The World Karting Association Manufacturer’s Cup Series
rolled into Michiana Raceway Park this past weekend with an astounding 537
entries, but it was Birel drivers that rolled to the most wins and an even
bigger gap in the WKA Constructor’s Championship.
Leading the way was young Canadian, Grant Quinlan, scoring
four out of five victories for the MRP/BirelAmerica.com team. Also scoring wins
was veteran senior driver, Ryan Stewart, top junior racer, James Bennett and
rookie drivers, David Ilavia and Harry Coulton.
“It was a great weekend even though we may not have gotten
all of the results we thought we were capable of this weekend,” said Chris
Lobaugh, Engineer of MRP-Birel America. “It was a good showing for all of our
Birel chassis models though and for the drivers seeking their first WKA
National title.”
Birel drivers combined for ten Pole Awards with Bennett,
Mike McAndrews, Tristan VanWeirengen, Quinlan and Coulton all picking up poles
on Saturday and Stewart, Jesus Rios, Jr., Austin Osborne taking their first
poles on Sunday while Bennett and Coulton picked up their second of the
weekend.
Saturday’s action was fierce as Birel drivers combined for
four wins and seventeen podiums. Starting the day was Ryan Stewart and James
Brock taking 2nd and 3rd in the Yamaha SuperCan Lite
final. Grant Quinlan would score Birel’s first Final win of the day, however,
in the next race, Cadet 1, followed by David Malukas in 3rd. James
Bennett would win next in the Komet Jr. Heavy class with Gresham Wagner taking
the last spot on the podium. Quinlan would get his second win of the day in the
Yamaha Sportsman Heavy final while Osborne, McAndrews and Jeff Myers, Jr. put
in strong 2nd, 3rd and 4th place results
together for the Yamaha Jr. Lite final. Rookie 1 was an all Birel sweep with
Ilavia, Coulton and Ben Varner sweeping the podium. Komet Heavy had Patrick
Olsen and James Brock go 2nd and 4th in the final and the
final race of the day, Komet Sportsman, had two more podium finishes with
Quinlan and VanWeirengen placing 3rd and 5th.
Sunday continued the success Birel drivers had with four
more wins starting with a pole, pre-final and final sweep by Stewart in
Supercan Heavy. Quinlan would follow-up with the Cadet 2 final followed by
local driver, William Wolfrom, who advanced from 17th to take 4th
place, setting the fastest race lap in the process. Jesus Rios, Jr. took his
Rotax-powered Birel RY30 to pole position but couldn’t hang on to the lead
against the more powerful engines in the TaG class, but maintained his 2nd
place position at the end of the race. Dominique VanWeirengen scored an
impressive 3rd place in Komet Jr. Lite and in Rookie 2, Birels took
5 of the top 6 positions with Coulton, Tommy Burke, Jack Miller, Jr. and Varner
all sweeping the top four positions. Finally, Quinlan scored his fourth win of
the weekend in the Sportsman Heavy class. For Sunday, Birel drivers combined
for four more wins and 11 more podiums.
“We want to congratulate all the drivers and teams for
their success this past weekend,” continued Lobaugh. “We also have to thank
Birel for providing us with chassis that work so effectively in varying
conditions and classes. We were well represented in all categories.”
For more information regarding MRP Motorsport,
Birel or the MRP-BirelAmerica.com race program, call (269-756-9133) or contact
us online at www.mrpmotorsport.com.
Information regarding the Birel chassis line may be found at www.BirelAmerica.com.
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