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| February 17, 2012 News |
| Event News: Florida Winter Tour - Homestead - Rotax Max Challenge - Preview |
| Article by: Ken Johnson and Bill Wright |
This weekend in Homestead, Florida, some of the best Rotax MAX Challenge racers from The Americas and around the world will battle for supremacy in the world’s largest Rotax Max Challenge as the Formula Kart Productions Florida Winter Tour returns to Homestead-Miami Speedway. This will be the second of three double-race weekends of Rotax MAX Challenge competition in Formula Kart Production’s Florida Winter Tour presented by SPORTALITY. At stake are prestigious FWT race wins, points towards championships for drivers, chassis manufacturers and nations, as well as four coveted invitations to this year’s Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals in Algarve, Portugal.
After last weekend’s FWT Formula Kart Racing events the United States has a commanding lead in the Nation’s Cup Championship, followed by Canada and Venezuela. In the Manufacturer’s Cup Championship CRG has the upper hand followed by Tony Kart and Intrepid. With many points still available in the Formula Kart and Rotax Max Challenge FWT weekends neither championship is settled, so stay tuned to see what unfolds before the FWT is wrapped up in March.
In Rotax MAX Senior it’s the return of the heavyweights as reigning MAX Challenge and double world champions Ben Cooper (UK) and Pier-Luc Ouellette (Canada) are back in action. This time however, they’re joined by the return of the reigning Florida Winter Tour Senior MAX Champion and Rotax Grand Finals vice champion David Sera (Australia), who missed the Palm Beach FWT RMC rounds. David was a close and hard fought second to Cooper at last year’s MAX Challenge Grand Finals so a bit of a re-match will take place this weekend in Homestead.
 | Nick Neri leads the Senior Max standings heading into this weekend's action
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Of course, before we get carried away with the accomplishments of the previously mentioned champions, it should be noted that none of them won in Palm Beach. At PBIR it was Mason Chelootz (USA) and Fritz Leesmann (USA) taking the Feature wins with newly named Tony Kart Factory Driver Nick Neri (USA) scoring maximum points over all senior competitors. And right behind them, Canadians Jesse Lazare and Alex Guenette and Costa Rican Daniel Formal had a strong weekend, too. Simply put, this field is stacked with world class talent. But races aren’t run on paper, their played out in dramatic fashion and you have the opportunity to watch some of the world’s best racing at the FWT, live in person, or on the Florida Winter Tour’s live broadcast of the events, at FWT LIVE!
In the Junior MAX class, 2010 Rotax Junior World Champion Jordi Van Morsel (Holland) returns after an up-and-down weekend in Palm Beach. After taking a hard fought win on Saturday, Jordi ran into some troubles on Sunday that kept him out of the Junior MAX Final. For a competitor of Jordi’s level we’re sure that will serve as extra motivation to do well this weekend here in Homestead. Also a winner in Palm Beach was Oliver Askew. After his experience as a Team USA member at last year’s Grand Finals in Al Ain, UAE, Oliver is focused on making the team again this year. With good results at Homestead could put himself in position to claim one of the four FWT Grand Finals spots. Other names to watch in Junior MAX this weekend are the USA’s Kyle Kirkwood and Ashley Ann Rogero and Canadians Parker Thompson and Zachary Claman Demelo.
Like the Senior MAX class, the Junior MAX class is stacked very deep with talent, so picking a winner ahead of time is like trying to tell someone who will win the Daytona 500 during pre-season testing. Likewise in Micro and Mini MAX. Antonio Serravalle (Canada) put on a great show in Palm Beach to take both Micro MAX Finals wins. But a quick glance at the MyLaps data reveals that his total winning margin for both days, even when added together, is under two-tenths of a second!
 | Oliver Askew (38) was a the Junior Max round two winner but Parker Thompson (88) leads the title chase
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
A further examination of the result show that, while Justin Sirgany (Jamaica) finished second in both of those Final races to Serravalle, he actually sits third in points behind Dylan Tavella (USA). There are two things to take from this; one is that you can’t afford a bad finish in this class whether it’s in the Pre-Final or the Final. The second thing to take away from this is after missing out on two wins and the points lead by a combined total of less than 2/10ths of a second, Sirgany will be on a mission this weekend in Homestead.
The Mini MAX category features a very international flair. The entry list, like many of the classes at the Florida Winter Tour, has a “We Are The World” list of nations, with many countries represented from throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. The FWT is pleased to see Rasmus Lindh (Sweden) returning to race with us after missing out on the PBIR FWT RMC rounds. Rasmus is the reigning FWT Micro MAX champion and this year moves up a class to Mini MAX. Leading the way with two Finals wins from Palm Beach is reigning Mini RoK World Champion Logan Sargeant (USA) who looked very stout last weekend at the FWT Formula Kart event. Other names to watch in Mini Max include Devlin DeFrancesco (USA), Pedro Cardosa (Brasil) and a surging Gianfranco Mazzaferro (Canada).
The two-speed DD2 kart is the most powerful and fastest combination in MAX Challenge competition and it features two FWT classes; DD2 and DD2 Masters, the former featuring drivers 32 years-of-age and older. In DD2 Masters Alan Rudolph (USA) came to the FWT race in Palm Beach with a very impressive karting resume but zero seat time in a DD2. After learning the needs of his kart, he was able to put in a dominating performance to win on Sunday. Saturday winner Ryan Horses and fellow Canadian Stuart Clark also ran very strong at PBIR and no one can count out returning 2011 FWT DD2 Masters champion Rene Martinelli (Mexico) or Jean Valerio (Costa Rica).
 | Two wins at PBIR have Antonio Serravalle leading the Micro Max championship
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
The DD2 class is one to watch. With drivers like Cody Hodgson (USA) and strong Canadians like 2010 Rotax MAX Challenge DD2 World Champion Daniel Morad, reigning FWT DD2 Champion Michael Vincec, former SuperNationals winner Lorenzo Mandarini or recently dominant Nicholas Latifi, the DD2 race should not be missed.
After taking wins in last month’s event at PBIR, Jason Heffner (USA) and Thomas Radivoy (USA) look to continue their success in Rotax MAX Masters. However, Christiano Piquet (Brasil) and Pedro Troncoso (Dominican Republic) have other plans and will be looking for their first wins of 2012.
The Florida Winter Tour truly is “THE Winter Place To Be” with great racing action, intense competition, and friendly camaraderie. Beyond the race track, there’s always something going on in this part of the world for anyone in the entire family. Great restaurants, theme parks, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, golf, you name it. The FWT is more than a racing event, it’s a great place to bring the entire family.
If you can’t make it in person, log on to FWT LIVE! for live video and timing. We broadcast every day from Friday to Sunday and you won’t want to skip a minute of the action because you never know what you’ll miss out on. Who knows, we may even have Madonna perform during the lunch break. Or maybe not, but you’re going to have to tune in to find out!
Additional details can also be found on our website at http://www.FloridaWinterTour.com and be sure to “like” our facebook page at facebook.com/FloridaWinterTour to get the latest news and events between rounds. |
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