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| March 26, 2010 |
| Driver News: Devlin DeFrancesco - Florida Winter Tour Ocala Rotax Report |
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 | DeFrancesco begins his 9th Florida race weekend today
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Devlin DeFrancesco has completed two karting schedules, and a third of the winter season will wrap this coming weekend at Ocala as the 2010 Florida Winter Tour comes to a close. It will be a third consecutive weekend of action for the Florida resident, as over the previous two the curtain came down on the Championship Karting International Florida Cup and the Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge.
The best championship standing of the trio comes in Vortex TaG Cadet for DeFrancesco, as the ten-year-old sits fourth in the championship through two rounds with 695 points. He finished the inaugural CKI Florida Cup at Homestead by jumping to eighth in final points two weeks ago, and wrapped the FWT Max Challenge eighteenth after a dry-wet weekend that didn’t end according to plan.
Things got off on the wrong foot last weekend as after timing P6 in final practice, a brake rub led to P13 in Saturday qualifying and created some work for the rest of the day. He set to it quickly in the prefinal, as he lapped quicker for the first five consecutive laps and climbed to ninth. After racing the middle stages of the race there, consistent lap times brought him to the tail of the top eight, where he wiggled his way in over the closing laps. After taking eighth on lap ten, he moved to sixth on lap eleven with his best lap of the race - a 37.993 on his way to the white flag. He took on more spot on the final lap, to start the final from P5.
After slotting sixth in the main event, the forward charge continued as by the end of five laps DeFrancesco was in podium position sitting third. Sadly, the podium picture evaporated two laps later as he was knocked from the track in the run to turn two. DeFrancesco returned in P29, and clawed back a handful of positions before the final flag. Sunday then proved a whole new ball game, as rain was drowning the Ocala facility and adding ten seconds to lap times.
DeFrancesco started the day in 21st after a soggy session but for the second straight day was a man on the move in the prefinal. This time he was eight positions better on the track when the checker waved, and after penalties were assessed he gained three more to start the final in P13. The final led to a few backward steps at the start, but once again he came forward as he climbed from twentieth back to his starting spot in seven laps. DeFrancesco’s RMC would end three laps shy of the checker though, when he retired after losing his nose cone.
The pair of results were in stark contrast to what DeFrancesco posted at Homestead, as he qualified on the outside of row two and fought his way to fifth on Saturday. A more impressive run came a day later, as after qualifying fourth once again, he retired from the prefinal after a crash. Starting the final race of the schedule from 13th, Devlin carved his way all the way back to his qualifying spot of fourth - his best result of the Florida Cup.
He’ll be looking for much the same this weekend as the Vortex TaG Cadet schedule comes to a close at Ocala, a class where DeFrancesco has never been outside the top five in four races of the Florida Winter Tour. Follow the weekend events at floridawintertour.com powered by Supertune USA and DeFrancesco Racing. |
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