On Location: ROK The RIO Finals

With everyone now back home and recharging after a week in Vegas, we thought it would be a good time to reflect on the many happenings that took place. Many drivers are still wondering what could have been had they done this or that; the nine drivers who drove their tails off to become the inaugural set of ROK The Rio Champions are still waiting for the elation to wear off.

All the way from a late-race spin in his opening heat, Mathias Ramirez (GFC) pushed through the adversity to pick up a narrow win in Shifter ROK Senior, the first major win for the startup GFC Kart team. Ramirez opened up his week with a second place qualifying effort only to nearly crash out in the opening heat later in the afternoon on Thursday. The young Floridian had his work cut out for him from then on, advancing 10 spots in the next heat race to finish sixth. From there, the progress kept coming. Third in heat 3 and second in heat 4 put Ramirez in fifth for the launch in the final.

While every lap in Senior ROK wasn't led by Canadian Ryan MacDermid (Prime Power Team / BirelART), the second-year senior driver did take the win in every Senior ROK session that had wheel-to-wheel racing action. The 25-lap final required every ounce of skill MacDermid had to pull off, defending at many points in the race that at one point had gotten aggressive enough to lead to a warning from the race marshals.

Taking place Wednesday, October 31st to Saturday, November 3rd with drivers from around the world in attendance, the first annual event has exceeded entry expectations with more than 215 competitors taking part on the temporary race circuit. With ROK the RIO championship titles on the line, teams, and competitors will also be vying for a cash purse in excess of $35,000.00.

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.

As was the case all week, Ryan Kinnear (PGR / Ricciardo Kart) grabbed the hole shot in Shifter ROK Master and proceeded to put down laps fast enough to get him to over a one second advantage in the early going of the 25-lap feature. Kinnear had led the category all week, including pole position and three heat race wins, but his advantages were getting smaller with each session. Behind the Ricciardo Kart were Rod Clinard (CRG) and Jordon Musser (PSL / Birel ART) who were working together in an effort to close the gap the leader.

In a race where James Egozi (Koene USA / Tony Kart) had gained the lead and lost the lead multiple times, it was hard to tell if the Floridian had the machine to win. For the majority of the 18-lap feature, Kai Sorensen (Supertune USA / Tony Kart), Nikita Johnson (AKT / Energy Corse), and Egozi had separated themselves from the field and had each taken a chance at the front of the field. 

For much of the 25-lap final, Kyle Hayner (HRT / Kosmic) led by a substantial margin and it seemed inevitable that the HRT Driver Development pilot would cruise to victory. In the closing laps, however, the Kosmic Kart of Hayner had lost its pace, allowing Colby Dubato (PGR / Ricciardo), Altzman (Ruthless / OTK), and Abby Mclaughlin ( Top Kart USA) back into the mix.

Arizona resident Parker DeLong (Benik) was challenged throughout the 18-lap final, but got himself out front when it counted to win the hotly contested Micro ROK Final. DeLong looked to be gaining momentum as the week progressed, improving each session over the last. The end of his week garnered a win in his final heat race and he backed that up with the win again in the main event.

After opening up a 2.5-second gap in the early stages of the 25-lap race, Renato Jader (Orsolon Racing / Tony Kart) cruised to the victory over Billy Cleavelin. The victory put the finishing touch on a tremendous weekend for the Brazilian who grabbed the pole in qualifying, won two heat races, and a finished it all off with the flag-to-flag victory in the final.

The 2018 ROK Cup Promotions event calendar culminates at the RIO All-Suites Hotel and Casino with the 2018 ROK the RIO race. Taking place Wednesday, October 31st to Saturday, November 3rd with drivers from around the world in attendance, the first annual event has exceeded entry expectations with more than 215 competitors taking part on the temporary race circuit. With ROK the RIO championship titles on the line, teams and competitors will also be vying for a cash purse in excess of $35,000.00.

The 2018 ROK Cup Promotions event calendar culminates at the RIO All-Suites Hotel and Casino with the 2018 ROK the RIO race. Taking place Wednesday, October 31st to Saturday, November 3rd with drivers from around the world in attendance, the first annual event has exceeded entry expectations with more than 215 competitors taking part on the temporary race circuit. With ROK the RIO championship titles on the line, teams and competitors will also be vying for a cash purse in excess of $35,000.00.