Pro Karting - Giebler Racing Delivers Top-five Finishes

FONTANA, April 7, 2012: Phil Giebler Racing’s Jonathan May and Kiel Spaulding drove to top-five finishes in all four features in Senior Rotax at the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas final round Saturday (March 31) and Sunday (April 1) at the CalSpeed Karting Center on the grounds of Auto Club Speedway.

May finished second Saturday and third Sunday in his debut weekend in the Senior division. The 15-year-old from San Marcos, Calif., made a smooth transition from Junior Rotax, qualifying third fastest and finishing third in the pre-final Saturday. He was fifth fastest in qualifying and finished fifth in the pre-final Sunday.

“Jonathan had great races and adapted to the racing in the Senior division very quickly,” team owner Phil Giebler said. “He looked like a veteran out there and never made a mistake.”

Spaulding finished fifth Saturday and fourth Sunday. The 15-year-old from Elk Grove, Calif., was fifth in qualifying and third in the pre-final Saturday and sixth in qualifying and ninth in the pre-final on Sunday. Spaulding finished second in the three-round, six-event championship.

“We fell a little short in the end, but second in the championship is a great result,” Giebler said. “It was a good battle through all six races of the championship and coming down to the final race made it very dramatic and fun to watch.

“Kiel was always running in the top five, but could not find the consistency to keep him battling at the front. The changing track conditions—the track was recently repaved and lacked a lot of grip—caught us out. We worked really hard and Kiel did a good job behind the wheel.”

Senior Rotax had 33 starters Saturday and 32 Sunday in the features. Phil De Le O of Peoria, Ariz., won the feature and the pre-final Sunday to take the Challenge of the Americas championship and qualify for the Rotax Max Grand Finals in Portugal in November. Kiel was the lone American qualifier for the event in 2011 and finished 29th.