BIREL DRIVERS TAKE 5 WINS IN WKA GRAND NATIONALS AT SHAWANO

BIREL RACERS HAVE A SOLID WEEKEND WITH SEVERAL PODIUMS AT THE RACERSITES.COM WKA GRAND NATIONALS

SHAWANO, WI (June 18, 2007) – This past weekend saw the Birel contingent stand above the rest, taking 5 victories at the 2007 Racersites.com WKA Grand Nationals at USA International Speedway in Shawano, Wis. MRP/Birel AMERICA driver, Sage Karam, took home two Grand National awards for wins in Cadet and Yamaha Jr. Sportsman while John Dixon (Team MKP) won Yamaha Masters, Chris Larson (MRP/Birel AMERICA) scored a victory in Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Lt. and Steve Nemeth won in HPV Jr. Lite. In addition, Birel drivers logged 11 podium finishes and 17 top five finishes.

“Overall the weekend went very well,” said Tim Lobaugh, Engineer for MRP-Birel AMERICA. “We continue to show that Birel is very strong in the junior kart classes and we have come a long way in the senior classes and are now seeing some great results. With a little more racing luck, we could have doubled our win total. Our customers were very happy this weekend.”

For Birel, the strongest showing was in Cadet, with 16 of the 31 entries choosing the popular C28 chassis. Drivers like Kilian Bloat (3rd in Cadet 1, 8th in Cadet 2), Jacques Saurino (RP Motorsports – 4th Cadet 2), Austin Self (6th Cadet 2), Aidan Landauer (MDR – 10th Cadet 2) and Karam who brought home a win and Fast Time awards in both finals.

Karam’s win in Yamaha Jr. Sportsman was followed up with a podium finish by Self (3rd) and a 7th place finish for Stephen Kalogiannis in the 30-kart field.

The drivers that raced the most together were that of MRP driver, Cole Mann, Steve Nemeth and Sterling Shaw. The trio logged top ten finishes in three events, including a win by Nemeth in HPV Jr. Lite followed by Shaw in 4th and Mann in 6th. In Yamaha Jr. Sportsman Lite, Shaw took honors with a 5th place followed by Nemeth (9th) and Mann (10th). HPV Jr. Heavy had Shaw finish a strong 4th with Mann and Nemeth coming across the line in 8th and 9th. Mann would also place 4th in Yamaha Jr. Sportsman Heavy.

The final junior class of the weekend was JICA. Team MKP’s Billy McLaughlin Jr. worked his way through the pack to place a strong 3rd, his top finish so far this season in the WKA class.

The senior classes saw two more wins with Dixon and Larson each taking one a piece. Larson’s win in Yamaha Sr. Sportsman Lite showed the pace of the Birel chassis as he qualified in 2nd and then took home the fastest lap award and the win. Mike Giessen was in the hunt qualifying just one spot behind him but a broken ignition took him out early on.

Giessen would recover however to log the fastest lap of HPV Lite, eventually finishing 4th behind MRP-Birel AMERICA teammate Larson (3rd).

“Our junior drivers continue to amaze all of us and we are lucky to be involved with their families,” said Lobaugh. “We are ready for our next event and hope we have similar results. Thanks to all of our loyal Birel customers for the hard work they put in each weekend.”

For more information MRP Motorsport or MRP-Birel AMERICA race program, call (269-756-9133) or visit us online at www.mrpmotorsport.com. Information regarding the 2007 Birel chassis line may be found at www.GoBirel.com.