2019 ROK The Rio Live Blog

In full redemption mode this week, Danny Formal (Leading Edge / Formula K) got the better of Mathias Ramirez this year after a remarkable move in the final corner on the 24th lap of a 25-lap final in Shifter ROK.

Both Formal and Ramirez led multiple times throughout the race, but neither could pull away from the other as both drivers ran defensive lines down the stretch. The final move came where few passes had come all week: in the final corner as the drivers were setting up to enter the front-straight for the white flag. Ramirez didn't see it coming and ran a normal racing line and Formal took advantage. The GFC Kart driver, knowing he had superior top-end, went to set up Formal as the drivers entered the long straight and clipped a barrier, dropping him a half-second back and ruining his chances of a final lap move.

Nicholas Le Duc (Karting Collective/ Sodi Kart) came home in third after a great drive from seventh, overtaking Race Liberante (Formula Works / Compkart) on lap 19 who had run third since lap two. Liberante came home in fourth ahead of Remo Ruscitti (Catalyst / Italkart).

Two favorites this weekend, Jake French (PSL Karting) and Ron White (Ron White Racing / CRG), both collided on the opening lap, ending up in the barriers.

The final 21 laps belonged to the Brazilian Enrico De Luca (NF Sports / Kosmic) as he scored the win in the 25-lap final in Junior ROK.

De Luca took over the lead from Luca Mars (Speed Concepts / Tony Kart) on lap four and the two cleared out from the rest of the field. Despite many opportunities to take a chance at the lead, Mars decided to follow until the final laps. A miscalculation by Mars with a lap and a half left allowed De Luca to gain a small gap on the Pennsylvanian that he then used to hold on for the win.

Connor Zilisch had great pace in the latter half of the race and used that to propel from sixth to third, earning the final spot on the podium. Alessandro De Luca ran in third for much of the race, but could not keep Zilisch behind him down the stretch, finishing fourth. Pole position winner from Thursday, Guilherme Figueiredo, finished fifth after a having to start 13th due to a disqualification in heat four.

It was eventful behind him, but Tim Meyer (Leading Edge / Tony Kart) stayed above the fray and led the final half of the 20-lap 100cc Master Final to take the win by .260 over Colby Wallace (Ruthless / Exprit).

Jonathan Silva (Formula Works / Compkart) led the category early before Meyer took over on lap 11. Silva faded slightly down the stretch, dropping to fourth and out of the conversation for podium. Wallace stayed with Meyer throughout, putting his nose on the rear of the leader multiple times. Meyer grew visibly frustrated with the bumping and began to wave his hand back at Wallace. This allowed Rob Kozakowsi (Ruthless / Exprit) to catch the lead duo by almost a second on lap 18, putting his hat in the ring for the win.

Kozakowski moved into second on the penultimate lap, but lost the position in the final corner as he tried to set up Meyer with an open door on the bottom that his teammate Wallace took advantage of. The Candian had to settle for third behind Wallace and Meyer. Silva came home in fourth ahead of Riccardo Arruda (MDG / Birel ART).

After winning the last two heat races in Micro ROK, Kai Johnson kept the momentum going on Saturday with the win in the 20-lap final. Unlike previous races, Johnson was able to hold his lead throughout the final lap with perfect placement of his Kosmic cadet kart.

Luis Umana (AM / Exprit) led early over a train of karts that included Johnson, Enzo Vidmontiene (Benik), Jodan DiLeo (Godwood / Intrepid), and Oliver Wheldon. With the laps winding down, Vidmontiene and Umana had retired from the race, leaving Johnson, DiLeo, Wheldon, and Carson Weinberg (Benik) as the lead group of four karts.

On the final lap, Johnson held the lead, but behind him was a flurry of action for second. DiLeo had held the second position for some time before being passed by Weinberg. Wheldon too go past DiLeo on the final lap to drop the Canadian to fourth and off the podium. Johnson drove on to win ahead of Weinberg and Wheldon.

In another extremely exciting final, Vatche Tatikian (PGR / Ricciardo) comes out on top in Master ROK after leaders Scott Falcone (RPG / Kosmic) and Magno Gaia collide into the penultimate turn 11 corner on the final lap.

Falcone and Gaia had distanced themselves out front over the course of the 25-lap final. On the final lap, Falcone and Gaia ran each other to the bottom to the bottom of the track as they entered turn 11, both sliding through the corner and into the outside barriers. Tatikian, running alone in third, took the corner normally, beneath the carnage, and went on to take the surprising victory.

Renato David Jader (Orsolon / Tony Kart) and Danilo Ramalho (OTK) had been all over each other the entire race and were fighting for the lead early. After multiple run-ins with each other and it finally came to a head on the final lap. While running fourth and fifth, David Jader made a dive bomb move on Ramalho as he saw the leaders spinning and wanted to take advantage of the situation. The move took his Tony Kart over the top of Ramalho and into the barriers, ending his race.

Falcone kept his Kosmic moving and was able to limp home in second, but a post-race penalty for a starting infraction moved him back to fourth. The penalty promoted Erik Jackson to second and Eric Molinatti to third. Rob Kozakowski (Ruthless / Exprit) finished in fifth.

Young Jorge Ortiz (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) extended his lead down the stretch to take the win in 100cc Junior. The race behind Ortiz was the deciding factor in the 20-lap final which allowed Ortiz to open up his lead to almost four seconds at the checkered flag.

Behind Ortiz was an eventful race for second that involved more than a handful of drivers. Adam Maxwell (Syntech Racing / Tony Kart) ran third at the halfway point, but the Syntech Racing driver collided with Alex Berg (RPM / OTK) on lap 12 that dropped him to just outside the top five. Alex Berg, Max Opalski (RPM / OTK) and Nolan Allison (Top Kart USA) now ran second, third and fourth.

