Mayer Motorsports Driver John Pence Jr. Scores Win at IKF Grand Nationals

Team MMI driver John Pence Jr. won the NCK 80cc West Coast class at the 2003 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals, which were held at Thunderhill Raceway the week of September 23, 2003. For his efforts, Pence brought home the coveted Duffy Award, the top honor for IKF competition. Pence also competed in the Formula 80 Sr. class and finished a respectable 7th overall.

Formula 80cc Sr. Report:
Formula 80 Sr. was the first class of the day and because of his many wins last year (and being the current NCK Champion) John started off pole but was soon over taken and shuffled back to about mid pack. One group got away out front, and for the first time in a long time, he wasn't part of it. John finished about 8th of the 18 karts in the class. His crew discovered, among other things, a water leak around the cylinder head. After receiving permission from the tech inspectors, Crew Chief John Sr. and mechanic Justin Gizzi replaced the cylinder and head with last year's set up.

The next heat John started in the middle of the pack. John caught up to, and ran with, the lead pack -- but this time there were 7 karts in the lead pack. The Race was on! The seven leaders changed positions several times each lap and John actually posted the fastest lap of the day (2:05:676 on the 3rd lap). On lap 7, John and one other racer were separated from the front pack, but on the last lap they caught the leaders, traveling about 5 mph faster than the lead pack. As John passed for second place, another driver pulled over for a pass on the leader, pushing John into the dirt where he hit the end of a burm and went airborne. The driver of the kart following him said there was no way to recover, but some how John did and he finished 7th for a 7th place finish.

NCK 80cc West Coast Report:
Friday was an inspection and repair day. John's aerial acrobatics the day before broke one of the seat struts. His chassis was disassembled and repairs were made. Saturday started out well. The strategy for the day was set: John had to get into the lead pack on the first lap -- and John did just that. Three karts broke away from the 18-kart field. John stayed in 3rd and on lap three John realized that he could run away from the second place kart and passed heading into turn 2. As they were coming out of turn 5 the leader's kart let out a big puff of smoke and pulled off the course, giving John the lead! He continued to build distance between himself and the kart in 2nd place. On about lap 5, as John came out of turn 3, the 2nd-place kart was no where to be seen, falling victor to another blown motor. John Sr. signaled John not to let up and he caught and passed two karts and crossed the finish line with a margin of victory of 20 seconds.