Margay.com CES opens 2003 at Grattan Raceway By Joe Brittin GRATTAN, MI - The first round of the Margay.com Championship Enduro Series was held at the challenging Grattan Raceway on a cool and at times rainy weekend on May 30 through June 1. Rain always seems to be a factor at Grattan and once again the sprinkles arrived to delay the program somewhat on Saturday morning. However, the track was dried out quickly in the morning practice rounds and by combining two enduro races, the full program was held without any reductions in race length. Although temperatures dipped to near record lows on Saturday night, Sunday warmed up to the low 60's with plenty of sunshine. Grattan Raceway has been described as one of the most challenging road courses in the U.S. and racers seem to either love it or hate it. Grattan's ten turns include a combination of winding hills, off-camber corners, hidden apexes, a banked Monza bowl, and a blind entrance hairpin corner. Add in the 3200' long front straight and you have a track that demands plenty of practice time in order to learn the best lines. Although the track was re-paved in 1995, several large bumps have emerged which can get a kart airborne. The combination of turns and bumps left many drivers quite fatigued after their race. The hilly setting of Grattan also provides an ideal setting for spectators, as most of the track is visible from the centrally located pit area. Several lakes located throughout the grounds are stocked for fishing for those looking for a slower paced activity. Five rounds of practice were held on Friday prior to the Intrepid Kart Pro Shifter Series, which is now held at the end of the day on Friday after the practice rounds are completed. The spec tire for this race is the Bridgestone YHC compound that must be purchased at the track. The Intrepid Kart Pro Shifter Series classes were won by Clayton Prater in the SK 125cc class and by Brian Kay in the ICC-125 class. Prater and Kay found themselves battling for the overall win with Prater taking the win by just inches at the finish line. Rounding out the top three in SK 125 were Ross Kasner and Erik Weinberg. The ICC-125 Pro group was won by Brian Kay with Rich Salerno and Oscar Navarro also making the podium. Grattan Raceway is always popular with the shifter classes and over 100 shifter karts were entered in the four shifter races that were held over the weekend. The Great Lakes Region SKUSA series shared the track on Sunday with 46 SKUSA entries on hand. Many of the SKUSA drivers competed in the Saturday CES shifter classes to get additional track time. A variety of shifter classes were competing ranging from the 60cc Juniors to 250cc Unlimiteds. Young Davey Larson ran the quickest time of the weekend at 1:20.978 in his T2 Racekarts 125 shifter on Saturday, although his kart did not finish the race. Brian Kupper ran the quickest lap for an enduro class at 1:23.860 in the Unlimited class. Except for one red flag during shifter practice, the event was completed safely without any races being red flagged. The shifter driver suffered minor rib injuries. The Novice class continues to grow in entries with about ten karts racing each day. This class, for the 8 to 11 year olds, gives the young guys and girls a chance to run the big tracks. Tom Steinbach and Brian Ellis were the first to take the checkered flag, however, all Novice participants received trophy plaques. Picking up multiple wins over the weekend were Dale Clark in Unlimited both days, John Larue in Sat. Yamaha SBX and Enduro Team SSX Can, Clayton Prater in SK 125 Pro and Sun. SK-125, Jessica Brannam in Sprint Yamaha Jr. YBX both days, Brad Richards in Sprint 4-Cycle Open both days, Jeff Ramsdell in Sprint CIK Yamaha SSX both days, Jerry Revely in Sun. Sprint Yamaha and Sprint Team SSX, Dan Bakke in Sun Sprint Briggs and Team Sprint Briggs and Regan Vehring in Sun. Sprint Animal and Team Sprint Animal. Next stop for the CES is the Road America Super Nationals on June 13, 14 and 15 at Elkhart Lake, WI. For more information on America's finest kart road racing series check out the series' website online at www.championshipenduro.com.