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Lorenzo caps Stars of Karting season with impressive victory |
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Thursday, 28 September 2006 |
 Canadian kart racer Lorenzo Mandarino ended his 2006 Stars of Karting season on a high-note last weekend when he scored an impressive victory in the headline ICC class at the series’ National Finals at the Woodbine Racetrack & Casino temporary circuit in Toronto, ON. The Burnaby, BC resident capped off an up-and-down season with a victory in the main event, his first Stars win on home soil.
The KLS Racing team driver began the weekend as the man to beat early on in his George Barks TM-powered GP, as he was the only driver to record a lap time under the 43-second barrier in the two timed sessions at the end of Friday’s practice day. On Saturday morning, a rain-shower swept through the Toronto area, putting the drivers on rain tires for the morning warm-up sessions. As the track dried out and the sun returned, the track got quicker and quicker leading up to ICC qualifying. When the fast ICC group hit the track, times dropped a full second for some drivers. Mandarino came in fifth quickest, four-tenths off the fast lap.
 Canadian Lorenzo Mandarino scored a huge ICC victory in Toronto at the Stars of Karting National Finals (Photo: Super Kart Illustrated) The format for the weekend would see three heat races, with each driver taking points from each moto. The line-up for the Final would be set with the driver posting the least amount of points to start from the pole position. In the first two heats, Mandarino finished fourth, before moving up to third in the final heat on Sunday morning. This consistency put him third on the starting grid for the main event, taking the inside position on the second row.
At the drop of the green for the Final, Lorenzo got a great jump but had to settle in behind the lead duo heading into turn one. Just before the halfway mark, Mandarino was able to slip into second as the front two battled. With the laps winding down, he closely studied the moves of leader David Jurca and made his attempt as they headed into turn 10 when Jurca left the door open. The two touched as they were sidepod-to-sidepod at the entry. With Mandarino controlling on the inside, he was able to motor out of the corner more quickly and assumed the top spot. Lorenzo made no mistakes over the final few circuits and went on to take his first win of the year.
In the past year, Mandarino has won two of the four biggest events on the ICC calendar, also scoring the big trophy at the prestigious SKUSA SuperNationals last fall, the most important shifterkart racing in the country. Lorenzo was ranked sixth in the nation by Super Kart Illustrated Magazine heading into the National Finals, and will likely advance on the list with this triumph in Toronto. The next event on the schedule will be a return visit to Las Vegas in early November to defend his SuperNationals crown.
Full coverage of the Snap-on Stars of Karting National Finals is available online via http://www.ekartingnews.com. |
