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| March 18, 2012 News |
| Event News: Florida Winter Tour - Ocala - Rotax Max Challenge - Saturday Report |
| Article by: Ken Johnson and Bill Wright |
 | Cody Hodgson (226) picked up the win in DD2 over Nicholas Latifi (218)
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
As the podium presentations for Saturday’s Rotax MAX Challenge action here in Ocala, Florida were in progress, the assembled crowd at Formula Kart Production’s Florida Winter Tour presented by SPORTALITY was treated to a very unique set of circumstances. Here we were, celebrating the day’s accomplishments of some of the world’s most talented kart racers, at the world’s largest Rotax MAX Challenge program, serviced by the world’s top-ranked Rotax MAX Distributor, at the location of the United States #1 Rotax MAX dealer. And now you know why FWT is THE Winter Place To Be.
Can it get any bigger than this? Well, before we address that question let’s flash back to this morning when the karts headed out on track for their morning warm-up sessions. These practice times are key to help the competitors get set for the day’s action. With qualifying for both Saturday and Sunday held on Friday, all drivers knew where they stood and what they would have to do to win.
The Florida Winter Tour is extremely diverse. There are people from 27 countries representing all six karting continents. There are drivers of diverse ethnic backgrounds. There are very young drivers and drivers with advanced life experience. There are also drivers new to the sport of karting as well as those that have been there, done that, have the t-shirt, but still can’t wait to get back for more.
Two of these such competitors are Roger Ralston, who’s still in his first year of karting, and George Moss, who started racing back when bell bottoms were in style. George is a racing fanatic from Smith Town, New York. He says he comes to the Florida Winter Tour because, as he puts it, “I just love racing!” At 52-years-of-age, George has no aspirations of racing Indy Cars or Formula One, but he knows how to get the job done and proved it this year by winning the FWT Formula Kart Masters Shifter championship. In an atmosphere where more and more teams are showing up with big semi-style trailers and slick pit enclaves, George is proof that the private teams with small trailers can be just as effective on race day.
 | Alan Rudolph came home the winner in DD2 Masters
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
George started racing in the ‘70s, but stopped for a while. In 2004 he saw an ad for the Red Bull Kart Challenge and decided it was time to see if he still had what it takes. “I found out I hadn’t lost a thing. And I proved it at this year’s FWT by winning a championship against faster equipment and with a weight penalty.” Unfortunately, George says his New York friends were too busy this last week to get everyone together. But, fear not he says, “When we get back to New York, we’re going to have one heck of a party!”
When back home in Smith Town, George runs his own retail store called East Coast Psychedelics. He also has his own YouTube channel under the name “Hippiegeo”. Log on and check him out. Then say “Hi” next time you see him in the pits.
Roger Ralston is a Senior MAX competitor competing in his first Florida Winter Tour. In fact, he in his first full season of karting having just started 5 months ago. The 15-year-old from Boca Raton, Florida is very dedicated to racing and proved it in last week’s Formula kart event when he raced in TaG Senior even though he had a 102 degree fever.
Roger says coming to the Florida Winter Tour was an obvious choice because it’s very organized, he gets lots of precious practice time, and the steep learning curve from the high level of competition is really helping his competitiveness. When asked if he had any long term aspirations in racing, Roger just says if he could make a living as a driver, that would be good enough. When away from the track, he enjoys playing basketball and playing racing sims on his X-Box. He’s also become a fan of Ayrton Senna after watching the documentary “Senna” last year.
When all Saturday entries were totaled up we had 225 Rotax drivers entered and ready to go flat out around the Ocala Gran Prix race track. First up was the SH Karting sponsored DD2 class. Cody Hodgson (USA) started the Pre-Final on the pole but the win went to Canadian Lorenzo Mandarino. In the Final, the first dozen circuits featured a tight see-saw battle between Hodgson, Mandarino and Homestead double race winner Nicholas Latifi (Canada).
 | Jack William Miller celebrates his first FWT win in Micro MAX
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
All three drivers took their turns leading the field, but when it was time to go, Cody Hodgson went to the front and took the win. Going into Championship Sunday, Cody and Nicholas are separated by only five points once drops are figured in (FWT rules count a drivers best 5 finishes out of 6 races). These two have been at the front of the DD2 field all year and it will be a well-deserved championship for whoever wins.
