Montoya defends pole position in Junior ROK Final
It was a frenzy early, but the Columbian found himself back in front when it mattered.
Although he didn't lead the entire race, in the end Sebastian Montoya (Team Montoya / Tony Kart) found himself right where he started — in first. It was a frantic race nearly all 25 laps with constantly changing positions inside the top five. Montoya, Luca Mars (SCR / Tony Kart), and Thomas Nepveu (PSL / BirelART) all had their karts out font at some point with Connor Zilisch (Team Felon / Tony Kart) and Jak Crawford (Kosmic) right in the mix.
When the race settled near lap 20, Montoya had the advantage out front and rain lap times just fast enough to keep the lead. Nepveu and Mars had dropped back a few spots and been replaced by Zilisch and hard charger, Paolo Ferrari. Ferarri, in third, was now up 24 spots and running the fastest laps on track. The Italian always had the pace, but a few DNFs in the heats was ultimately why he was found up front until the very end of the feature race.
With enough space between each of the top five, no changes were found up front in the closing circuits. Mars and Nepveu had slipped just slightly back to fourth and fifth, followed by Crawford in sixth.
Race Results - Top Five
2018 ROK The Rio Junior ROK Final
Rnk | # | Driver | Gap | Best Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 258 | SEBASTIAN MONTOYA | 49.327 | |
2 | 272 | CONNOR ZILISCH | 0.493 | 49.218 |
3 | 200 | PAOLO FERRARI | 0.915 | 49.153 |
4 | 208 | LUCA MARS | 1.444 | 49.072 |
5 | 224 | THOMAS NEPVEU | 2.143 | 49.296 |
Full standings
Rnk | # | Driver | Gap | Best Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 | 252 | JAK CRAWFORD | 4.045 | 49.474 |
7 | 257 | TYLER GONZALEZ | 5.32 | 49.598 |
8 | 287 | JEREMY FAIRBAIRN | 8.416 | 49.562 |
9 | 265 | MACKENZIE CLARK | 10.467 | 49.399 |
10 | 288 | AUSTIN TORGESON | 10.737 | 49.631 |
11 | 254 | DALE CURRAN | 12.238 | 49.333 |
12 | 256 | JONATHON PORTZ | 13.404 | 49.525 |
13 | 243 | JOEY ATANASIO | 14.011 | 49.431 |
14 | 289 | JULIAN NAZARIO | 15.198 | 49.444 |
15 | 202 | ASHTON TORGERSON | 16.688 | 49.811 |
16 | 299 | RAFA ABDULALI | 17.293 | 49.619 |
17 | 237 | DIEGO CONTECHA | 17.732 | 49.237 |
18 | 277 | CELSO NETO | 19.413 | 49.774 |
19 | 217 | EMMO FITTIPALDI | 19.787 | 49.486 |
20 | 234 | WILLIAM COX | 24.001 | 49.86 |
21 | 219 | EDDIE SHIMMON | 27.69 | 49.804 |
22 | 212 | MARCELLO PANICCIA | 27.737 | 49.973 |
23 | 268 | ETHAN HO | 27.872 | 49.65 |
24 | 251 | BRENDEN RUZBARSKY | 32.265 | 50.117 |
25 | 222 | ALEXANDER BERG | 44.858 | 50.583 |
26 | 220 | ALESSANDRO DE TULLIO | 5 Laps | 49.061 |
27 | 293 | DANIEL FELLOWS | 5 Laps | 50.746 |
28 | 211 | MARCOS TELLE | 22 Laps | 51.286 |
29 | 218 | GUILHERME FIGUEREDO | 24 Laps | |
30 | 221 | MAXIMILIAN OPALSKI | 24 Laps | |
31 | 225 | AIDAN KENNY | 24 Laps | |
213 | NOLAN SIEGEL | DNS | ||
236 | WILLIAM FERGUSON | DNS | ||
280 | MATTHEW MARROCCO | DNS | ||
291 | COOPER BECKLIN | DNS | ||
269 | BRANYON TINER | DSQ |