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| January 17, 2007 News |
| EKN Trackside: Florida Winter Tour - Round #1 - Homestead |
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The tail-end of the opening Florida Winter Tour double-header was run this past weekend at the Homestead Speedway karting facility. Over 150 entries were logged in eight classes within six race groups, continuing to show that promoter Bill Wright’s decision to divide the Winter Tour into two back-to-back weekends was indeed the correct move.
With his series bulging at the seams during last year’s program, paddock space and track time at a premium, Wright divided his classes into two groups and set up twin weekends to open up the opportunity for a better experience and continued growth. While there was an initial opposition to the concept, the results have been excellent and even larger turnouts are expected when the series returns to Homestead in early February for the second double-header.
On this outing, over 150 drivers competed over two days to put the total entries at over 300, making it a 600+ overall turnout for the combined weekends. This represents a 33% growth over last year’s average of 434 entries per race, and thankfully, there’s room for many more drivers in the pit area and in the grids. The beautiful weather that graced the opening weekend in south Florida continued as warm temperatures and sunshine bathed the track. Wind and a little light rain arrived on Sunday, but it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the assembled community. The racing was excellent and the gauntlet has been most definitely dropped as the major player put their stamps on the national categories that were included on the weekend’s dance card.
 | Mike Vincec began the 2007 season with two victories in Pro Shifter
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Firstkart.com Pro Shifter
A solid total of over 24 drivers took to the track in the Pro Shifter category to begin the New Year, no doubt a precursor of what we will see this summer on the national circuit with the Stars of Karting program. Italian Motors’ David Jurca (Italkart) got things kicked off with the pole position on Saturday by posting a 45.750-second lap, but he was subsequently moved to the tail of the Prefinal grid after his mechanic was found working on the kart during a drivers meeting that was called after a botched started. This opened the door for off-pole winner Michael Vincec to take over, and take over he did, going on to win four of the next five sessions to sweep the weekend’s cash haul. Vincec was second quick in the timed morning run with a 45.747, coming in ahead of DL Racing’s Keith Spicer (Kosmic).
Vincec won the holeshot to start the Saturday Prefinal, but Spicer would take the lead early, running to a 1.327-second win over Jon Branam (Tony Kart) to secure the pole for the Final. Vincec cruised in for third as he and mechanic Brian Bettencourt immediately went to work dialing in their CRG for the remainder of the event. PSL’s Jan Velez (CRG) was fourth ahead of SRA’s Pier-Luc Ouellette (Arrow). Jurca’s charge from 24th to the top ten was impressive, as the former #1 ranked driver in the country sliced his way to sixth in just 12 laps.
The main was all about Vincec as he worked quickly to the lead, taking the top spot early before running to the win ahead of Jurca, who pushed hard in the chase. Vincec was able to match Jurca’s pace by turning the fastest lap of the race (46.432) en route to a 0.896-second victory, winning over $1600 in the process. SpeedTech’s Stuart Marsell (Arrow) completed the podium in third with a fine run from eighth while Branam and Spicer capped the top five. Wright pays back to sixth in the Pro Shifter category, meaning that MRP-Birel America’s new addition Philippe Gelinas (Birel) also took home some cash for his sixth place finish.
Sunday dawned cloudy and it delivered a Vincec sweep of the three official sessions, as the Canadian posted a 46.000 in qualifying to win the pole and then back-to-back holeshots gave him the Prefinal win and the $1640 first-place check. Jurca was again quick in qualifying to take second, while Branam and Gelinas sat third and fourth respectively after the timed run. Spicer completed the fast five as the usual suspects were quick. In the Prefinal, Vincec had to force the issue in turn one after Jurca got off to a solid start, but he emerged from turn two with the lead, one that he would not relinquish. Jurca would take second ahead of Tony Kart pilot Danilo Dirani, who turned the fastest lap of the sprint. Branam and Spicer were again in the hunt, cruising in right behind Dirani.
Vincec would again manage the lead pace to cruise onto the win in the Final, extending his gap at will to post his second victory of the weekend. With a huge purse that includes a $1640 US first-place check each day in Pro Shifter, Vincec left Homestead with over $3200 in his pocket. In the Sunday main, Jurca pushed hard but would fall to Branan, who finished a strong second. Velez and Gelinas capped the top five this time around, as a tough start put Dirani deep in the field. He was climb back to sixth at the checker.
 | Rookie ICA pilot Victor Cabrera earned his first ICA main event victory on Sunday ahead of '06 standout James Kennedy
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
CMW Engines ICA
The direct drive Intercontinental A field in Homestead outdrew the Pro Shifter class, putting 28 karts on the track for Saturday qualifying, as virtually every competitor expected to campaign the Stars of Karting Eastern Division was in town. Sodikart pilot James Kennedy got the season off on the right foot by taking the pole in Saturday qualifying, outrunning local Tony Kart driver Juan Sebastien Arenas for the top spot with a 46.849-second lap. Screaming Talent’s Joe Paterson (Gillard) was third in the order, coming in ahead of PSL Karting’s Jake Rosenzweig (CRG) and Cameron Motorsports' Cody Jolly (CRG).
