Velocity Karting

F100 Round 2 Race Report

 

Saturday night was the first night race of the season and Velocity had a really good showing.  The fields were large as always so wins are never easy with F100.  Velocity had 6 drivers racing in 3 different classes 4 of which were in the Cadet class.  Velocity is undefeated in the Cadet class in F100 going back 2 seasons.  This night would be no different.

 

With reigning Champion Hayden Huelsman in the field of cadets, all the drivers knew they had their hands full winning the race.  Huelsman also calls Adams his home track and won both races there last season.  Akhil Bhakta would throw down the gauntlet early as he would grab the Pole with a 51.839 over a second faster than Huelsman who ran a 52.954 and Bela Richard who ran a 52.969.  Into the Heat race, Bhakta was forced to the rear of the field due to an equipment change.  This gave Huelsman the Pole.  Huelsman would pick up the pace in the Heat race and lead every lap and improved his time to 52.442.  Bhakta would battle from the rear to finish 2nd with Richard rounding out the top three.  As the flag dropped for the Main Huelsman jumped to the lead through corner one.  He would pull out to a sizable lead by the midway point of the race with Bhakta in 2nd and Richard in 3rd.  Heading into the corner 14, Richard would loop the kart and fall to the rear of the field.  Velocity's Brett Revetta would take advantage of that and move into 3rd place.  The second half of the race was all Bhakta.  His kart would come in and he would lay down the fast lap at 51.653 a half second ahead of Huelsman.  As the laps ticked away Bhakta would cut into Huelsmans lead.  When the white flag would fly Huelsman would only be a kart length in front.  Bhakta would do all he could do but to no avail as Huelsman would take the win.  Bhakta would take 2nd with Revetta rounding out the podium and a sweep for Velocity.  With the win, Huelsman would be the 4th Velocity cadet to win this season.



In the Masters Division Stephen Huelsman was the sole Velocity driver and would have to manage a field 19 drivers deep.  Hueslman won this race last season so hopes were high for him.  In qualifying he would grab the 4th spot with a 48.980 but that was 7/10ths off the Pole Sitter Stu Hayner who ran a 48.243.  As the Heat began, Huelsman would find a good push on the outside as the green flew and move his way into 3rd place.  Although slightly slower than the Top 2 drivers, Huelsman was in what appeared to be a great position going into the Main.  However, you never know what is going to happen in racing and with two laps to go, Huelsman would make a mistake and drop two tires off the track.  This could have led to a crash, but Huelsman kept his composure, held the steering wheel straight and found his way back on the track only giving up two positions in the process.  He would finish the Heat in 5th.  Going to the Main, although sitting 5th, Huelsman thought he could still win the race or at least find the Podium.  Unfortunately it didn't work out.  The green would fly and Huelsman would slot into 5th place.  He would battle for 4th throughout the 1st half of the Main before finally making the pass.  Once he did, he put his head down chasing the leaders who by now were 10 kart lengths in front.  He would cut the lead to about 5 kart lengths but would run out of laps.  He would have to settle for 4th and turn his attention to next months race. 

Probably the most exciting Velocity drive of the day was with Bryan Parji.  Coming off a major crash a week earlier, Parji was in a back up kart provided by the team.  This was a nice Italkart, but a kart that he had never driven.  Practice, Qualifying and the Heat race all went poorly for Parji and he find himself starting the Main in 15th.  As the flag dropped, Parji finally found the handle for the kart and started to make moves.  In the first 3 laps, Parji would move to 12th position where he would stay unitl lap 5.  Over the remaining 9 laps he would gain a position a lap with the exception of two laps where he stayed in his spot.  This would take him from starting 15th to finishing 7th.  By races end, the entire Velocity Team was in the pits cheering him on as we got a chance to watch him bloom as a driver.  Later this month he gets his first shot at Grange.  One of the fastest tracks we race and a chance for him to put the club on notice that he is a contender now.  We look forward to seeing him do just that.

Velocity Karting was competitive in every class we race on this night.  The team work and dedication shown by each driver is starting to pay dividends.  F100 is the club that we want to dominate and although we aren't dominating every class yet, we are getting close.  Grange is in 3 weeks and we expect to win a minimum of two class on that day.