While our Briggs racers are on the east coast this weekend, a number of our Rok Cup competitors are on the west coast this weekend for the second stop of the Challenge of the Americas.
Tackling the Phoenix Kart Racing Association circuit just north of the city in Arizona, more than 115 rokkers will take to the track this weekend.
After an exciting season opener last month in Tucson, the championship battles heat up as the series crosses the mid-point of the 6-race championship in Phoenix.
Covering around 10% of the entries this weekend are Canadian drivers, which is a little smaller than we’re used to at the Challenge, but nonetheless, still a dedicated and competitive group.
Canadian race team BBR Karting is trackside with three drivers this winter, led by Ian Qiu and Ziming Wang, both competing in the 100cc Senior division this weekend. They are joined by Mateo Pai in Mini Rok, a new racer to the international scene with BBR.
Another Canadian outfit, Vemme Kart, is also in attendance. They too have a pair of drivers in the 100cc Senior class, Savannah Kallis and Cyrus Pischke.
The very busy KartPlex/Race Lab team has a solid group of racers this weekend too. Connor Riley and Darryen Hliwa are joined by Canada Final Senior Max champion Kevin Foster in the 100cc Senior division while Gabriel Balog is looking for a win in Mini Rok.
Competing under the Ruthless Karting banner this weekend is a pair of Canucks, Sterling Mackenzie in 100cc Junior and Matthew Taskinen in Rok Shifter. Taskinen has jumped into the kart that Joey Guyon raced at round one, but was unable to attend round two, opting to give the chance to a driver who is accustomed to only two gears in his Rotax DD2 machine.
Finally, Luca Popescu came very close to victory at round one in Tucson and he’s back for more in Mini Rok this weekend. He’s back with Nash Motorsports, a team operating out of California, for the weekend.
Drivers will get two full race days this weekend to score points and push toward their championship ambitions.
Want to listen in to the trackside call this weekend? Head over to eKartingNews.com on Saturday and Sunday to follow their live audio stream.
