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| February 19, 2012 News |
| Event News: Florida Winter Tour - Homestead - Rotax Max Challenge - Saturday Report |
| Article by: Ken Johnson and Bill Wright |
This morning more than 250 of the fastest Rotax MAX Challenge racers from around the world and more than one thousand participants attending the event were greeted by another beautiful Florida sunrise as they made their way to Homestead Karting for the third Rotax Max Challenge event of the 2012 edition of Formula Kart Production’s Florida Winter Tour, presented by SPORTALITY. Over the last decade The FWT has grown into one of the largest, most geographically diverse and intensely competitive karting programs in the world. Couple that with warm Florida sunshine, world-class tourist attractions, great restaurants and amenities that the whole family will enjoy, and the Florida Winter Tour is truly “THE Winter Place To Be!”
Texan Mike Jones agrees, “This really is the only place to be right now. The weather is great and the competition is the best you’ll find anywhere this time of the year.” And Mike should know, he’s been racing karts of all kinds for 35 years, and racing in Rotax MAX competition since 2001. This weekend the 40-year-old from Sachse, TX is competing in DD2 Masters.
You cannot be involved in karting for over three decades without having a true passion for the sport. And Mike’s passion recently led him to start his own kart shop and race track with his racing partner, Kevin Adds, in Caddo Mills Texas, just east of Dallas. It was there that Mike says he has his fondest memory from his years in karting, “I’ll never forget the first time I saw a dozen kid karts competing at the Dallas Karting Complex. To see these young kids with their enthusiasm for the sport we all love was very special.”
This weekend Mike has five other racers from DKC in the tent with him and sees more coming to the FWT in the future. “Sales have been great!” he said with a smile. “We’ve been talking to a bunch of sports car racers who can’t believe karting offers so much speed and competition for so much less than the cars they race,” he added.
 | Nicholas Latifi celebrates a great win in Saturday's DD2 Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Jean Valerio is another karter with a true passion for the sport. Jean hails from Alajuela in Costa Rica and has been in racing for 21 years. Like Mike Jones Jean is also racing in DD2 Masters and really wanted to come to the FWT to see how he stacks up against the best competition. “There are not that many kart racers back home. I win a lot of races but I really wanted to come here to test myself against the best,” he said. Although he admitted to feeling a little rusty in the first couple rounds in Palm Beach, he did stand on the podium and earn valuable Nations Cup points for Costa Rica. “I haven’t competed in International competition for 12 years, so I wasn’t sure how I would do, but I was pretty happy with my results,” he said.
While Jean may not have driven in international competition in 12 years, he has worked the races. Many Rotax MAX Team USA members remember Jean from his duty as the tuner for Juan Sanso at the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals in 2004. And Jean admits that returning to the Grand Finals as a driver is his motivation for this year’s Florida Winter Tour.
Everywhere you look in the FWT paddock here in Homestead, you see characters of all types. And they don’t come with any more character than 12-year-old Mini MAX competitor Devlin DeFrancesco. Always quick with a big grin or a flashy pose for the camera, the five-year veteran of Rotax MAX competition is a front runner in one of the toughest classes in the FWT.
Devlin says that like many young drivers in his position, he’d love to race NASCAR or IndyCar some day, but for now karting is his only focus outside of school. “I love the speed and aggression,” said the young speedster. “And I love the Florida Winter Tour because it brings together the best. It’s extremely professional and a prestigious program to win. It’s SERIOUS FUN!” he added with his trademark smile.
Devlin was born in Toronto but currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He says winning an FWT championship is very high on his priority list. But, for now, his greatest racing accomplishment was wining last year’s Rotax Pan American Championship Event at New Castle, Indiana. “I started dead last in the rain and managed to win the race!” he said proudly. There’s no question Devlin has a bright future in the sport. Now, if we can only get him to come out of his shell just a little bit more...
DD2
 | Alan Rudolph was hounded early on by defending FWT DD2 Masters Champion Rene Martinelli
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
After Friday’s late afternoon qualifying sessions for Saturday’s races, the starting order for the Pre-Finals was set. In the SH Karting sponsored DD2 class, it was Nicholas Latifi (Canada) on pole position with a scorching fast lap of 46.361 seconds. In the Pre-Final, Nicholas fended off an early challenge from Cody Hodgeson (USA) to take the win.
