(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

The 2026 ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour took the checkered flag this past weekend at the T4 Kartplex near Palmetto, Florida. With the series’ completion, champions were crowned across 11 ROK Cup USA-promoted classes, with awards and  prizes for all.

“A great weekend and a great Florida Winter Tour,” explained ROK Cup USA’s Mike Burrel. “It was great to get to a different track and while the weather threw us some issues, the crew, teams, and competitors all overcame the challenges for another great event. Congrats to our round three winners and our series champions.”

2026 Florida Winter Tour Champions:

ROK Shifter Masters Champion – Skitchy Barnes
ROK Shifter Super Masters Champion – Morne Van Taak
KZ Champion – Dominik Karai
ROK SV Champion – Alan Isambard
ROK GP Junior Champion – Nico Kotowski
ROK Micro Champion – Jack Kotowski
ROK Mini Champion – Vicente Aguilar
ROK VLR Senior Champion – Collin Lloyd
ROK VLR Masters Champion – Danillo Ramalho
ROK VLR Super Masters Champion – Scott Falcone
ROK VLR Junior Champion – Isaac Malcuit

ROK Shifter Masters / ROK Shifter Super Masters / KZ Shifter

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

With three heat races in the books and qualifying done and dusted, the shifter fields for Sunday’s main events were set. Leading the KZ Shifter field to the green was James Andress, courtesy of his prefinal win, while Skitchy Barnes slotted into the top spot in ROK Shifter Masters. Morne Van Taak was looking to make it a perfect FWT campaign, starting from first in the ROK Shifter Super Masters class, but a field of gearbox drivers would look to fight these top guys off and claim victory in the final opportunity at the 2026 Florida Winter Tour.

James Andress led early as Karai was able to move up to second in the KZ class. Cole Mathewson was ahead of Skitchy Barnes in the ROK Shifter Masters category, putting three non-class karts between he and the second-place runner of Barnes. Morne Van Taak led Hector Campos and Edgardo Ortiz in the ROK Shifter Super Masters category. Andress led by ten seconds at mid-race distance as he was the class of the field on the damp track. Lapping nearly two seconds quicker than his closest rival, it was his race to lose. Gavin Iby was by Karai on lap seven to take over the second position as Mathewson led Barnes in the Masters class by 12 seconds. Karai moved back by Iby on lap nine to retake the second position, as Barnes worked to close the gap to Mathewson in the Masters category, with the track drying and lap times quickening. It was all static in the ROK Shifter Super Masters class, with Van Taak dominating up front. With Mathewson struggling for grip, Barnes was taking chunks of time out of the leader lap after lap. Barnes moved by Mathewson on lap 13 with Matthew Sanford also slipping by to take over the second position. Up front was all Andress as he led handily and went on to take the KZ win over Karai and Iby. Mathewson scored the ROK Shifter Masters win over Sanford and Hernando Sanchez, with Mathewson falling to fourth, while Van Taak beat Campos and Ortzi in the ROK Shifter Super Masters class.

AM Engines – ROK SV

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

With a pole position in qualifying, a solid set of heat races and the prefinal win, Chace Gassiot-Lee led a strong field of ROK SV Pro drivers to the green. Perennial front-runner Blake Nash lined up second on the grid with Levi Sanghera and Davin Roberts occupying row two in the third and fourth position as Victor De Alencar rounded out the top-five.

In the 14-minute-plus-two-lap affair, it was Sanghera who jumped to the point after Roberts and Gassiot-Lee had issues. De Alencar slotted himself into the second position ahead of Wrigley Keyes, Wyatt Downing, and Jose Alejandro Halphen. Roberts and Gassiot-Lee fell to ninth and tenth, respectively, before moving forward to eighth and ninth a lap later. Halphen and Downing were by Keyes on lap four as they brought Alan Isambard with them to fifth. Isambard moved to fourth a lap later as Roberts began to make his charge back forward, moving into sixth on lap five. Isambard was up another position, ten in total now, as he moved to third at the expense of Halphen, with Sanghera and De Alencar running nose to tail up front and leading by 2.8 seconds. Roberts and Gassiot-Lee moved to fourth and fifth on lap eight as they continued their work to move back towards the front. Isambard was the fastest kart on track, gaining half a second in two laps, with Roberts and Gassiot-Lee gaining another position each as both were now inside the top-five. Lap 11 saw some passing up front as De Alencar took over the lead from Sanghera, allowing Isambard to gain another second on the front duo. Caden McQueen, up 14 positions, moved into the top-five on lap 15 as the battle intensified up front. Isambard moved to the second step of the podium on lap 19, pushing Sanghera to third. The checkered flag flew on lap 22 with Victor De Alencar leading Isambard, Sanghera, and McQueen who was able to get by Roberts on the final circuit.

