Croc Promotion KZ drivers -Round 2 -ROK Sonoma! 04.08.23

As usual, ROK Shifter brings out the super talented drivers and this weekends race at Sonoma was no exception, Round 2 of ROKSonoma saw Brian Keck grab the pole with a 49.36 and one of Kartspeed’s Croc Promotion KZ drivers, Michael Avansino lined up in P-2 with a 49.54. Brand new to the shifter ranks, Colin McGrath started 11th in his first dry track race with his Croc Promotion KZ kart.

Colin is working to bridge the gap from novice shifter driver to the steps of the podium. He has been working incredibly hard by fitting in as many practice days as he can around his very busy work schedule. Each on track session, whether it be a test day or a race day is one more brick, one more step. This weekend was his first race in the dry, as Round 1 saw a rain race with full wet chassis set up and rain tires. So a completely different kart for this weekend; dry set up with slicks!

A 10th place finish in the first heat was followed by a DNF in the second heat. But the main event gave Colin a chance to learn and move up with an impressive 8th place finish!  Colin is going to use the coming Pro Race at Sonoma (Challenge of the Americas) to further increase his driving skills as he battles some of the best shifter drivers!

And then the drama began…

Michael, a super talented driver, had a serious run of bad mechanical luck this day, only finishing one heat race. In the first heat Michael suffered from a radiator mount failure and had to roll to the sidelines for a DNF.

Heat two saw him swallowed up at the start of the heat race and then a great battle back to a 4th place finish posting the second fastest lap time to race winner Keck.

In the main it didn’t get much better with a spark plug failure leading to another DNF…so not really a weekend to remember, or better yet, one to forget asap. Michael and his mechanic (dad!) are going to regroup for next race hoping for some better mechanical results. On to the Pro Round this coming weekend, Challenge of the Americas where the competition in KZ is expected to be super tough with a big field of talented drivers!