So very close - Dramatic End to Near Perfect Vegas Performance
In the country that loves winners and its city that can break your heart on the turn of a card or roll of a dice, Forza really did experience the highs and lows of Las Vegas.
As the reigning Super Karts USA (SKUSA) SuperNationals champion, George Russell was keen to not only defend his title but also to sign-off his glittering Junior career with a back-to-back victory at the sixteenth running of the annual event, held this year in Nevada (14-18 November 2012).
He dominated the early proceedings; qualifying on pole position for the heats, before winning all three of them and claiming P1 for the Grand Final.
A clean getaway from the start line saw George maintain his advantage and he quickly began to look comfortable and assured at the front of the large field. He was further aided by his nearest rivals fighting over 2nd place.
As the race settled down however, it was Canadian Lance Stroll who broke clear and began chasing down the English star. At the midway point, Stroll had caught George and was able to find a gap, taking the lead on lap twelve. From there he was able to power away from his rival with some ease.
Georgedriving the new OK1 kart and sporting a special edition FreemUK racesuit - took the chequered flag in a comfortable 2nd place and was ready to be hailed as the Vice-Champion, when the stewards issued an amended results sheet. A wave of excitement immediately ran through the paddock as it emerged that Stroll had been disqualified for an irregularity with his exhaust header, which delivered more power to his engine and therefore gave him a speed advantage over his fellow competitors. However, the teams joy was to be short-lived as Stroll launched an appeal was upheld.
Forza team manager Jamie Croxford could not his hide his frustration or confusion: Having been so dominant in both qualifying and in all three heats, I was fairly sure we were comfortable enough to control the final, especially when George stretched the lead to nearly two seconds. However, Stroll suddenly found a lot of pace, and really started to reel him in. Lance caught, passed and gapped George quite easily. Obviously Im gutted with finishing second, and was very disappointed that we had not finished the week as we intended to.
He added: The next thing we knew was that Stroll had been disqualified from the result for a broken restrictor or header. To me, this then made complete sense as to how he managed to beat us so comfortably. It is unlucky for Lance as he drove well, but the scrutineers judged the broken header as giving a clear power advantage hence the disqualification.
Despite their frustration, Jamie said that he and George always want to win on the track: This is not the way either George, me, or any involved would ever want to win - and even had Stroll not managed to win his appeal the victory would still have been soured with us not crossing the line first. However, I am now assured that there was nothing more George or the team could have done to change the result.
Echoing Jamies comments, George agreed: We did everything perfectly all weekend, and to the best of our ability. Unfortunately the result was out of our hands in the final but we can still hold our heads high.
On another bright note, Georges team-mate for the meeting, Enaam Ahmed, enjoyed a brilliant debut both with the team in the Junior ranks. The newly-crowned Super One Comer Cadet champion made a strong impression from the outset.
After the preliminary heats, Enaam had qualified 19th overallout of over eighty competitors - and during the pre-final warm-up posted the 7th-fastest lap time. His ambition to finish in the top ten was dashed at the first corner in a crash but he had already done enough to prove that he is already one to watch in KF3 in 2012!
