This years Team USA headed to Egypt for the 2009 Rotax Grand Finals with some of the strongest talent we have ever seen.  The top ten drivers coming from this year’s US Grand Nationals, one driver from the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas, and one driver from the Florida Winter Tour fill the 12 spots in the USA section of the pits. The USA along with Canada had the largest teams among the more than 60 different nations coming to compete in the “Olympics of Karting”.  
      For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Rotax spec style series here is a little breakdown on the worldwide series. All karts use a sealed 125cc two-stroke motor. The sealed motor means a level playing field for the motors in contrast to other series where cash is king with regards to horsepower. The races come down to chassis tuning and driver talent. All of this is even more true at the Rotax Grand Finals as competitors run complete karts supplied at the event that are chosen by a lottery system. CRG and Maranello supplied the chassis for this year. Rotax also dyno tests all the supplied motors to ensure all motors are of equal power.  

Junior Max: 
  Nick Neri 
Age: 14 (
Hometown: Ocala, FL 
Rotax Max Series: Northern Florida 
Grand Nationals Finish: 1st 
Ethan Ringel 
Age: 15 
Hometown: Windermere, FL 
Rotax Max Series: Northern Florida 
Grand Nationals Finish: 2nd 
Jake French 
Age: 13 
Hometown: Sachse, TX 
Rotax Max Series: Southwest Regional Cup-North Texas Karters 
Grand Nationals Finish: 3rd 
Alec Udell 
Age: 14 
Hometown: Spring, TX 
Rotax Max Series: Southwest Regional Cup 
Grand Nationals Finish: 4th 

 Our junior drivers had a tough time out on the track at this year’s Grand Finals. The supplied Maranello karts proved tough to tune as this brand is not very common here in the states. Ethan Ringel and Jake French although both proved to be fast were victims of several racing pile ups that resulted in them not making it though the LCQ (last chance qualifying) and into the final. Alec Udell was ranked 33rd after the heats putting him into the LCQ race. Alec was able to stay clear of the crazy crashes of desperate drivers and pull out a 4th place finish to secure his spot in the finals. Nick Neri was ranked 15th at the end of the heats. The junior pre-final proved to be a tough one with Neri finishing 23rd and Udell 26th.  The 20 lap final was the longest race of the event for the juniors. Udell experienced some contact at the back of the pack but was able to recover for a 29th place finish. For his first grand finals, Neri had an excellent event battling his way to finish 16th in the final. All of these junior drivers left with some great experiences that will help them become better drivers in the future.  

Senior Max: 
Phillip Arscott 
Age: 20 
Hometown: Portland, OR 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northwest Gold Cup 
Grand Nationals Finish: 1st 
Victor Pedrosa 
Age: 22
Hometown: Ocala, FL 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northern Florida 
Grand Nationals Finish: 2nd 
Joey Wimsett 
Age: 20
Hometown: Beavercreek, Oregon 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northwest Gold Cup - Challenge of the Americas 
Grand Nationals Finish: 3rd 
Stepanova Nekeel 
Age: 17 
Hometown: Seattle, Washington 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northwest Gold Cup - Challenge of the Americas 
Grand Nationals Finish: 7th 
      
The senior drivers brought a very strong presence to the grand finals. With three of the four drivers coming from the northwest, it is easy to see what a little rain will do for your driving skills. Gatorz winner Stepanova Nekeel had a rough experience in Egypt. Several crashes left him repairing his kart while other were fine-tuning the chassis. Just see the photo of his steering rod and you will see what I mean. Unfortunately this lead to Nekeel not even making the LCQ, but being only 17 years old the experience he has gained will help him be a stronger competitor next season. At the end of the heat races we had two USA drivers ranked in the top ten.

Victor Pedrosa proved to be consistently quick ranking 10th. The speed demon from Beaver Creek, OR Joey Wimsett had it dialed in winning one heat race by a full 3 seconds, this is a first for any USA driver in the 10 years of Rotax Grand Finals. Wimsett ended up ranking 3rd at the end of the heats.

Our National Champion Phillip Arscott was plagued with mechanical problems that had him running at the back of the pack. Although his fast laps were on pace with the top 5 drivers. Arscott really turned up the wick in the LCQ coming from 22 to 2nd securing his spot in the final.  This kind of speed in traffic would be needed in the final as he was knocked out in the pre final placing him 30th for the final.

