The 7th race of the 10 Race AZIKC Series Championship was held on Sat. August 28th at F1 Race Factory. Maybe it should be called, "Tony (the Tiger) Rolfson Karting School as teacher Rolfson went to the chalkboard and wasted no time getting class started with the rest of us being his sleepy eyed students.
With nine "students" in attendance including newcomer Josh Walker aka "Strawberry Seasons" Mr. Rolfson set fast time in the 3 lap qualifier. Everything went well for all but one. John Ahrens picked a strong steed to race in but was denied from the get go with a malfunction of the transponder and with 3 laps in the record books the rest of the field waited patiently to see if a re run of the qualifier would be in order. It was not. John traded karts for one that would record his times and he started from the back of the field. If it wasn't for bad luck John would not have any luck at all. With a collective sigh we all assumed Ahrens day was done and boy, were we wrong. With great determination and his Dad there for "Parent/Teacher" day young Ahrens pitted early then hit the books with a vengeance. By the time the school bell rang for the day John Ahrens went from sitting at the back of the classroom to near teachers’ pet area (3rd place) within 72 laps of GP Track racing. Wow!!! Even though he didn't catch teacher Tony or class assistant Keith Sears the last podium spot was occupied by a very happy student kart racer John Ahrens.
That was not the only great racing to be found during the course of this monthly 72 lap endurance race. With only 9 karts on the 1/2 mile GP track there was plenty of real estate and groups of two or three karts found themselves within striking distance of each other and until one kart broke off to do the mandatory 20 second pit stop it was nose to tail or side to side lap after lap. That's the way it was for one two pack of Team Titanium & Peter Liwanag. With Charles Crowe taking the first stint for Team Titanium, Crowe and Liwanag spent the first 36 laps, inches from each other and battling for 3rd place position.
Liwanag peeled off first to do his pit stop which left him now behind Team Titanium. Next Crowe brought the Team Titanium kart to the pits for the only team to do a driver change and with Steve Lattanzi now in the kart and waiting for the 20 second clock to run out they knew that coming out of the pit was going to put Liwanag back into the racing for position crosshairs of Team Titanium. Low and behold there he was and the fight for position was on. Even though Liwanag put up a good fight Lattanzi not only gave him a love tap as he went by but was able to steadily pull away for the remainder of the race.
This was a bit of a feat as a critical component within the braking system failed and Lattanzi spent the last 12 laps or so with his left foot tucked up behind the brake pedal to keep the kart from slowing down and the brake pedal from flopping forward rendering it as useless as trying to eat an apple with no teeth. Driving a kart with no brake potential and a left foot cramping up is a lesson in prayer and patience with a bit of pain management thrown in for good measure. This was an unusual situation. The Sodi karts have been incredibly reliable from day one of purchase and the top shelf mechanics at F1 keep it that way. Thanks Pat, Josh and now Matt. I wouldn't trade my job with you for all the tea in China. Too many parts and too much to know and remember. Thanks again.
Bill Hunter, Josh Walker, Matthew L and John Pappagallo also gave the spectators something to cheer for as they stayed pretty close to each other for most of the race. And the dreaded Black Flag was not displayed at all this day. Now for the results....finally!
Finish Order: Tony Rolfson...Keith Sears... John Ahrens...Team Titanium (Charles Crowe & Steve Lattanzi)...Peter Liwanag...John Pappagallo...Matthew Lamanilao...Bill Hunter...Josh Walker
Even though it was a small showing the select few had a great race and added points to the quest to be the best. See all and more of you for the next 1 hour AZIKC race on Sat Sept 25th. Check in between 9/9:30 with qualifying to commence approx. 10am. Points update soon.
Thanks, Steve "Kandyman"
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