In the Prefinal, Arenas began to flex his muscles, running away from Kennedy to a 1.911-second cushion over the course of 12 laps. Rosenzweig was third, chased by rookie ICA pilot Victor Cabrera, who set the fastest lap of the heat race in his J3 Competition Kosmic. Paterson capped the top five, just ahead of Indie Race Development’s Dominic Sheer (Birel). It was an impressive launch for the Indie RaceDev squad, which only moved into its new Mooresville, NC shop at the turn of the new year. To put both Scheer and teammate Federico Montoya (8th) in the top ten in the opening session can only be considered a major success for the team’s Technical Director Nathan Brown.
Arenas laid a beating on the field in the Final as he walked to a 7.8+ second advantage over Paterson and Chris Larson (Birel), as Kennedy was forced off the track and to the tail of the field in a wild opening corner melee. Rosenzweig and Cabrera stayed out of trouble to finish fourth and fifth, while Kennedy fought back to claw his way to 13th.
After shaking out the line-up a little, we knew who to look for on Sunday. Kennedy and Cabrera were again near the top, with Kennedy edging the freshman for the pole by just 0.018 seconds. Arenas was again in the hunt, but did not dominate the session in setting the third fastest time ahead of Hunter Short (Kosmic) and Nico Silva (CRG).
Cabrera came on strong late in the Prefinal to assume the lead while turning the race’s fastest lap, outrunning Kennedy and Rosenzweig for the main event pole position, which he would use to its full power. Turning the fastest lap once again, Cabrera took the lead from Kennedy once again and extended his cushion to 3.434 seconds at the checkered flag to win his first ICA main event. Kennedy and Rosenzweig completed the podium after good performances while Silva and Paterson completed the top five.
 | Maranello pilot Edward Fortier steered his way to two wins until losing his airbox while on-track removed him from Sunday's win
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
J3 Competition TaG Senior / RDD Motorsport TaG Heavy
The TaG Senior class picked up some momentum heading into the weekend as the class numbers grew between the first and second weekends. A total of 14 karts were on the grid, joined by a half-dozen TaG Heavy pilots, and the assembled cast made certain that we would have some great racing to enjoy. The lead fight was a good one with five drivers showing the speed to run in the lead pack.
Saturday’s action saw Edward Fortier steer his Nevoso Karting Maranello to the pole position ahead of Arrow Racing USA’s Brandon Jones and Tony Kart Florida’s Andre Martins. Jones would take the Prefinal win by just over two seconds from Mark Dismore Jr. (Margay) as Fortier was dropped to eighth, setting up some great competition in the final. Martins would pace the field to the checkered flag after assuming the lead early, but he was docked a single position for jumping out of line at the start, pushing him to second behind Fortier, on-track runner-up finisher. Bill Lewis (Arrow) completed the podium ahead of a Conor Daly (Birel) and Jones. Daly’s run from dead last to fourth was particularly impressive.
In TaG Heavy, Garrett Olsen (Kosmic) swept all three sessions to take the class win over Dario Echeverry (Birel) and Peter Pestano (Italkart).
On Sunday, Fortier again topped qualifying in edging Jones by just 0.033 seconds. Daly, Dismore Jr. and Lewis were all in the fight, ready to start it up all over again in the Prefinal. Fortier would get the start to lead the field early, staying out of any trouble to keep the pole for the main event alongside Jones, who finish a couple seconds in front of the battle between Daly and Dismore. The final was shaken up early when Daly spun on the opening lap in turn five, setting up another run from the tail, one that would result in an eighth place finish. Fortier would take the win but after losing his airbox while on-track, he was excluding from the final results, elevating Jones to the victory and Martins to the podium in third, where he would join Jones and second place finish Ben Searcy (Arrow). Lewis and Dismore rounded out the top five.
Raul Gonzalez (Sodikart) led the TaG Heavy group by the end of the day, qualifying third in class and taking second to Echeverry in the Prefinal before winning the main. Olsen was second this time around, while Doug Bernard (Birel) made a trip to the Winter Tour podium in third.
 | Raul Gonzalez swept the Masters Shifter finals and added a TaG Heavy victory on Saturday as well
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
MRP Motorsport Masters Shifter / International Racing Spec Moto
The Masters Shifter class has always been strong on the Winter Tour, regularly grabbing double-digit entry numbers that pushed 20 karts. In Homestead for this opening weekend, 16 drivers were in the field and Raul Gonzalez (Sodikart) came out on top after consistent battles with Italian Motors’ driver Kelly Baker (Italkart). On Saturday, Gonzalez showed the way by winning all three sessions, chased by Baker in each as the West Coast driver became much more comfortable with the track and his new chassis. In the final, Gonzalez needed to work hard to lead on the exit of turn one after a strong Baker holeshot, but once out front, each was never headed. Baker took second over Paul Walker, who came from 16th on the grid to make the podium.