In DD2 Masters, sponsored by Keane Racing, the pole position was won by Alan Rudolph (USA) with a lap time of just 36.845 seconds. In the Pre-Final, Stuart Clark (Canada) and Carlo Rinaldi (Venezuela) both had their share of the lead, but it was Rudolph getting to the checkered flag first.
In the DD2 Masters Final, Rudolph led early with Clark in tow. But, it was Jean Valerio (Costa Rica), who had come from the back after a DNF in the Pre-Final, and Carlo Rinaldi who took the lead and started pulling away. The battle that ensued had the crowd riveted as the leaders raced each other hard. Going into the final turn with a couple laps to go, they raced each other a little too hard. Rinaldi held the lead and Valerio looked to make a move down the inside.
Unfortunately, they both had their minds set on the same space and the ensuing contact sent both drivers spinning off into the plastic barriers. In a flash, Alan Rudolph was by and cruised to the checkered flag to take the win and expand his points lead to an unassailable total. Although it won’t be official until the races have been run on Sunday, Alan Rudolph is set to become the first member of Team USA for the Rotax MAX Grand Finals this November in Portugal.
In the PSLKartingUSA.com sponsored Micro MAX class, 36 of the youngest Rotax MAX drivers took to the track for qualifying on Friday afternoon when it was Jack William Miller (USA) who turned in the fastest time at 40.473 seconds. In the Pre-Final, several drivers had their shot but at the checkered it was Justin Sirgany (Jamaica) taking the win to start the Final from pole.
 | Eric Jones took time out from his busy schedule to do a little driving, and ended up the winner in MAX Masters
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
The Micro MAX Final was set to run 16 laps around the OGP track. With the relatively quiet nature of the Micro MAX package, this could be considered 16 laps of crowd emotion as one could almost tell what’s happening on track by watching the parents. With every pass on track, one group of spectators cheers while another one groans.
On this day the group doing the most cheering was the family and supporters of young James William Miller who took his first Florida Winter Tour win by just under a second from Justin Sirgany. Going into the last day of racing, this title is still open to 3 different drivers so be sure to watch today as it happens on FWT LIVE!
In Rotax MAX Masters, the top of the qualifying charts for today’s race was headed by Jason Bell (USA) at a 38.276 second lap. Qualifying fourth was Eric Jones. Eric is the self-admitted “Chief cook and bottle washer” of his own karting business who normally spends his time helping others racing in his tent. On this day, Eric decided it was time to jump in to the seat of his own kart and do a little testing.
The decision by Eric turned out to be a good one as he went on to dominate the Pre-Final and Final races. It is interesting to note that while these drivers may be a little older, they still put on races as competitive as any other. Proof of that is offered in the fact that in five races so far this year, not one driver has won more than one Pre-Final or Final race. Could we see that streak come to an end tomorrow? Tune in and find out.
Rotax MAX Junior is another one of the Florida Winter Tour classes not to miss. Winning pole position for Saturday’s Pre-Final in the Ocala Gran Prix sponsored class was OGP driver Oliver Askew. Oliver won both Junior MAX Finals at last year’s OGP round to jump to second in the final standings. This year, he’s riding a streak of three wins but faces some incredibly stiff competition from no less than Holland’s Jordi Van Morsel.
In the Pre-Final, Oliver led early and started to pull away before Jordi led the charge to pull him back in. Although they got close, Oliver was able to steadily pull away for a convincing victory. In the Final, Oliver again started up front and started pulling away early.
 | Jordi Van Morsel (19) takes an excellent win in Junior MAX after a hard fight with Oliver Askew (38), Juan Miguel Correa and Kyle Kirkwood
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
But, the Final was to be a different race and this time Van Morsel caught Askew and the race was on. After a few laps of running together Jordi made the move to the front. From this point, the two circulated cleanly together and started gapping Juan Manuel Correa (Ecuador) in third place.
As the laps started winding down, Oliver made a move to take the lead but was out of position and Jordi got past two corners later. Once these two got to racing the pack caught them rather quickly and before long it was Correa on Van Morsel’s bumper instead of Askew. On the final lap, Correa made the move for the lead by shoving Van Morsel out of the way. FWT officials rightly penalized Correa two positions for the move reinstating the Dutchman back into the win.
