the second feature while leading late costing him the victory. On the positive side, watching the racing, it is pretty obvious where Grant’s strengths were on the track… the straight away was not one of them (Not on a High Rev!). Grant’s Yamaha is on its way to High Rev as we speak to get reworked. It should be very interesting to see how the races pan out the next time we hit the KRA.
Standouts from this weekend: Evan Walters traveled with us to Newcastle and tuned for Christian… Hmmm? Maybe HE was the difference this weekend? Thanks Evan! Kyle Johnson: Grant and Kyle got together in the second qualifying session with Kyle coming out on the short end of the stick, and off track. Grant says it was a miss-queue; I have to assume Kyle thought otherwise, because he was not happy. The short version is that once everyone settled down, both boys responded like gentlemen, and after the final feature they talked over the days racing, and parted on good terms. Special thanks to Kyle’s mom, who apparently was watching the racing, because her call on the action was right on the money. Isn’t racing fun? (The answer is: YES) Mom: At home scraping wall paper off the walls while we were out playing! Too Cool! Thanks Mom! Marc Zartarian , High Rev Engineering: Reference above. (I assume you already read it!) Information on the team or sponsorship opportunities can be researched at www.VogelRacing.com . Vogel Racing would like to thank their team & associates. Those include; Walters Web Design, Vogel Heating and Cooling, Fleming Motorsports, High Rev Engineering, Intrepid Karts and Champion Racing. |
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