Page 20 - 2022CalSpeedMagazineJuly

GRAND PRIX SERIES
RTound 3 July 14
he CalSpeed Grand Prix Series hosted its third round in the championship last night on the Nuotivo circuit, with our third winner in as many events. In the
championship hunt however, it was a time to shine for the usual suspects, as the best 3 out of 4 campaign saw several contenders digging deep to score maximum points...
Unofficial practice saw Ryan Ray top the charts in session one, followed by Fabricio Curtis and round #2 winner Nick Rajewski, while session two saw a familiar face atop the charts: Tiange Li. Li was joined by fellow up and coming talents Spencer Morris and Brandon Boone at the sharp end, with nearly all of the sold out field taking to the track for the optional session
For qualifying, the groups are broken up by points, with the first group the top 25 returning drivers, so the challenge for the second group that is lower in points, is to see who can bump their way straight into the A-Main. Overall we would see our third different driver at the top of the charts, as Yingkai Zhao saw a return to form from the opener a couple months ago, setting pole time over fresh face Ryan Detweiler, along with the aforementioned Boone, Rajewski, inside the top 4. Debutant Spencer Curtis raised eyebrows with a P5 overall time, with fellow group 2 driver Crag Vasquez slotting into 6th; in all, 7 drivers from the second group bumped there way straight into the A-Main.
Once racing commenced with the B-Main it would be Matthew Slama leading the field away, with Matthew Pinto alongside for the start – ironic, as both drivers fought for the win in the B-main last month. This time around it would be Pinto getting to the front early, after issues befell Slama on the start, holding onto the top spot through the first half of the 10 lap affair. His first challenge would come from David Ballantine on lap 7, but Pinto was able to fight back to re- take the lead one lap later, only to come under fire once again. This time it was Robert Easley taking his turn at the front, but this time Pinto would not find his way by, instead settling for second in the B-main for the second event in a row. For Robert it was a switch from watch his son Revin on the sidelines over the first two events, coming away with the B-main win to join him in the A-Main on his debut.
Yingkai Zhao would lead the field away for the start of the A-Main, but issues would see him drop outside the top five almost immediately; in fact, issues was the order of the day for lap one. With action in turn 4 and the Monaco hairpin, things jumbled up with Spencer Morris come out with the lead, and the whole order getting swapped around. His time at the front was short lived however, as Ryan Detweiler found his way to the point, and immediately started clicking
off quick lap after quick lap to build a gap to 2nd. In the runner up spot would be Ryan Ray, as he had made serious inroads during the first lap kerfuffle, and would lock into the 2nd spot early as well. Behind the top two, several drivers were making moves to the front, with Rodney Bryant Jr backing up his prowess through traffic at the opener, slotting into 3rd with a few laps to go. But the big mover was Tiange Li, who had his toughest qualifying session yet, and worked up from outside the top 10 to get to Bryants bumper with two to go. Li would find his way by to steal the final podium spot, but things would end up finishing at the scales. Ryan Detweiler would secure a convincing win, but Ryan Ray would come up just shy of the 200lbs minimum, bumping Tiange Li to 2nd, and Rodney Bryant Jr to third.
The season Finale for the Grand Prix Series is on Thursday, August 18th; taking to one of the most challenging circuits at CalSpeed, Classico!
Results
1. Ryan Detweiler 2. Tiange Li
3. Rodney Bryant Jr 4. Nick Rajewski
5. Spencer Morris
6. Revin Easley
7. Marcus Guerrero
8. Conor King-Goldman 9. Yingkai Zhao
10. Aaron Geoulla
Points
1. Tiange Li 390 2. Nick Rajewski 385 3. Rodney Bryant Jr 380 4. Steven Dekeyser 380 5. Yingkai Zhao 375 6. Brandon Boone 360 7. Revin Easley 338 8. Ryan Ray 335 9. Marcus Guerrero 329 10. Ryan Detweiler 324