2003 Rock Island Grand Prix

=Riders on the Storm=

Perhaps what makes the "Rock" unique are the combination of the right ingredients to be an event worthy of world-class competition.  Held in the downtown city streets of Rock Island Illinois, Race Promoter Roger Ruthhart has worked very hard over the last 9 years to continually develop and improve the program.  The 15 Class structures are the perfect blend to encourage participants from any organization.  To solve the differences between IKF and WKA rules for Yamaha can classes, Spec Cans are provided to all entrants in these classes.

At the top of the honors is the King of the Streets based on the 125cc ICC formula shifters following the SKUSA Rules.  Previously the King was crowned based on running the SuperPro Moto based formula, although the ICC has quickly become the standard of choice among the pro competitors.

The entire city comes together to help facilitate this event.  Friday evening promptly at 5:00 the streets where the course is laid out are closed.  Over 100 people get real busy - placing banners, installing a great audio system, laying out hay bales, stringing catch fencing, installing bleachers, and about 50 other things that need to go on.  Even SKUSA's Jim Murley was busy cutting the road and installing the AMB loop until 4:00 AM.

We want to thank Roger, Becky, Deb, Tom, Bob, and all the tireless volunteers for their efforts at bringing the Rock Island Grand Prix together.  The Rock Island Grand Prix is more then just the premier karting event in America.  The festive ambiance of a small city like Rock Island is a perfect setting for this quality event.  Its the type of thing that on the drive home leaves you with a good feeling, something you are proud to have been a part of even if you finish last.  Sure the racing is important, but somehow, just being part of it probably more important to most.

Rob Howden and Bill Ruthhart did the announcements for the Races, rounding out the entertainment value that attracts the thousands of spectators to watch the racing at the Rock.  Its a very special event, the kind that brings people back.

Tom Argy held a short drivers meeting Saturday morning  to kick off the day of controlled practice and qualifying.  With clouds overhead and temps in the upper 70's the concern of rain was ever present. 

Practice and qualifying brought out some new sounds to go with the new look of Tecpro barriers.  By lining the major impact points with Tecpro, wayward karts tend to bounce off the plastic barriers with a loud distinctive thump, sometimes heard around the entire track.  Tecpro also has safety benefits over hay bales causing far less chassis damage and driver injuries the hay bales alone.  Other track changes included repaving of the street used for the front straight taking some of the bumps out. 

While rules changes to some classes were contributed to new track records, better tires tuning and chassis were in effect too.  Saturday schedules were on-time, even finishing up a little early.  Two red flag incidents included a minor flip at turn 6 and a hard impact into the barriers at turn 1 as a TAG competitor lost brakes.

As Rock Island was granted international licensing, the ICC and ICA classes were added to the roster for 2003.  Turnout was strong for ICC as the top level of racing in the USA has already migrated from Moto to ICC power.  Entries were sparse in this first year for ICA at the Rock, but it's pretty certain to rise next year as the RIGP may be added to the schedule on the CIK calendar.  TAG USA International replaced the Rotax class, and the TAG Masters class was added to replace the Biland Nationals after a last minute cancellation.

The Rock also seems to be the one national level event that draws mainstream karting media into competition.  Shifter Kart Illustrated Editor Rob Howden wore his helmet in the 125 Masters Race, with Rhonda Mims Brown tackling the TAG Masters Class, and Kartweb's Chief Video Technician Derek Denman racing in the 125 Semi-Pro class.

Saturday evening featured a great time in the downtown "District" with entertainment provided by the "Travoltas".

Early Sunday morning the cloud precipitation slowly began to fall.  While the word around the pits was the rain would clear out by 11:00 AM, it continued through the day with only occasional breaks.  Rain tires were a sellout among several vendors with many karters getting their first taste of rain setup and driving.  The wet track was really tricky as turns 2, 3, 4 had more slippery spots partly due to paint stripes.

320 Entrants were qualified for the 15 Final Races held on Sunday afternoon.  The rain also tested the RTMP crew who were producing videos for Kartweb as the first full-wet production.  All the cameras functioned, and preliminary reviews provided some excellent footage!

As Kartweb provides the premier race report coverage for the Rock, and the only source of flag-to-flag racing video from the rock, we are continuing our tradition of composing a separate report on each class.  These reports are linked in table below and include AMB Scoring results from Qualifying and Final Races.  Race videos will be released on a weekly basis in the order in which they ran.  A triple set of DVD's will be released each containing 5 races, and single race CD's will be available as each race is completed.  Subscribers will get 50% discounts on DVD's and CD's.

2003 Rock Island Photogallery

2002 Rock Island Archives