Birel Scores Cadet Class Poles & Break Through Win In JICA at Final FWT Round

OCALA, FL (March 17, 2008) --- The final round of the Florida Winter Tour, held this past weekend at Ocala Gran Prix in Ocala, FL, showcased stellar performances for junior Birel racers. MRP-Birel AMERICA’s Sage Karam scored his first JICA victory in Sunday’s JICA final. In the Cadet class, other young drivers have picked up where Sage left off last season, as Logan Bearden (MKP/Birel) and Austin Self (MKP/Birel) both scored a pole award on the weekend.

“Our junior program has been incredible so far,” said Chris Lobaugh, Engineer for MRP-Birel AMERICA. “The karts have been fantastic and we are continually finding ways to make them faster to share with other Birel customers. It has been a focus of ours and it is nice to see these young drivers developing into race winners and champions.”

Karam held off late charges in Sunday’s final, re-passing for the lead with only a few laps remaining. He had started the day by qualifying 7th in the 25-kart field. He had finished in the 10th position in Saturday’s final. His efforts were rewarded with a top-10 result in the final championship standings.

“This win was way ahead of schedule for Sage considering it was only his third weekend in the class,” said Lobaugh. “Hopefully we can continue to learn and progress. Sage has been adapting well and is very talented.”

In Cadet, Bearden raced to a 4th place in Saturday’s final after qualifying on the pole. He would add another 4th place finish in Sunday’s final right behind teammate, Self, who finished in 3rd after setting the fastest qualifying time for the day. Bearden and Self would finish the FWT season in 3rd and 4th in the championship standings.

The senior shifter classes saw Josh Schreiber (MRP-Birel AMERICA) finish in 6th in Sunday’s Pro-Shifter final. Schreiber would end up 8th in the FWT championship followed by Alex Speed (MRP/Birel) in 9th even though he missed the last two rounds.

Jason Lee (Team MKP/Birel) topped off a strong FWT campaign in the Masters Shifter class with a pair of 2nd place finishes on the weekend, good enough to give him the runner-up spot in the final points standings. Ed Oberholtzer (OVRP/Birel) finished in 4th in both finals while Camelo Rubio (RYSA/Birel) finished in 6th both days. Jamieson Smith (RYSA/Birel) took a 5th place in Sunday’s final.

David Zippie (Dog House Racing/Birel) was able to move up from the 19th position in the hotly contested Spec Racer class to finish in 10th in Sunday’s final.

For more information regarding MRP Motorsport, Birel or the MRP-Birel AMERICA race program, call (269-756-9133) or contact us online at www.mrpmotorsport.com. Information regarding the Birel chassis line may be found at www.GoBirel.com.