When Jamaican Senna Summerbell started from 5th position in the Final of the FIA Americas E-Karting Cup the mission was clear; try for a podium finish and be in the top four to claim a spot in the DEKM Rotax Grand Finals later this week. He initially dropped two spots down to 7th after the first lap but then worked his way to 4th on lap seven of the eight lap race.
As he began the last lap Senna seemed poised to claim an automatic qualifying spot in the DEKM Rotax Grand Finals and was within two-tenths of a podium spot of the FIA Americas race itself. A bizarre kamikaze move by Argentinian Isidoro Vezzaro hit the side of Senna’s kart, forcing him to brake hard, and allowed another competitor past into 4th place, the final automatic qualifying spot. With little more than half lap left in the race Senna couldn’t recover in time to challenge and crossed the line in 5th. A 5-second penalty levied by the Stewards post-race against the Argentinian was of little comfort; Senna was 100% in the right but nothing could be done about the result.
“He got a five second penalty for what he did to me, costing me the 4th position” said Senna “I really appreciate the opportunity I was given and can’t thank the JMMC enough. Win or lose I learned a lot.”
Pictured: 1) Senna with the other racers of the FIA Americas E-Karting Cup. 2) Senna standing in front of the podium with 1st, 2nd 3rd behind. 3) Senna in his Rotax Thunder E-Kart. 4) Senna with two fellow racers. 5) the contact mark where Senna’s kart was hit in the Final. 6) The FIA Americas E-Karting Cup karters standing on the track. 7) E-Karts on the grid for the Final.