Behind Van Morsel in the Final results were Askew, Correa and Kyle Kirkwood (USA). Kyle is the leading point scorer after 11 of 12 rounds for the Skip Barber award that offers two racing schools and car eight races to the winner. With a steady performance today and his closest competitors not having their best results, the young Floridian could be well on his way to a career as a professional racing driver. We’ll have more on this tomorrow as the results come in.
With Junior MAX in the books, two races were left to run, RYSA Racing sponsored Mini MAX and Goodwood Kartways / Intrepid North America Senior MAX. The Mini MAX class featured over 40 drivers from 10 different countries and was lead in qualifying by Matthew Thomas (USA) who was the only Mini MAX driver to get below 38 seconds in qualifying.
In the Mini MAX Pre-Final, Pedro Cardoso (Brazil) put in a smart race to take the win. This gave him the advantage for the Final and he used it to lead early. Behind Cardoso there was a pack of Minis jockeying for position. First to challenge for the lead was Patricio O’Ward (Mexico) looking for his first 2012 FWT victory. Behind these two, Justin Sirgany (Jamaica) and Christian Cole (USA) stayed within striking distance.
As the race neared the end, Justin Sirgany had found his way to the lead. On the last lap Cardoso gave Sirgany a thumping from behind that put him off his line allowing Cardoso to pass. In his haste to get back by the Brazilian, Sirgany went off in the next corner. For bumping Sirgany, Cardoso was accessed the proper penalty of 2 spots which dropped him to third in the final standings behind Christian Cole and Patricio O’Ward.
 | Christian Cole took the win in Saturday's Mini MAX Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Like a true headline act, the FWT Senior MAX class is the final group to take the stage. This class is stacked with so many world and national champions that Formula kart Production’s Bill Wright can’t even list them all while the karts are on their warm up laps. In Friday’s qualifying sessions, Fritz Leesman (USA) set the fastest time with a blistering lap of 36.771 seconds.
In the Pre-Final, Steven Szigeti (Canada) held station at the front to come home with a fantastic victory. In the Final, Szigeti jumped to the early lead into turn one while contact behind him sent Leesman in a hard left turn straight into the plastic barriers. Although there was speculation on where the contact came from, the evidence pointed towards double world champion Ben Cooper (Canada).
As such, Ben was given a 15-spot penalty that nullified a beautiful drive that saw him initially win on track. This handed the win to Szigeti who had over three seconds in hand to the tight battle between Sandor Jakab (Slovakia) and the other double world champion Pier-Luc Ouellette (Canada). As such, the podium was Szigeti, Jakab and Ouellette. Trying to calculate the points scenarios with possibilities with drops and all else involved would give even the avid mathematician so it’s best to log on to FWT LIVE! tomorrow to witness the Final races as they happen.
During the podium presentations, two special awards were handed out. First, BRP-Powertrain’s Robert Gumpenberger officially awarded U.S. Rotax Distributor MAXSpeed Group the title of Distributor of the Year for 2011. Following that presentation it was MAXSpeed’s Richard Boisclair who had the privilege of awarding the special U.S. Rotax Dealer of the Year award to Ocala Gran Prix’s Jorge Arellano.
Of course, being March 17th, it was also St. Patrick’s Day which gave many around the paddock even more excuses to have Serious Fun! And, if today’s action wasn’t fun for someone, perhaps they should find another activity.
 | Steven Szigeti (193) took the Senior MAX win win on Saturday to put himself right back in the points fight
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Earlier we asked, “Can it get any bigger than this?” Yes it can. Tomorrow we settle all championships for drivers, nations and manufacturers. We also award four coveted invitations to the 2012 Rotax MAX Grand Finals and humbly award the Dan Wheldon Karting Ambassador Award to one very deserving individual. Also at stake is the Skip Barber award offering over $70,000 in awards for the top three points scorers from both Florida Winter Tour programs.
You won’t want to miss the last race day of the 2012 Florida Winter Tour season, so log on to watch the racing action live at Formula kart Production's FWT LIVE! . The groundbreaking FKP produced media program features live streaming video, live timing and encourages audience participation with the ability to email the announcer to send "shout outs" to your favorite drivers and teams. |
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