Rocket Racing – ROK GP Junior

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

Tristan Murphy secured the ROK GP Junior pole position courtesy of his prefinal win, as Josh Bergman finished second to join him on the front row of the main event. It was a pair of Nicos in row two, with Nico Orbezo lining up third and Nico Kotowski in fourth ahead of Marco Fazari in the fifth position.

Tristan Murphy jumped to the lead courtesy of his pole position starting spot as Bergman slotted into P2 at the close of the opening lap. Orbezo slipped by Bergman a lap later to take over the second position, and just two circuits after that, Kotowksi was by Bergman for the third position as Fazari ran fifth. Both Kotowski and Bergman pushed by Murphy on lap seven to take over the second and third positions as Orbezo was now the new leader by just over eight tenths of a second. At the mid-race distance, Orbezo led Kotowski, Murphy, Bergman, and Fazari as the front five were separated by 1.9 seconds. The front three broke away from fourth and fifth slightly as they gapped fourth by .670 with five minutes plus two laps remaining. It was a three-driver battle now up front as Orbezo led Kotowski, who led Murphy, with only a half-second between them all. Bergman was one second in arrears of Murphy in fourth. With the middle part of the race remaining static, it was Kotowski who made his move on lap 17 to take over the lead and push Orbezo down to second. It was a dog fight up front with three laps to go as the top-three were now separated by only .190 as it was anybody’s race. Orbezo moved to the point with two laps remaining as Bergman caught the front trio to make it a four-driver battle. As the white flag flew, it was Orbezo who had opened a slight gap on his rivals to hold on for the win. Kotowski crossed the line in second and Murphy rounded out the podium in third. Completing the top-five were Bergman and Fazari.

Orsolon Racing – ROK Micro

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

After qualifying third on Friday, Jack Kotowski would start from the pole position on Championship Sunday as he was looking for another win for the Kotowski family. Pole position winner on Friday, Emmett Dalton, lined up alongside him in second with Brazilian Romeo Ferrante in third. ROK Sonoma competitor Braxton Shiflett started on the outside of row two, just ahead of Caiden Dharmani in the fifth position.

The ROK Micro main event would be 12 minutes plus two laps with the younger Kotowski, Jack, leading the field to green. Holding his position at the front of the field, Kotowski led Dalton and Ferrante as the front three remained unchanged. Behind them, Cohen Scott was up four positions to run fourth, while Franco Schiavo was up nine positions to slot into the fifth position. After only five laps, Kotowski and Dalton had opened a three-second gap on Ferrante in third as they looked to make it a two-driver battle for the win. Dalton moved to the point on lap six, pushing Kotowski to second. The rest of the race was pretty tame as Dalton stretched his lead up front to win by 2.549 over Kotowski who was nearly five second ahead of Ferrante in third. Behind the front three, Schiavo claimed the fourth position on track with Cohen Scott rounding out the top-five in the ROK Micro Final.

ROK Mini

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

Dutch Westbrook had one of the bigger moves throughout the weekend, as after Friday’s qualifying session, he was not ranked in the top-five. However, come Sunday morning and courtesy of his prefinal win, Westbook led the field to green in the ROK Mini class with Nico Salazar to his outside. Max Santana and Cooper Lorezon Lopez started third and fourth ahead of the row three combatants of Kaiden Cladera and Luke Bulpitt.

Dutch Westbrook led early in the ROK Mini main event with Cooper Lorezon Lopez jumping two positions in the opening two laps to move into second. Nico Salazar fell to third, just ahead of Luke Bulpitt and Max Santana. After only four laps, Westbrook had stretched his lead up front to nearly two seconds over Lopez. Hudson Howard was by Santana on lap six to take over the fifth position as Westbrook continued to clock laps three tenths faster than the field and open his gap to almost three seconds. A lap later, Howard pushed his way past Bulpitt for fourth as a podium was in the cards for the young driver. Kimo Ahmad made his move into the top-five on lap eight, disposing of Bulpitt but it was all Westbrook up front. Lap ten saw Salazar skip by Lopez for second as a quartet of drivers, second through fifth, were separated by less than two seconds. Lopez and Howard pushed by Salazar on lap 11 to retake the second and third positions, nut a lap later, it was Howard that passed them both to run second, albeit 4.5 seconds behind Westbrook. With four laps to go, Westbrook led Howard, Lopez, Salazar, and Ahmed but on the start of the last lap, Ahmed was by Salazar for fourth. When the checkered flag flew, it was Westbrook who scored the win by 4.014 over Howard, Lopez, Ahmad and Salazar.

