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FYI
01-18-04

TEAM USA PREPARES FOR ROTAX MAX WORLD FINALS IN EGYPT

Palm Springs, California — Team USA - four of America’s most talented young race drivers - is in final preparations for the Rotax Max World Finals, an international karting championship that draws competitors from more than 35 countries. This year’s Rotax Max World Finals is being held at Ghibli Raceway in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, January 20-21, 2004.

Managing the team will be SSC Racing of Palm Springs, Calif., the U.S. importer for Rotax karting products.

Team USA members include Jordon Musser, 22, of College Station, Texas; Juan Sanso, 19, of Costa Rica; Nathaniel Mauel, 19, of Broken Arrow, Okla.; and Justin Melton, 16, of Flower Mound, Texas. The members were selected by virtue of on-track performances at the recent U.S. Rotax Max Grandnationals. Musser, Sanso and Mauel finished one-two-three in the Rotax International class, while Melton captured the Junior class.

For Musser, a mechanical engineering student at Texas A&M, this is his second trip to the Rotax Max World Finals, as he represented the U.S. last year in South Africa.

Organized in 1997 by the Rotax Kart Center (a division of the Austrian industrial giant Bombardier Ltd.), Rotax Max is the fastest growing kart racing class in the world and is now organized as a national competition in more than 30 countries.

At the moment, the Rotax Max Class is the fastest growing hobby race class in many countries and is already the largest in Australia and Austria. Within this year, it will be in France and England, as well. Celebrating its fourth year, the Rotax Max World Finals were previously held in South Africa, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico.

The Rotax Max class uses the Rotax FR-125 Max (FR-125 Junior for the Junior Max Challenge) engine with no modifications allowed. Moreover, engines are sealed by Rotax to block any modifications. The chassis types are also sanctioned by Rotax, and “spec” Bridgestone tires are used. The emphasis is on driver skill, not team finances.

The Rotax World Finals opens with practice on Wednesday, January 21; additional practice and official timed qualifying happen on Thursday, January 22, and preliminary race heats begin Friday, January 23, and class pre-final and finals occur on Saturday, January 24.
Rotax is a division of Bombardier Ltd., best known for Ski-Do snowmobiles, Sea-Do Watercraft, ATVs, etc. Rotax provides powerplants for Bombardier used in land, sea and air. In 1996, Rotax established a department whose responsibility was to research the international race kart market.

SSC Racing (Karbz, Inc.) of Palm Springs, is the exclusive Rotax kart engine product importer and distributor for the United States, Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela. SSC Racing has incorporated the Rotax Max Challenge as a division and has established a network of Max Challenge Centers across America.

For more information on the Rotax Max World Finals, visit www.maxchallenge.com and www.ghibliraceway.com.

DAVID JURCA TOPS RETURN OF SKI DRIVER RANKINGS
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada — Federal Way, WA’s David Jurca has taken over the #1 ranking in North American shifterkart racing, according to the recently re-established Shifter Kart Illustrated (SKI) Driver Rankings. Jurca runs for Michael Valiante’s Italian Motors team in the top-level 125cc shifter category and stormed through the 2003 season, winning three of the nine events in which he competed. Jurca focused on both Superkarts! USA and Stars of Tomorrow competition in ’03, continuing an amazing run of top five finishes that began at the 202 SKUSA SuperNationals, where he won the ProIC class over a stacked field of the sport’s best drivers. Jurca did not finish out of the top five all year. Coming off his SuperNats triumph, Jurca picked up SKUSA ProMoto Tour victories at Sears Point, Texas and Pat’s Acres, winning the Western Championship in the process.

The SKI Driver Rankings returned to the pages of the shifterkart publication in the new January 2004 issue after significant feedback requesting its revival. The program is designed to bring all of the sport’s karting organizations together to determine the true leaders in the sport, regardless of affiliation. National events from Superkarts! USA, the Stars of Tomorrow, the World Karting Association and the International Kart Federation are all counted towards the final point totals. A driver’s top seven results over the past 12 months are used to determine their overall point position. Extra weight is given for the size of the field and the strength of the competition.

Manteca, CA’s Alex Speed and San Jose, CA’s Ron White currently sit second and third on the ranking list. The top 100 drivers in the ranking program can be found – with their point totals – on the SKI website – www.shifterkartmag.com.

