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DD2
CRG-USA DD2 Sunday Report
Saturday’s action was dominated by Sabre Cook from start
to finish. Sunday’s action looks to bring the field closer together,
judging by the qualifying session. Matt Jaskol (CRG), now with a
full day of racing a DD2 under his belt, posted the fast lap of the
qualifying session to earn the pole position. His 49.888-lap put
him 22 thousandths ahead of Cook (CRG). Bailey Murphy (Tony
Kart) found speed overnight to end up third with Michael Ilavia
(CompKart) moving up to fourth on the final lap, pushing Chris-
tian Bird (CRG) to fifth. The top-five finished within two tenths of
each other on the fast lap. Jaskol however was removed from the
results for a carburetor issue, moving Cook to the pole position
and Jaskol back to sixth on the grid for the Prefinal.
Five drivers put in a strong performance in the 17-lap Prefinal,
all in the hunt for the win. Ilavia took the lead at the drop of the
green, but he and Cook made slight contact to allow Bird, Mur-
phy and Jaskol by. Cook fought back to take over third on lap
three, taking over second the following lap with the same move
into turn four. Beginning lap five, Cook took over the lead at turn
one from Bird, as he was then shuffled back to fifth before the
lap completed. Cook led the remainder of the race to score the
win. Murphy ran strong in second but was run down by Ilavia,
who went from fifth to second in six laps. Murphy drove to third
with Jaskol past Bird on the last lap for fourth.
Cook got the jump on Ilavia as the green flag waved for the
start of the 25-lap Final. Ilavia fell back to fourth through the
opening corner, with Murphy and Bird getting through. Ilavia
quickly moved his way forward, retaking third and moving to
second on lap three. Cook enjoyed a comfortable lead, but
Ilavia cut the advantage and was into the lead by lap nine.
That triggered some great racing between the two, allowing a
charging Jaskol to join the fight in a three kart lead pack. The
PSL West driver took his turn at the point on lap 11, and the
shuffling continued which included a three-wide attempt going
into turn two. All three came out without issue, and the fight
continued on. Cook retook the lead and it appeared she would
begin to pull away. Ilavia put his head down, and posted fast
laps of the race to close the gap and keep on Cook’s bumper.
Cook kept a consistent pace, resetting her own personal fast
lap. On the final lap, Ilavia tried to time a pass into turn one,
but fell short. It appeared Cook would need to fight off a turn 10
pass, but Ilavia dove inside at turn nine, leading onto the long
straight. The move was perfect, and Ilavia made it to the check-
ered flag to earn his first Challenge victory, handing CompKart
the big win. Cook settled for second with Jaskol in third. Murphy
finished fourth with Bird in the fifth spot.
Michael Ilavia
DD2
Masters