07/6/05
FIRSTKART.COM SCORES SEVEN PODIUMS AT STARS IN JACKSONVILLE
“Zach Schiff reaches podium in four separate races!”
Guelph, Ontario, Canada — The First Kart North America squad scored several podium results this past weekend at the third round of the Stars of Karting Championship presented by the Indy Racing League. The event was held at the 103rd Street Motorsports Complex in Jacksonville, FL. With ten First Kart pilots in the paddock the FirstKart.com race team scored seven podium results along with a race wins in the 80cc Junior and JICA classes.
Leading the charge once again were the junior drivers in both the Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) and 80cc Junior classes. On Saturday, Zach Schiff claimed the checkers of the first JICA final with Gustavo Yacaman coming home in second. A post race penalty was given to Schiff moving Yacaman to the top of the charts while sliding Schiff back to second for a one two finish. On Sunday, both drivers returned to the podium again as Schiff was able to claim second in the final after a pre-final victory and Yacaman came home in 3rd. Yacaman has four podium finishes in the past four events and is looking to be a real threat towards the overall series crown.
Schiff did double duty this weekend as he also competed in the 80cc Junior class scoring another two podiums including a victory on Sunday. Schiff currently leads the East points chase as he looks to keep his fellow competitors at bay. David Carmendy had his strongest result of the year scoring a second place finish in Sunday’s final after failing to complete Saturday’s race. With this result, Carmendy will leap up the point standings. Young David Ostella scored a fourth place finish on Saturday but was unsatisfied with the result as he felt he was fast enough to win the event. Ostella came out of the box quick Sunday morning claiming the pole which was his first ever on the National tour. After some hard luck in the pre-final, Ostella was progressively moving forward looking for a top five result when he was taken out of competition by another competitor. A heart breaking moment for the young Canadian, but he will be back as he looks to claim his first National victory.
Daniel Morad was the highest placing FirstKart.com ICC driver as he came home 5th in Saturday’s action but was unable to reach the checkers in Sunday’s final and was placed 34th overall. Nick Maddison continued his steady improvement as he scored a 16th and 14th place finishes while Rene Silva was fast at times but could only manage a 23rd and 26th place result. Silva, Morad and Ostella will be back on track this weekend at the fourth round of the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship in Hamilton, Ontario.
Making his ICA debut was Floridian Chris Friel. Friel joined the squad early last month and in his first final came home in the 9th position battling with some of the sport’s finest. Friel ran into some tough luck on Sunday and was unable to take the green flag and was classified in the 26th position.
For more information, logon to www.firstkart.com.