Wimsett and Pedrosa were both in the top six going into the final. Pedrosa started on the outside in 5th behind Wimsett in 3rd. The 24 lap final was a long race that really tested both tires and chassis tuning. Pedrosa stayed in the top five for the beginning of the racing but slowly fell off the pace finishing 15th. Arscott had a long way to go starting in 30th, but he was able to stay smooth and avoid multiple pile ups early in the race to move up to the middle of the pack. Once again he turned up the heat and really showed why his was a national champion. He crossed the finish line in 8th place, gaining a full 22 positions in just 24 laps.  Wimsett had a hard fought battle at the front. Hanging on to his starting position for the majority of the race.  Although as the race went on Wimsett seemed to be unable to make up any speed on the leaders, he was passed by two other drivers and crossed the finish in fifth. After the race 4th place finisher Sandro Lukovic or Austria was disqualified moving the field up one position. Final positions for Team USA: Joey Wimsett- 4th  Phillip Arscott- 7th Victor Pedrosa- 14th   

DD2: 
Cody Hodgson 
Age: 18
Hometown: Escalon, California 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northern Florida 
Grand Nationals Finish: 1st 
Troy Castaneda 
Age: 19 
Hometown: Sacramento, California 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northern California Rotax Challenge  
Grand Nationals Finish: 2nd 
 
Thiago Parazinho 
Age: 24 
Hometown: West Palm Beach, Florida 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: South Florida 
Grand Nationals Finish: 3rd 
Mike Daniel 
Age: 50 
Hometown: Newberg, Oregon 
Rotax Max Challenge Series: Northwest Gold Cup - Gatorz Karting Cup 
Grand Nationals Finish: 1st – Masters 

The Team USA DD2 drivers had a mix of proven talent heading into the Grand Finals. Mike Daniel out of Oregon, was the Masters champion that earned the wild card spot. Daniel came into the event with little seat time in DD2 and was put up against the best in the world. Mechanical and tuning problems kept him from being able to show his true driving talent. Daniel is ranked 65th at the end of the heat races missing the LCQ cutoff. Thiago Parazinho has been to the grand finals before and was out to take the podium. Unfortunately the problems started early for Parazinho, with motor issues in practice and qualifying leading to swapping out motors. He knew he could be faster but his finishes in the heats proved something was wrong. He took the chassis to the CRG jig table to find the front of his chassis tweaked significantly.  

After some twisting he was out for the second day of heats, but proved unable to climb above mid pack. He explained the problem and CRG found out the rear of the chassis was also tweaked. Parazinho chassis was swapped out for the LCQ. Unfortunately he was unable to catch the lead pack and did not make the final. The other two DD2 drivers Troy Castaneda and Cody Hodgson were both ranked in the top 16 coming out of the heats. Castaneda proved his speed qualifying 8th before the heat races.  In the first two heat races he placed 4th and 7th and he was looking toward a good position in the final. Unfortunately, in the last heat race he got tangled in a pile up in turn one on the first lap. Although able to climb back to 19th Castaneda was going to start the pre-final further back then he had hoped. The pre-final was a disaster for him as he was taken out and did not finish. He would start  last in the final 34th on the outside. 

What Castaneda did in the final was amazing. He was smooth and precise avoiding many tangles in the 24 lap final to reach 5th. He passed 29 drivers in just 24 laps! This goes to show the talent of the Northern California DD2 Champion and makes you wonder what he could have done with a better starting position. Our DD2 National Champion Cody Hodgson proved his talent in the diverse international field of 72 other drivers. He had fairly consistent heats, always in the top ten. This put him ranked 9th at the end of the heat races. In the pre-final Hodgson was able to climb his way up to 3rd. Starting second row on the inside, in a great position to be in heading into turn one.  He was able to take advantage of his great starting position and passed the number 2 driver. Early in the race Hodgson was now on the heels of the leader. With the victory so close he made his move and was unable to pass. This attempt cost him a position, as the 3rd place driver took advantage of his mistake. As the two front runner battled for first, there were a few times Hodgson looked like he would take 2nd back. He held one to cross the finish line in 3rd and earned the first ever podium in the DD2 class (although the USA has had a DD2 Masters Podium). Congratulations to Cody Hodgson! 

The Nations Cup 
This event would not be complete without competition between the 60 nations driving for their home country.  The nations cup is a points based award based on the final positions of the country’s chosen team, one driver per class is submitted. For Team USA we elected our National Champions, Junior Driver Nick Neri, Senior Driver Phillip Arscott, and DD2 Driver Cody Hodgson. Each driver had solid performances and earned Team USA it’s first ever podium finish taking Second place in the 2009 Rotax Nations Cup.  Congratulations to our USA Nations Cup Team!