On Sunday, Baker closed the gap on Gonzalez but could still not take over the point, falling back in the main after a bad start that left him to claw his way back up to fifth. In his absence, Giuliano Gazza (Sodikart) became embroiled in a great one-on-one fight with Walker that came down to final corner. Walker saw an opening that did not quite fit a full CRG front-end, and the resultant contact allowed Nadir Magsi (CRG) and Graham Gaiger (Tony Kart) to slip through for second and third. Walker finished the race in the barriers, classified 12th, while Gazza limped home to fourth.
While incredibly strong on the West Coast, the Stock Moto concept is only beginning to catch on in the East, and specifically in south Florida, where many of the FWT classes gain their baseline numbers. Wright is a firm believer in the category and is intent on its growth. During this outing with six entries, Tom Mounce (Tony Kart) was the Saturday winner over Michael Winchester (Birel) and Alvaro Frias (Birel) while Dario Echeverry (Birel) outran Frias and Richard Pollum (Tony Kart) to fill the Sunday podium.
 | In his first weekend with Firstkart.com, Spencer Pigot earned his first ever JICA victory
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
BTK Motorsports / Arrow Racing USA JICA
The Junior classes showed very well in Florida to kick off this year’s Winter Tour and a pair of rookie Junior Intercontinental A drivers stood out from the crowd to bag the wins on Saturday and Sunday. Florida pilots Spencer Pigot and Jarvis Gennari split the JICA wins, putting their names to the top of the list as the lead freshman in this year’s class.
Gennari was the powerhouse from the first session. After scoring a Rotax Junior win during the opening weekend of the Winter Tour, he was invited by Tony Kart USA to get behind the wheel of one of their JICA machines for the following weekend. Sampling the kart for the first time on Friday, Gennari was quick from the get-go, using his intimate knowledge of the track to focus on the new kart-engine combination. Gennari took the pole by 0.053 seconds over Cameron Motorsports’ David Ostella (CRG), with Pigot in third ahead of Mikael Grenier (CRG) and Brendan Langlois (First Kart). The top three remained static for the Prefinal, while in the Saturday main, Gennari laid down a handful of smoking cold tire laps to assume the lead, pulling away throughout the 20-lap race to enjoy a comfortable gap for the stretch run.
With the race in hand, Gennari’s day would go sour on lap 17 when he suffered a clutch problem, pulling to the sidelines on the frontstretch. Having attacked impressively throughout the race to take over second place, Pigot would assume the lead and steered cautiously home to score the first JICA win of the 2007 North American racing season. Zanella finished second and Thomas Silva (CRG) third after Ostella retired on lap seven with a mechanical issue.
On Sunday, Gennari stormed back to win all three official sessions, pacing an improved Sean Rayhall (Kosmic) in the Prefinal. JICA sophomore Gustavo Menezes (Tony Kart) was third over Pigot and Chemill Mercado (Tony Kart) while the final provided the Gennari with his revenge from Saturday’s disappointment. After winning the Sunday Rotax Junior race just a week earlier, which required payment to his team with the loss of some hair, a more ‘aerodynamic’ Gennari returned in a big way this past weekend with a seriously impressive performance that certainly puts his name into the hat for the upcoming national season.
 | Tristan DeGrand took home the Cadet win on Saturday
(Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca) |
Shockwave Karting Cadet
With over 20 Cadets in the field, the racing was excellent. Stars frontrunners Nick Neri (Tony Kart) and Tristan DeGrand (Kosmic) were right in the mix, each winning a main event. Neri took the pole on Saturday ahead of Anthony Furfari (Juncos) and Carlos Abreu (Nevoso), but it was Abreu who would win the Prefinal. In the main, DeGrand teamed up with Andrew Murray (TopKart) to advance from fourth and fifth, pulling away from the field to finish in the that order at the checkered flag. Neri joined the duo on the podium.
The Sunday main was an awesome race. Abreu had taken the pole earlier while Neri won the Prefinal, but the Final was a well-executed event by all the drivers. Over the final laps, the battle between Neri, Race Smith (Juncos)and DeGrand saw Smith take the lead, but only for a time, as Neri was not to be denied, going back to the front to win by 1.452 seconds at the stripe. Smith held on for second while DeGrand took third to make it a pair of podiums on the weekend.
After the main, Race Director Chris Egger even directed the drivers to pull onto the frontstretch after the checkered flag so that they could receive a round of applause from the paddock.
Looking Forward – Round #2
With the opening rounds of this year’s Florida Winter Tour now in the books, we can look forward to the return of the series to the Homestead facility in February for the second stop on the schedule. The Rotax classes will get things back underway on February 10-11 while this past weekend’s categories will resume their championship battles on February 17-18. If the opening weeks did anything, they gave us a look at the drivers who have real shot at the FWT titles. While it may be ‘spring training’ for a majority of the competitors, there are still important championships hanging in the balance for everyone in the paddock. |
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