This past weekend was a big weekend for the competition teams for LVGP.  The Junior Team traveled to face off against Mid Atlantic Grand Prix in Delaware and the Adult Team traveled to Victory Lane Karting to compete in the 24hrs of Charlotte.

The Mid Atlantic Grand Prix Challenge was the first time our Juniors have left the building to compete against another track.  On Dec 2nd LVGP held a qualifying session in which the top 5 kids made an All Star team to compete in the event.  The format for qualifying was a 20 minute practice/qualifier followed up with 4 feature races of 20 laps.  The top five finishers were Joey Brey, Jessica Brey, Tommy Kleppinger, Nicholas Winton & Brenna Schubert.  This group squared off against a Mid Atlantic Grand Prix team of Stephen Mallozi, David Rodgers, Tolly Flinn, Joseph Davidson, & Joshua Shine.

The competition involved a 2 day challenge in which Day 1 was held at Mid Atlantic Grand Prix and Day 2 was hosted at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix.  The first day of competition was an eye awakening experience for LVGP.  The first feature heavily favored the team from Mid Atlantic as their names shown at the top of the leader board.  This did not discourage LVGP as the team became more familiar with the track and managed to climb their way back into the competition.  After the day of racing, LVGP walked out with a 16pt deficit.

Day 2 was a different story.  Home track advantage was crucial as only a few of the MAGP drivers figured out the racing line.  LVGP made a strong comeback and evened the score after the second feature.  This left the team with breathing room heading into the final 2 feature races.  In the end LVGP came out with a 17pt Victory sealing the deal for the first ever Challenge against MAGP.

The driver’s were scored individually as well as by team.  The top 3 finishers for the event were Jessica Brey scoring 68pts, Stephen Mallozzi 64pts and Brenna Schubert 60pts.  It was a tight race from start to finish and we would like to thank all of the drivers that participated.

The adult team of Ryan Suchon, Kyle Lick, Jason Frankenfield, Kevin Bligan, & Carl Bligan hit the road south for the 24hrs of Charlotte held at Victory Lane Karting.  This race is a true test of endurance as the 13 teams that participated competed for 24hrs of straight karting.  A standard race at LVGP is 8 minutes.  It is hard to image going for 24hrs!!

The team ran into issues from the start as the kart shut off on the Lemans start and Kyle Lick failed to buckle his seat belt.  This set the tone for the team as they continued to hurt themselves throughout the race.  Jason Frankenfield later was penalized 2 laps for exiting the kart under weight.  The sick bug hit the team as Kevin Bligan & Carl Bligan had to pull off the track early in stints costing the team precious time.  “When you compete against the best you cannot make mistakes.  Every second, every exchange, every kart swap can determine your outcome,” stated Ryan Suchon.

It was a disappointing finish for the team coming in 6th place.  In qualifying many of the teams had LVGP slated to be a contender.  Despite adversity the team did finish the race and looks forward to redemption at next year’s competition!