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| April 08, 2010 |
| Team News: DeFrancesco Racing - March Report |
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 | Chaponick checked out on the field at the Ocala finale
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
DeFrancesco Racing wrapped up the third month of its 2010 season recently by bringing three championship schedules to a close in Florida. March began with the Championship Karting International Florida Cup finale for the team before back-to-back weekends at Ocala Gran Prix spelled the end to both the Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge and Formula Kart schedules. Team drivers were once again front and centre, securing three poles, five prefinal and two main event wins.
The team’s leading trio of Dore Chaponick Jr., Kyle Kirkwood and Devlin DeFrancesco were in the thick of the action at Homestead Karting where all three qualified in the front two rows both days. Kirkwood looked best suited to score after starting from pole twice, but after sweeping the day on Sunday was demoted for having a cracked pipe on his Rotax Mini-Max. He was fourth on Saturday, the same position he finished in the championship. DeFrancesco ran fifth-fourth to take seventh in the championship, while Chaponick put the team on the podium Saturday in finishing third. He followed with eighth on Sunday, and was fourth in the Florida Cup final points.
Another pair of drivers joined the outfit for the opening weekend at Ocala, Cole Glasson and Patricio O’Ward bringing DeFrancesco Racing to four Mini-Max drivers. O’Ward led the way in his team debut as he was fifth on Saturday and on the podium in third on Sunday. Glasson also produced a pair of top-ten runs after crossing eighth in the dry and tenth in the wet on day two. Kirkwood and DeFrancesco had forgettable weekends that had them looking five days forward before the racing was out, while Chaponick was headed in the same direction before he stepped up to dazzle in wet conditions. He qualified third on Sunday and won the prefinal before being battered early in the main. Chaponick held from the wave of the green and led the first half-lap before things got three and four-wide in the hairpins. The DeFrancesco Racing driver was knocked as low as tenth before moving back up to seventh by the checker.
Looking to put the team back in the win column for the month, Chaponick, Kirkwood and DeFrancesco each came out flying at the final Formula Kart weekend. Kirkwood and DeFrancesco qualified two-three before upping to one-two in the prefinal, and Kirkwood found a win for March when he took the main event. DeFrancesco was left to rebound after washing wide at the start, and made his way back to fourth in TaG Cadet. Chaponick also took a win on Saturday after qualifying third, holding in the prefinal and dominating the main event. He slotted to second in turn one, and a lap later used the same turn to move into first before checking out on the field by five seconds. He repeated on the podium a day later, as after taking pole and winning the prefinal Chaponick was third in a sopping wet feature. DeFrancesco was also on the blocks in third, while Kirkwood was headed there before being forced into retirement on lap seven.
DeFrancesco Racing now heads into the summer season with a pair of events in April. The first will come this weekend as the team converges on New Castle Motorsports Park for the opening round of the WSK North American Series by CKI, and the final weekend of the month will see the team in Texas for the opening round of the Pan American Rotax Max Challenge
DeFrancesco Racing March Results:
Championship Karting International Florida Cup
Kyle Kirkwood, 4th - 11th, P4 in Mini-Max Championship
Devlin DeFrancesco, 5th - 4th, P7 in Mini-Max Championship
Dore Chaponick Jr., 3rd - 8th, P4 in Junior-Max Championship
Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max Challenge Weekend
Patricio O’Ward 5th - 3rd, P4 in Mini-Max Championship
Kyle Kirkwood, 17th - 8th, P5 in Mini-Max Championship
Cole Glasson, 8th - 10th, P16 in Mini-Max Championship
Devlin DeFrancesco, 24th - 27th, P18 in Mini-Max Championship
Dore Chaponick Jr., 29th - 7th, P10 in Junior-Max Championship
Florida Winter Tour Formula Kart Weekend
Kyle Kirkwood, 1st - 8th, P2 in Cadet Championship
Devlin DeFrancesco, 4th - 3rd, P5 in Cadet Championship
Dore Chaponick Jr., 1st - 3rd, P3 in Junior Championship |
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