P1 ENGINES STARTS PRO KART CHALLENGE SEASON OFF ON TOP
February 15, 2012 - Already a victor in the eastern half of the United States in the 2012 season, P1 Engines would look to do the same out in California. Competing at the SuperKarts! USA (SKUSA) Pro Kart Challenge event at Buttonwillow Raceway in Bakersfield, California, P1 Engines dominated the TaG Senior class by taking the pole position, heat race wins and main event victory with two separate competitors.
“This is a great way to start the season,” expressed P1 Engines Jesus Vasquez. “We were able to take home the TaG 1 win in the 2012 World Karting Association opener and now to stand on the top of the podium at the Pro Kart Challenge shows our dominance in the TaG class.”
With a 25 kart strong field of TaG Senior drivers, it was P1 Engines powered Camden Giese that took the pole position on his Parilla Leopard powered kart. With a blistering lap that put him more than three tenths up on his competition, Giese looked as if he was going to be the man to beat. Finishing both heats in the third position and leading the final at one point, Giese would eventually claim the second position behind another P1 powered driver.
When the wheel-to-wheel action began to take place, one driver rose to the top as he has on many occasions in the past. Vortex Rok TT powered Matt Johnson proved that he has the equipment to win as he dominated the racing action. After qualifying in the fifth position, Johnson went on to claim both heat race wins and the main event victory to solidify a great start to the 2012 racing season.
Austin Elliott would be another P1 powered entry in the TaG Senior class and started his day off right by turning the fourth quickest lap in qualifying. Disaster would strike in the heat races, as the young driver would fail to post a good result due to contact. Starting the main event from the tail of the field, Elliott utilized his P1 prepared Parilla Leopard and had a spirited drive up to the eighth position.
Showing their strength in a majority of classes, P1 Engines would have drivers in both the TaG Masters and TaG Cadet division. Masters pilot Paul Bonilla would qualify second and hold station in the main to claim a podium result aboard his Vortex Rok TT.
Hunter Corbitt and Braden Waterman would both be near the front of the TaG Cadet division. Corbitt was consistently seen in the top three throughout the day until contact in the final ruined any chances of a podium result. Waterman would see his results through the heats just inside the top five and a great drive in the main event netted him a solid fifth place result.
Showing their true diversity, P1 Engines powered drivers entered the Los Angeles Karting Club (LAKC) 2012 season opener scoring ten top five results. Taking home the prefinal and main event victory in the KPV 2 class was P1 Engines powered driver Nick Ramirez after qualifying in the second position. In the PRD Junior category it was Nathan Seegrist who swept the day’s action taking the pole position, prefinal win and the podium top step in the final after dominating the day. Fellow PRD Junior driver Skylar Estrada would claim second in qualifying and in the heat race but would fall to fourth in the main event.
Scoring another pole position for P1 Engines was Ethan Barrett who scored the top time in the KPV1 class while fellow P1 powered driver Dante Yu scored an impressive second place podium result in the main event.
After qualifying in the second position, Maya Guiterrez led the PRD Senior Pro race until the very final circuit before falling to the second position. Californian pilot Matt Johnson showed his true racing grit coming from 25th in the field to sixth in just five laps.
For more information on P1 Engines or to book one of their national level engines for testing or event weekend use, please visit them online at http://www.P1Engines.com or contact P1 owner Jesus Vasquez at 951.662.3464 or via e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Also, to follow up-to-date results and information on P1 Engines, become a fan of the “P1 Engines Fan Page” on Facebook.