After starting on the pole, Nicholas Latifi lost the early lead to Cody in the Final. By lap three Latifi was on top again and steadily pulled away. It was Nick’s second DD2 FWT win in a row and with fellow Canadian Darren White’s third place finish, there were a bunch of points earned for Canada in the FWT Nation’s Cup Championship standings.
DD2 Masters
In Keane Racing’s DD2 Masters, it was Alan Rudolph (USA) on pole position as he looked to add more points for Team USA in the FWT Nation’s Cup Championship and extend CRG’s lead in the FWT Manufacturer’s Cup Championship. In the Pre-Final, Alan did just that as he took a 2+ second victory over Jean Valerio (Costa Rica).
In the DD2 Masters Final, defending FWT class champion Rene Martinelli (USA) was starting back in 12th after encountering problems in the Pre-Final. However, at the start of the race Rene got the start of the century and ended up going into turn two in second! Knowing he needed to make moves early in the race, Rene started with a setup that would be quick at the start but fade later on. This put him on Alan Rudolph’s rear bumper immediately, and challenge for the lead, but that was as close as he would get. He was, however, able to hold onto second over Valerio.
Micro MAX
 | Harry Coulton (478) took the win in Saturday's Micro MAX Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
After the DD2 Masters, the next group on the schedule was the PSLKartingUSA.com sponsored Micro MAX class. All 38 drivers, representing seven countries, started in the races, making these Homestead FWT races the largest fields of Micro Max competitors ever assembled.
In Friday’s qualifying session, Dylan Tavella (USA) set the fastest time which would see him leading the Pre-Final into turn one. Tavella was able to do just that but did end up losing the Pre-Final to Juan Crespi (Brazil) by less than one-tenth of a second.
In the Micro MAX Final, Crespi made a great start and took off with Tavella in tow. Problems for Tavella on lap four knocked him but of the race, but Crespi was able to hold the lead. In the last couple laps, Antonio Serravalle (Canada) emerged from the pack to challenge the Brasilian Crespi.
Going into the last corner of the last lap Serravalle made his move and that’s when it all went wrong. The passing attempt did not come off gracefully and the ensuing contact sent Crespi off the track and into the barriers. This effectively took both the young racers out of the results and it was Harry Coulton (USA) coming home with the win followed by Leonardo Rinaldi (Venezuela) in second and David Morales (USA) in third.
Those three weren’t the only Micro MAX drivers getting awards however. At every 2012 FWT RMC race day, ULV Custom Racing Suits awards two “Hard Charger: awards to the drivers that make up the most spots on the track in the Finals. One of these went to Mini MAX #451, Michael d’Orlando (USA) for his fantastic drive from 37th to 13th.
MAX Masters
 | James Vance-Lousada (607) lead the field in Saturday's MAX Masters Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
In ZCD Autosports sponsored MAX Masters, Costa Rican Andres Fonseca was the fastest qualifier at 49.312 seconds and he parlayed his early pole position into a Pre-Final win. In the Final, the MAX Masters put on a heck of a show with a lead battle that sometimes went four-wide into the turn four hairpin.
In the end, it was James Vance-Lousada (Canada) getting his first FWT win, holding off Fonseca for the win by about half a second. Rounding out the podium in third was Jason Bell (USA).
Junior MAX
With 52 drivers vying for the top spot, the competition in the Ocala Gran Prix sponsored Junior MAX class was as tough as ever. However, Oliver Askew (USA) continued his hot streak from Palm Beach by putting his kart on pole position. Starting the Pre-Final from the outside of the front row of the 40 kart field would be Dutchman Jordi Van Morsel who was out to avenge his bad fortune from the second race day in Palm Beach.
After qualifying on Friday, Oliver had the misfortune of pinching a nerve in his neck. Going to bed Friday night he wasn’t sure he’d be racing Saturday. But, race he did and if his neck was bothering him, no one would have noticed. In both the Pre-Final and Final Oliver established a lead early and checked out from the 40 kart field.
