GoPro Challenge GP Winter Series – Week 4 Recap

[vc_row row_type=”row” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]Article written by Daniel Demaras www.demaras.com[/vc_column_text][vc_separator type=”normal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_column_text]

4 Weeks of Racing…4 Different Winners.  The Race for the Checkered Flag Begins!

  The penultimate round of the GoPro Challenge GP had strong performances and surprising results from the committed racers competing for the title.   In Group 3, Rafael Roschel summoned his inner Ferrari and put it on pole. Despite Roschel’s firm but fair defending, Alexander Chong could not be stopped! Chong took the lead after a back and forth battle, gapping the field to the checkered flag. Igor Tkachuk leaped up to 3^rd from 5^th on the grid while John Blackwood slid back one spot to 4^th. Justin Philips moved up to 5^th while Adam Sawicki’s strong qualifying only translated into a 6^th place result, and Tobiah Adam was steady in 7^th.   In Group 2, the electrical gremlins caused issues with karts, and the race had to be re-run. Despite this,  nothing was going to stop Marcello-Christian Nalli from taking victory away from pole-sitter Victor Zdanski, who had to settle for 2^nd place. The highlight of the race was Adrian Abeijon’s charge from last on the grid to a 3^rd place finish, demoting Marcello Mariani to 4^th and Terry Muller to 5^th. Fabio Oliviera and Patrice James swapped positions to finish in 6^th and 7^th respectively, and Nicholas Barnsdale slid back to 8^th place despite starting mid-pack.   Alessio Alves started from pole position, but was beaten by the superior speed of Kevin Lazarus, who set the week’s fastest time at 22:205 seconds on route to victory. Alves dropped to 3^rd place before making his way past Daniel Demaras to take back 2^nd. An Impressive Scenic Gopi kept his title hopes alive by finishing 4^th despite starting last. Ivano Di Vittorio and Rocco Crimeni finished as they qualified in 5^th and 6^th positions. The big surprise of qualifying was Chris Demaras, who started the tournament racing in Group 3, then Group 2, finally moved up to fight the big dogs in Group 1. Chris made an aggressive pass to take 7^th place, while Muzzammil Qureshi dropped from 3^rd in qualifying to an 8^th place finish due to mechanical issues.   Kevin Lazarus joins Ivano Di Vittorio, Alessio Alves and Daniel Demaras as the fourth different overall round winner. The unique points system has kept the competition extremely close, rewarding consistency as much as top finishes. Going into the final round, first place through fifth place are separated by only 10 points. Demaras holds a 4 point lead over Alves who is 2 points ahead of Di Vittorio, who’s also 2 points ahead of Gopi with Lazarus a further 2 points back. Everything will come down to the final, thrilling round of the GoPro Challenge GP on Thursday, March 12^th at K1 Speed Toronto.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_separator type=”normal”][vc_column_text]Daniel Demaras is a 16-year-old karting enthusiast who shares his passion for karting on both the outdoor and indoor tracks, including K1 Speed. Daniel races for Professional Racing Ontario.  Learn more about Daniel on his website www.demaras.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]