ROK VLR Senior

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

Ayden Ingratta was the man to beat coming into Championship Sunday as he claimed the pole position, prefinal win, and led the field to the green in the main event. Joaquin Gorlero Pizarro would be to Ingratta’s outside as the duo looked to hold off the advances of Victor De Alencar and Collin Lloyd, who occupied row two, ahead of Santiago Fernandez and Mick Gabriel.

Ingratta led the 26-kart field to the green as the young Canadian was looking to go from pole to podium in the ROK VLR Senior finale. Maintaining his point at the front of the field over the opening lap, Victor De Alencar slotted into the second position ahead of Joaquin Gorlero Pizarro in third. Collin Lloyd and Santiago Fernandez rounded out the top-five after two laps of the 14-minute-plus-two-lap main event. Ingratta and De Alencar were locked bumper-to-bumper as they opened up a one-second gap on the field as they tried to make it a two-driver race for the win. The front five remained unchanged for the first six laps, but behind them, Sebastian Garzon had moved into sixth, up three positions from ninth on the grid. Fernandez slipped by Lloyd on lap nine to move to fourth, and a few laps later Pizarro was by De Alencar for second. Ingratta went on to win by 3.415 over Pizarro and De Alencar with Fernandez and Garzon completing the top-five.

Rolison Performance Group – ROK VLR Masters / ROK VLR Super Masters

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

In the combined ROK VLR Masters and ROK VLR Super Masters classes, Danillo Ramalho and Ariel Castro would lead their respective fields into Championship Sunday. In the Masters class, Dan Devereaux lined up next to Ramhallo but ahead of Laurentiu Mardan, Paul Elefonte, and Jorge Matos, while Castro led Scott Falcone, Pablo Cevallos Sanchez, Andrei Isac, and Daniel Canales to the green.

Danillo Ramalho and Ariel Castro held the lead in their respective classes when the lights went out for the combined ROK VLR Masters and ROK VLR Super Masters final. Behind Ramalho, Laurentiu Mardan was looking for an FWT win with Matos, Elefonte and Devereaux rounding out the top-five. Castro led the Super Masters class ahead of Falcone, with a couple Masters drivers in between them after the opening few circuits. Pablo Cevallos Sanchez slotted into the third position ahead of Andrei Isac and Daniel Canales. Up front, Ramalho began to open his lead over Mardan, stretching it to 1.3 seconds after six laps while Castro led Falcone by three seconds in Super Masters. While drivers were spaced out at the midrace distance, the closest battle on track was between Matos and Elefonte for the third position, with Matos having the upper hand. Ramalho went on to take the victory ahead of Mardan in the ROK VLR Masters class. The battle between Matos and Elefonte was won by Matos who crossed the line third, Elefonte fourth, and Devereaux in fifth. Castro went on to score the Super Masters win ahead of Falcone, Sanchez, Isac and Canales. Following the race, Mardan was disqualified for a technical infraction, moving Matos, Elefonte and Deveraux into second, third and fourth.

Nash Motorsportz – ROK VLR Junior

(Photo: Canadian Karting News)

Isaac Malcuit won the ROK VLR Junior prefinal by just over a tenth of a second to earn the pole position for Sunday’s main event. Santiago Orioli would look to dethrone Malcuit from his P2 starting spot with Nico Kotowski and Nico Orbezo in row two and Darren Kidd and Tristan Murphy in row three.

It was Orioli that jumped to the lead from his outside front row starting spot to lead lap one with Malcuit falling back to second. Kotowski and Orbezo swapped positions on the opening two laps but eventually sorted it out and ran where they started in third and fourth, with Kidd rounding out the top-five. Malcuit and Kotowski pushed by Orioli on lap five to take over the top-two positions as it was a battle up front for the win. Malcuit began to open a small gap on his rivals, leading by .642 at the completion of lap eight, and on lap nine, he stretched that gap over Kotowski to nearly one second. Kidd fell to eighth on lap ten as Murphy, Dominick Moskalenko, and Luciano Dajles all snuck by, but it was Malcuit up front who continued to open the gap. Murphy moved by Orbezo a lap later to run fourth just past the midrace distance. After 14 laps, Malcuit had opened his lead to 2.268 over Kotowski, as he was 2.752 ahead of Orioli in third. Murphy and Orbezo continued to run in fourth and fifth, respectively. The top-five remained unchanged over the last few circuits with Malcuit taking the win over Kotowski, Orioli, Murphy, and Orbezo.

With the Florida Winter Tour now complete, ROK Sonoma will be the next major ROK Cup USA series that commences with a pair of Triple Crown programs. Taking place at the famed Sonoma Raceway, ROK Sonoma will run a Spring Series and a Summer series that begins this coming weekend. After that, all eyes shift towards the 2026 ROK Vegas event at the RIO Hotel and Casino. Stay tuned for more ROK Cup USA news, as well as plans for the 2027 Florida Winter Tour.

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