Behind Oliver, Jordi had an equally large advantage over third place in both the Pre-Final and Finals. This is a rare occurrence at the FWT, as most races, especially Junior MAX, go down to the wire with winning margins of a fraction of a second. In the Final Gavin Reichelt (USA) fought hard for third to round out the podium.
Mini MAX
 | Oliver Askew dominated Saturday's Junior MAX action
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
In RYSA Racing sponsored Mini MAX, Logan Sargeant (USA) continued his string of great runs with the fastest time in qualifying. The Mini MAX field, at 54 drivers, also set an FWT entry record. With the top 14 drivers within a half second of each other, everyone was eagerly anticipating the races.
In the Mini MAX Pre-Final, Logan lead the field early until slipping a bit entering turn one a few laps into the race. That opened the door enough for Pedro Cardoso to slip through for a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
In the Final, it was again Cardoso and Sargeant that battled early on for the top spot. Cardoso held the upper hand and it was Sargeant making the rare mistake after contact with Cardoso resulted in a spin that dropped him back to tenth. This brought a six kart battle led by Devlin DeFrancesco into second. At the checkered flag it was Cardoso taking a hard fought win over the 40 kart field. However, there was an issue with his rear bumper, damaged by the contact with Sargeant, that took away the win. It was a real shame because he drove a great race. FWT rules are very strict concerning safety issues, but in these writers opinions this is one of those times when the penalty did not fit the crime. Either way, Cardoso has been consistently fast all year and it won’t be long before we see him on the top of the podium again.
All this drama left what had been a furious race long battle for third, then second, as the battle for first. In the end Devlin DeFrancesco was able to pull out the victory by just 0.071 of a second over Patricio O’Ward (Mexico). A few kart lengths back in third was Matthew Thomas (USA).
Senior MAX
 | Devlin DeFrancesco took home Saturday's Mini MAX win
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
In Goodwood Kartways / Intrepid North America sponsored Senior MAX, the top of the qualifying order was occupied by none other than Rotax MAX Challenge double World Champion Ben Cooper.
In the Pre-Final, Cooper had a strong challenge from Danny Formal (Costa Rica) while defending FWT Senior MAX champion David Sera (Australia) made his way up from sixth. At the end of the 15-lap Pre-Final it was Formal in a narrow victory over the current Senior MAX World Champion with Sera right on their bumpers.
Once the Final got underway, many thought we would see a resumption of the Formal-Cooper-Sera battle, but it was Canadian Jesse Lazare that made his way to the front early. Behind Lazare the other front runners started having a mighty tussle for second which allowed Jesse the opportunity to slip away into the setting sun.
The battle for second was quite exciting as positions changed often. Drivers like Nick Neri (USA), Danny Formal, David Sera, double Rotax World Champion Pier-Luc Ouellette (Canada) and Fritz Leesman (USA) waged a ferocious battle that would have been a great fight for the lead had Lazare been kind enough to wait on everybody. As it was Jesse Lazare ran out the race to win by over three seconds from Nick Neri in second and David Sera in a close third.
Finishing 15th and picking up the second ULV “Hard Charger” award of the day was Palm Beach Saturday Senior MAX winner Mason Chelootz, who started the Final dead last in the 40th position after a DNF took him out of the Pre Final before completing a lap.
 | Jesse Lazare (121) took home an excellent victory in Saturday's Senior MAX Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
It was a fantastic day of racing at Homestead Karting. We saw many great drives by a lot of talented drivers. Some were rewarded with great results and some got reminders that fate sometimes has other plans in store.
As we left the track, many attending were making plans to get together for some dinner and to watch the Nascar Bud Shootout. Karting, after all, is a sport centered around racing, family and friends. And when all is said and done, the memories of time spent away from the track at the FWT will be as powerful as the time spent on the track.
For those that cannot attend the races in person, log onto FWT LIVE! at FloridaWinterTour.com for live streaming video, live timing and active viewer participation. Cheer on your favorite drivers and email “shout outs” to live@floridawintertour.com to be read over the PA. Or, cheer on drivers from your country for the Nation’s Cup Championship. Live coverage begins Sunday at 10am eastern. Additionally, “like” the FWT Facebook page at Facebook.com/FloridaWinterTour for FWT information and news. |
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