Double race wins highlight FDM's results at the opening race weekend of 2022
The first race of 2022 proved a promising start for Forward Direction Motorsports and the new 2022 Compkart Covert 3.0 chassis. The COTA series kicked off in Tucson, Arizona at Musselman Honda Circuit where cool temperatures tested drivers and mechanics alike. With double race wins and a 1-2 finish, plus strong pace in multiple categories, FDM was able to dig deep and score a good result to start the 2022 race season.
Koentges is a double winner in Masters 100cc.
Ian Koentges opened his season with a near perfect weekend only missing the Sunday pole position in what otherwise would have been a clean sweep of the weekend’s racing. On Saturday, utilizing a KA100 engine, Ian secured the pole, pre-final win, and final win. After switching to a VLR100 engine for Sunday and missing the pole position to teammate Preston Newberry, Koentges was able to come back and win both the pre-final and the final to leave Tucson as the series points leader. After having strong pace all weekend, Mike Weatherman added to the podium on Sunday finishing in second place making it an FDM 1-2. Preston Newberry had a great weekend with a pole position and two top 5 finishes. Preston will dig deep to get on the podium in Phoenix.
Varney solid in COTA debut.
In 100cc SR, presented by Forward Direction Motorsports, the competition was stacked as we have come to expect from Challenge of the Americas. Travis Varney, the SR rookie with FDM, was able to show strong pace all weekend. Travis finished Saturday’s final in P6. On Sunday, Varney set the purple lap time on the way to 5th in the pre-final only to be left backwards on the start of the final, recovering to 8th by the end of the race. Teammate Jackson Dunn ran well through qualifying and the heats both days, only to end up involved in incidents during both finals.
McPherson and Smith improve throughout the weekend.
Alex McPherson showed his grit in Tucson in his shifter debut. Completing a total of around 50 shifter laps before the Tucson event week, the learning curve was steep for the young driver. Alex showed why he saw success in the JR ranks by working hard; learning starts, shifting, front brakes, and what it truly takes to drive a shifter all in one weekend. With pace within a half second and top 15 finishes, Alex shows a lot of promise for the shifter class going forward.
Spencer Smith made his FDM and COTA debut in 100cc JR. Spencer’s first time aboard the Compkart chassis proved to be one of promise, with his speed improving through the week. By Sunday Spencer finished 14th in the staked 28 kart field, less than two tenths off the leader’s pace. We look forward to seeing what Spencer and new teammate Archer Eversman can do together in Phoenix.
Forward Direction Motorsports hosts a retail store, online store, service department, and racing team out of our facility in Centennial, CO. FDM is a COMPKART authorized dealer and factory supported Race Team, ROTAX Authorized Service Center, and dealer for many karting products. FDM stocks a large amount of inventory and has the products you need shipping daily, and on hand trackside. For more information on FDM, our race winning program, and our products and services please visit www.fdmkarting.com or call us at 720-323-3650.