April 8, 2006:Parker Kligerman Racks Up Third Straight Win
Round 3 – Saturday, April 8th: Parker Kligerman once again proved himself the man to beat as he racked up his third straight win with another commanding performance in the Formula TR 1600 Series at Buttonwillow. Mirroring his dominating start to the season in the first two rounds at the California Speedway last month, the Paladin Motorsports racer took the victory in Round 3 from pole to maintain his championship lead.
The action kicked off early as the 30-minute race started with Tony Welch and Kerstin Smutney collecting each other at the first turn, bringing out an early full-course caution. Both drivers got going again and when the track went green Kligerman once again marched off into the distance. Alexander Rossi ensured his return to Formula TR 1600 competition with Odyssey Motorsports would be a successful one as he passed Liam Kenney to take second place – a position he held all the way to the checkered.
Kenney then found himself locked in a battle for several laps with Luis Martinez. As they raced each other around the 3.12-mile track Martinez eventually emerged victorious moving up into third spot. Behind the fight for the final podium spot, Tayler Malsam and Billy Goshen again had solid runs taking fifth and sixth place respectively. Smutney finished seventh, her progress hampered by the first turn collision. Tony Welch’s bad luck continued as he parked out on track with two laps to go – his incident, combined with another beached car, bringing out another full-course caution to end the race under the yellows.
Round 3 Results: 1st Kligerman, 2nd Rossi, 3rd Martinez, 4th Kenney, 5th Malsam, 6th Goshen, 7th Smutney, 8th Grisdale, 9th Welch
1st – Parker Kligerman: “We did really well here today. I got the jump at the start and did the same thing at the re-start following the caution. From there I just had to keep my focus and go with the conditions on the track. We’re prepared to go for the win again tomorrow!”
2nd – Alexander Rossi: “We struggled a bit in qualifying so I ended up third. At the start I got up to second but Parker was able to pull out on us as we were having some brake issues. I lost a little bit of confidence but we were able to compete at the front and I’m happy to be back with second.”
3rd – Luis Martinez: “This track is perfect for overtaking and I found myself passing for third, dropping back but being able to pass again to keep third place and take the podium finish. This is a fun, fast circuit! We might tweak the car a little but we’ve got a good set-up here.”
