Page 5 - 2021CalSpeedMagazineMarch

Round 3 - March 13
Wet weather brought on a cold front here at Round 3 of the 2021 Sprint Series season on the Sportivo layout. The lack of grip provided a
challenge to drivers but as the day would unfold, we would see a new driver sitting on the top step...
Qualifying
It looked like Tommy Haake was going to get his 3rd pole position but down to the last minute, it would be an excited Ivan Martinez grabbing his first career pole this time around.
Heat 1A provided a hot bed of action at the front. Closing in on the top position would be the pair of Vladimir Orlov and Jack McNeel. Though Orlov and McNeel would each take turns at the lead mid-race, the driver to watch would be Michael Martin, the previous round’s winner, as he blazed through the field from a 9th place start. He’d steal the lead on the final lap, going on to win heat 1A.
Podium contender Tommy Haake started P1 with a tight pack of drivers in tow for heat 1B. He’d briefly lose the lead and drop down only as low as P3, and would be just ahead of the pair of Chris Fox and Carl Zhu. Heat 1B however would end with a black and checkered finish due to a penalty on race leader John Rice, bringing the trio up 2 spots to finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Michael Chen quickly took the reigns in heat 1C, but would have to do battle with Evan Lawrence lap after lap to try and keep the position. Meanwhile, the pair of Jeremy Aldridge and Leo Ovtcharov took to dogfighting as well while managing to stay close to the aforementioned Chen- Lawrence duo. At the checkered flag, Chen managed to stave off Lawrence’s attempts thus winning the race, and in the heat of things, Aldridge and Ovtcharov would come through as well to finish P2 and P3 respectively.
The C-Main was filled predominantly with drivers in the new SE subcategory, but for this round, usually in the A-Main, Tony Wika would blaze through the top pack. What began as a 2/10ths lead would stretch out to over 6 seconds. Finishing behind him would be Nicholas Descamps and Edwin Rivera after doing battle with the entire front group before crossing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Denis Shakhovskii put on a dominant run for the entire B-Main. The rest of the pack behind him would take to much infighting– the two putting in the moves would be Nathaniel Small and Josh Ferrer. After one lap, both had already improved their positions with Ferrer sitting squarely P2. Small would go in for an attack on the 8th lap, maintaining
A Main Podium
B-Main Winner Denis Shakhovskii
C-Main Tony Wika