BIREL STARS OF KARTING REPORT - USA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

GRESHAM WAGNER SCORES FIRST CAREER STARS WIN

SHAWANO, WI (July 18, 2008) --- Round #3 of the Stars of Karting East series held at USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI last weekend saw young MRP-Birel AMERICA pilot, Gresham Wagner, score his first Stars of Karting Cadet class victory of the season. Birel drivers made a huge statement in Cadet with a 1,2,3 sweep of the podium in the first Final.

“We didn’t field a lot of karts this weekend but our results were very good,” said Chris Lobaugh, Engineer for MRP-Birel AMERICA. “Congratulations to Gresham for a very smart race. The two classes we campaigned this weekend netted solid results.”

Wagner started the weekend by setting fast time in qualifying with teammates Andrew Murray and Logan Bearden in 7th and 9th. Murray was fast right off the trailer setting the fastest laps in practice but couldn’t get the lap he wanted in Saturday’s qualifying session. Both Murray and Bearden hooked up in the first final however to work their way to the front to battle for the lead. The last few laps saw other competitors make moves that wouldn’t stick and in the end the trio had swept the podium with Wagner taking his maiden win followed by Murray and Bearden.

In Final #2 it was Wagner again at the point with only a few laps remaining in a heated battle with the second place driver. In the final right-hander the driver made his move and made contact with Wagner effectively taking each out of contention for the win as two drivers slipped by. Bearden slipped through to take 2nd while Wagner was able to recover to finish in the 3rd position. Austin Self was able to recover from bad luck in Final #1 and finished in 10th in Final #2.

The quality results provided both Wagner and Bearden an opportunity to race in Europe in the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Series, courtesy of the Stars of Karting and their sponsors. The Birel pilots will represent America and the Stars series as guests.

In JICA it was 2007 Stars Cadet Champion, Sage Karam (MRP-Birel AMERICA) leading the rookie assault for Birel in the 30-kart field. The young driver put in solid heat race performances before the team was able to hit on a better set-up that pushed him up the grid in the Final events. In Final #1 the driver logged a strong 7th place finish and repeated the result in Final #2 after a long stint of running in the Top 5.