It was a packed house for the Forward Direction Motorsports Race Team as 11 drivers fielded 15 karts across 8 categories at the 3rd round of Colorado Karting Tour, hosted at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, CO. The temporary circuit proved challenging as limited practice on Saturday forced drivers and mechanics alike to learn and develop quickly.
In the Rotax Junior category, the day belonged to Alex McPherson-Wiman. Alex set fast time in qualifying to start the pre-final from pole position. Keeping him honest all weekend was teammate Enzo Swan, who qualified only 0.029 off to lock out the front row for FDM. Mcpherson would go on to win the prefinal only to receive a one position penalty for the rear bumper, handing the heat win to David Williams. In the final, McPherson had a great drive aboard his COMPKART Covert 4R to take the victory. Unfortunately Enzo was plagued with gremlins, and was unable to finish the final after charging up to second place in the opening laps of the race. Team newcomer Alexander Gevorkyan improved significantly on the day, advancing from 5th to 3rd in the final, setting second quick time before a mechanical failure ended his day.
The KA100 Senior division was dominated all day by Baden Dunn. Dunn secured pole position, the heat race win, and main event win for the perfect hat trick. Teammate Adam Ambraziunas had a great drive to second in the final, before a penalty for clipping a cone would relegate him to the third position. Antonio Williams came home in 5th for FDM placing 3 of our drivers in the top 5.
Briggs 206 Light belonged to Duncan Warnke aboard his Covert 4R chassis. Duncan qualified pole position out of 29 drivers and led wire to wire in the heat race. Baden Dunn was a close 3rd in the heat, and secured quick lap of the race. Rain and lightening delayed and later cancelled the main event, giving the victory to Duncan Warnke for his heat race win. Adam Ambraziunas came home 7th, and Antonio Williams finished 22nd.
Rhys Bowman pulled double duty racing both Jr.1 Briggs and Rotax Micro Max. It was a hard fought battle in the 10 kart strong Briggs Jr.1 field, and Rhys would have a career best second place finish in his first year of cadet competition. In Rotax Micro, the COMPKART Ranger 28 was on rails, propelling Rhys to pole position by 1.1 seconds. An unfortunate last lap incident in the pre-main left Rhys sidelined, and with his final cancelled due to weather he was unable to reach the top spot.
Nathan Martin decided to use this weekend as a development weekend, choosing to skip competing in KA100 and instead focus on testing in Rotax Senior for the upcoming US Rotax Grandnationals. Martin adapted quickly to the Rotax platform and swept the day’s activities.
In ROK Shifter, FDM’s lone entrant was Luis Mendez. Mendez pushed hard all weekend and qualified 2nd in class, 3rd overall. After a botched start in the pre-final, Luis recovered to a second place finish. In the final, not to repeat the heat race, Luis rocketed to a holeshot off the line. Unfortunately the final was cut short to 3 laps due to adverse weather, with Luis slipping to second in class and third overall.
In LO206 heavy, karting newcomer Antonio Williams set fast lap in qualifying, only to receive a penalty for clipping a cone which removed his fastest lap relegating him to second place. Williams dug deep, and controlled the rest of the event, winning the main event by 2.5 seconds. New to FDM was Andrew Wiggin, who stayed focused and improved dramatically over the weekend, coming home 4th in the main event.
A massive thank you to our drivers, parents, and mechanics. Our team data engineer Charlie Craig had everyone dialed in all weekend. Our chassis partner COMPKART provided us with the equipment needed to secure victories across multiple categories. A special thanks as well to Tru Tech Racing Engines for providing our KA100 power plants, and to FDM for the power in Rotax competition.
For more information on Forward Direction Motorsports, COMPKART chassis, Rotax engines, and to join our winning team please contact Greg Welch at greg@fdmkarting.com or 720-323-3650.
All photos credit Karen Martin, and Rhys Racing.