As the race began to tighten down the stretch, the two Ryan Perry Motorsports teammates battled for second. Opalski slid under Berg into the penultimate turn 11, grabbing the silver medal ahead of Berg.

Chloe Chambers (Mike Doty / OTK) benefited from all the activity ahead of her, gaining six positions in her final to slot into fourth ahead of Cole Schroeder (Ruthless Karting / Exprit).

In the most amazing of moments this week, Diego Ramos emerges from the Senior ROK Final as the winner after a multitude of unfortunate events disrupted the front of the field.

The first 10 laps of the 25-lap final belonged to Ben Cooper (PSL Karting / Birel ART). The new PSL driver held the lead while those behind the Briton fought for second. Ryan Norberg, starting from fifth, had made his way into second and was clearly the fastest kart on track. The Floridian tracked down Cooper and made his pass at the end of the 1000 foot straightaway on lap 11. From there, the Kosmic driver began to check out, pulling out to almost a 1-second lead before a series of unfortunate events unfolded.

On lap 17, a handful of backmarkers ran into each other on the backside of the track, five corners ahead of Norberg. The wrecked drivers carried on, but now were in the way of the leader as they continued to race on. Norberg tried to navigate them the best he could, but the lap traffic raced for position, making it much harder to get around.

At this point, Nepveu was in second and closing rapidly on Norberg as he was being held up. On lap 19 was when things got wild with a mixture of lap traffic and leaders fighting for position. As the pack of karts went to start lap 20, Norberg and Nepveu were battling aggressively for the lead which took the two drivers to the bottom of the track and into the barriers on the outside of turn one. Ramos made it through the carnage to take the lead and brought with him Jacob Gullick and Ben Cooper.

Ramos held a slim lead for the remaining five laps to take unexpected victory. Cooper passed Gullick in the penultimate turn 11 to grab the silver medal. Axel Cabrera (AKT / Kosmic) and Jake Craig (Orsolon Racing / Tony Kart) finished their week's with their best performances, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

In his best run of the week, Ryan Kinnear (Phil Giebler Racing / Ricciardo) goes one better than his 2018 ROK The Rio runner-up with a dominating performance and sweep in the Shifter ROK Master division. The Texan ran out to over a one-second lead by lap four and from there it was smooth sailing for the perennial front runner in the veteran shifter category.

Kinnear grabbed the early holeshot as he's done all week over Jordon Musser (PSL Karting / Birel ART). Musser, a fellow Texan, could not match the early pace of the Ricciardo Kart, but found himself comfortably in second ahead of Kevin Woods (Ron White Racing / CRG).

As the race began to settle in, Mike Beeny (Msquared Karting / Tony Kart) was storming through the field. The Utahn had to start form 8th after a DNF in the heats set him back. Beeny set fast lap of the race on lap 11 while running in third before making his final pass three laps later, moving into second over Musser down the long backstraight.

With Beeny in second, Musser came home in third ahead of a pair of CRG's in Rod Clinard (Ron White Racing) and Woods.

With four lead changes on the final lap, Kai Sorensen (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) emerged from the scrum with the lead in the penultimate corner over Caleb Gafrarar (PSL Karting / Birel ART).

Gafrarar led for the first half of the 18-lap Mini ROK final before Sorensen was able to track down the North Carolinian and take the lead with nine laps to go. The two leaders played lead-follow for the remaining laps before they went at it over the final half of a lap. Gafrarar was into the lead as the two come off the hairpin corner after the straight, but the Birel ART driver left the door open for Sorensen to get back by. Gafrarar dove back under the Californian into the penultimate turn 11, but went well wide on exit, killing his momentum and allowing Sorensen an easy path around.

Riccardo Ianniello (NF / Kosmic) ran the full race in third comfortably. Sebastian Garzon (AM / Exprit) climbed nine spots to finish fourth ahead of a quartet of karts that battled throughout the final. Anderson Leonard (Supertune / Tony Kart) was 1-tenth of a second back in fifth, just ahead of his teammate Enzo Deligny.

In almost an exact replica of 2018, Jenson Altzman (Ruthless Karting / OTK) navigated his way into the lead on the final lap of 100cc Senior to take the win for Ruthless Karting.

For the first 19.5 laps, Jake Drew (Formula Works / Compkart), Billy Musgrave (Mad Old Nut/Mad Croc), and Altzman ran nose to tail, each one looking for the other to make a mistake. As they hit the final lap, Musgrave moved to the outside of the long straight while Drew defended the lower line. Altzman lined up with Musgrave as the two formed a draft on the outside that had Musgrave briefly in the lead. Drew went deep into turn eight to hold his position, but pushed himself and Musgrave wide, allowing Altzman a path underneath into the lead.

With Drew holding his position in second, the trio drove the remainder of the final lap in that order. Atzman backs up his win from a year ago ahead of a disappointed Drew and Musgrave. Austin Osborne (Ironrock / Tony Kart) moved up four positions to fourth just ahead of Henry Falls-Hand MMK / OTK).

The 2019 ROK Cup Promotions event calendar culminates in Las Vegas with the much anticipated #ROKtheRIO race. Taking place on a temporary circuit on the grounds of the RIO All-Suite Hotel & Casino over the week of Wednesday, October 30 to Saturday, November 2, drivers from around the world have descended on America's playground for the second annual event. Exceeding last year's entry total by nearly 100 competitors, a jam packed, yet team and driver friendly schedule greet the stacked fields of talented drivers over the four on track days. With ROK the RIO championship titles on the line, teams and competitors will also be vying for a cash purse in excess of $45,000.