Rotax Grand Finals 2013: First heats on Thursday morning

The weather was overcast on Thursday morning at Nola Motorsports Park for the first heats of the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in 2013, but the wind had calmed down and the temperatures rose to around 15 ° C . As might be expected, the races were very lively and the first heats were rarely free from clashes that often upset the rankings in the pack. The differences in performances widened. For example, DD2 Masters was the most significant: the leaders can gain a lap on the slower drivers just after the halfway point. The protections placed on the kerbs were repositioned aptly.

Junior: Vips and Kingsley

Jüri Vips (EST) won the first heat A / B after Kyle Kirkwood (USA) dominated the race beginning. Josh Price (GBR) retired after the first lap and Max Hofer (AUT) finished third ahead of Thomas Issa (JAM). It was a beautiful race for Bastien Leguay (FRA), eighth on the line.

Jeffrey Kingsley (CAN) took the lead on the final lap in heat C / D against Brett Ward (GBR) who was leading in mid-race. Sena Sakaguchi (JAP), while third went back to Luke Selliken (USA) who had lost ground down to seventh position.

Senior: Brand and Morin

Kyle Fowlie (GBR) got the better of Carlos Gil (ESP) and Aavo Talvar (EST) in heat A / B, but Edward Brand (GBR) returned in to leading group and beat everyone at the finish. Gil was second and Fowlie third. Pierce Lehane (AUS) came up from 9th to 5th place, Aavo finished seventh.

Philip Morin (SWE) moved up from 4th place to fight for victory in heat B / C against Oliver Hodgson (GBR) and Petr Bezel (CZE) took third place ahead of Zachary Claman Demelo (USA) and Charlie Eastwood (IRL).

DD2 Masters: Rudolph and Morgado

There was a fight in heat 4, A / B between Alan Rudolph (USA), the winner, Tiago Ribeiro (POR) second, Michael Dauphin (FRA) 3rd and Mike Jones (USA) 4th who had lost touch with the leading group at the end. Note the surprise retirement for Martin Pierce (IRL) after just two laps.

It was a clear victory for Cristiano Morgado (RSA) in heat C / D by 7” ahead of Christophe Adams (FRA), who first defeated Fernando Guzzi (BRA) then Shintaro Tomomura (JPN) who was in third at the end. Morgan Hipp (FRA) was happy with fifth after starting ninth.

DD2: Cooper and De Ruwe

Ben Cooper (CAN) finished ahead of Daniel Formal (USA) in heat A / B, while Simon Wagner (AUT) took third position after a few laps. Alexandre Finkelstein (FRA) dropped to 30th and Sean Babington did not participate in the race.

In heat C / D, the duel was between Xen De Ruwe (BEL) and Pier-Luc Ouellette (CAN) which was settled in favour of the Belgian by 0.169 seconds at the finish line. In third position, Shaun Slavin (GBR) stayed close to the leaders. There was an early retirement on the 7th lap for Fernec Kanscar (HUN).

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