MEMO GIDLEY'S SECRETS OF SPEED GOES TWO-CYCLE RACING.
Burlington, Ontario, Canada — Memo Gidley, accomplished open wheel race car driver and shifter kart champion has again joined forces with author/publisher Jeff Grist to produce a new title under the Memo Gidley's Secrets of Speed banner. Memo Gidley's Secrets of Speed for Two Cycle Racing will focus on two-cycle karting and use the unique format and style created in the first book.

"The first book that Jeff and I put together was very different than anything else ever produced for karting," states Gidley. "This new book on two-cycle racing is a great follow-up to the book on shifter kart racing," continues Gidley from his annual karting clinic in Hawaii. "Every where I go I am amazed at the response to the book."

The success of Secrets of Speed for Shifter Kart Racing is proof positive that there is a strong appetite for more information and insight into the mechanics and dynamics of karting. Feeding that pent up demand is the single-minded focus for both Gidley and Grist.

"This new book will build on the incredible success of Secrets of Speed for Shifter Kart Racing, putting a two-cycle spin on many of the popular chapters and adding new information directed to the new comer to two-cycle racing," states Jeff Grist, co-author and publisher of Memo Gidley's Secrets of Speed for Shifter Kart Racing. "We have had an enormous number of requests from karters in other disciplines to do for them what we did for shifter karts."

The overall presentation of Memo Gidley's Secrets of Speed for Two-Cycle Racing will utilize the same unique format as the Shifter Kart Racing book, including the extremely popular Hot Tips, Cool Tricks and Warnings sections in each chapter that detail the little things that can be the difference between just finishing and winning. Also, like the current book, each new title will have a unique ID number that allows the reader to register their copy and download charts and diagrams.

This latest edition to the Secrets of Speed series will focus on all aspects of two-cycle racing including formats such as ICA, KT100, HPV and Rotax. The new book will include the very popular driving line chapter with a new chapter on racing principals such as qualifying, starting, passing and defending. Also, this book will take an in depth look at both direct drive and clutch drive formats.

"100cc two-cycle karting is where I got my start," smiles Gidley. "It has been a blast getting back into a direct drive KT100 and also working on clutch drive karting as well."

The MG Secrets of Speed for Two-Cycle Racing will be officially released at Kart Expo 2004 being held at the Pheasant Run Convention Center outside of Chicago Illinois on February 21st and 22nd, 2004. The Secrets of Speed team will be on hand to talk about both the books and can be found at Booth #704/706. Race fans can get up close with Memo at two autograph sessions scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 PM at the Secrets of Speed Booth and Sunday at 11:00am at the Design 500 Booth.

"We are very excited that Memo and Jeff have chosen Kart Expo to release their new book to the North American karting community," states Daryl Sitarz, Expo Director. We believe that books like Memo Gidley's Secrets of Speed are good for karting and good for the karting industry.

Karting enthusiasts will be able to place advanced orders starting on January 16th, 2004. The first 250 orders will receive a signed and numbered Limited Edition copy on a first come basis. All advanced orders will begin mailing in late February 2004. Memo Gidley's Secrets of Speed for Two-Cycle Racing will retail for $24.95 USD plus shipping and handling.

For more information on Memo Gidley's Speed Secrets for Shifter Kart Racing visit the website at www.mgsecretsofspeed.com call Jeff Grist at 905.328.7458 or email at jeff@mgsecretsofspeed.com.
Memo Gidley is an accomplished racecar driver having competed in CART, including a podium finishes at Houston, Laguna Seca and Cleveland. Memo is one of America's most successful shifter kart racers with 2 championships to his credit. Memo is currently the lead test driver for Trackmagic. For more information on Memo Gidley visit www.memogidley.com or contact Donnie Graves at Pacific Management Services at 818.985.4377.

Jeff Grist is shifter kart enthusiast and first time author. Mr. Grist has put his 15 years of brand marketing and corporate communications experience into this new project. Currently, Jeff is President and CEO of PromoSpyder Inc., and Oakville, ON based Internet software development company he founded in 2000. For more information on this book please contact Mr. Grist by email at jeff@tap.net or call at 905.328.7458.

Trackmagic is North Americas leading manufacturer of go-karts and 3-time world champion. This includes the new line of MG Signature Series shifter karts. Located in San Francisco, CA, Trackmagic designs, builds and markets go-karts for all levels of racer from cadet to Super Pro. For more information on Trackmagic Karts visit them at www.trackmagic.com or call Matt Page at 415-822-6795.

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