05-24-05

FIRSTKART.COM SCORES VICTORIES AND PODIUMS IN STARS NEW CASTLE - “Strong weekend for Canadian based squad”

Guelph, Ontario, Canada — Under sunny skies in New Castle, IN the FirstKart.com race team scored two feature wins and several podiums in the second round of the Stars of Karting (SoK) East championship.

A strong field of ICC drivers were on hand and Daniel Morad was at the front to mix it up with the best that North America has to offer. The talented young Canadian secured 8th and 5th place results in his quest to get back on track towards the series title. Also, competing in the ICC division were Canadian pilots Nick Maddison and Rene Silva. Both drivers struggled through Friday’s practice sessions but were able to pick up the pace on the weekend race days. Maddison was able to garner 17th and 19th finishes while Silva scored a 24th and 20th place results.

80cc Junior drivers were able to mount a charge and provide the best results for the FirstKart.com race team this weekend. Scoring double victories and a pole position was Ohio pilot Zach Schiff (shown in photo). The 15-year-old was on pace all weekend walking away form the field on Saturday and made a last corner pass on Sunday to score the victory and become the only double winner of the weekend. Lucas Smith had an outstanding weekend as well. The Canadian proved to be very fast in practice and backed up his times in the race. Smith was able to score a 2nd on Saturday and came from 11th on the grid to finish 4th on Sunday. David Ostella and Dave Carmendy also ran strong all weekend long as at one point the FirstKart.com race team occupied four of the first 6 positions. However, motor related problems for both drivers dropped them down the running order as Ostella finish 19th and 7th and Carmendy was 11th and 13th. Both drivers will be back on-track in the coming weeks and will look to be back at the front.

Five time Colombian National Champion Gustavo Yacaman was fast in his JICA machine as he was able to secure a 2nd and 6th in the feature races. Yacaman drove with precision and accuracy as he was forced to come through the field on several occasions. Zach Schiff was the only FirstKart.com pilot to pull double duty this weekend as he competed in the 80cc Junior and JICA classes. Schiff proved to be very fast all weekend as he ran inside the top five on several occasions. Some bad luck for the first time JICA competitor as Schiff was on his head twice. Unhurt in both occasions, Schiff came back and won his 80cc Junior races both days.

Members of the FirstKart.com race team will be back on track this weekend at the second round of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship at 3S Go-Karts in Sutton, Ontario.