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| February 29, 2012 |
| Driver News: Olivier Bellanger - Florida Karting Championship Series Ocala Report |
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 | | Olivier Bellanger |
After a disappointing week of action packed racing at the second round of the Florida Winter Tour in Homestead, K1 RaceGear supported driver Olivier Bellanger was determined to get back on top of the podium.
The second round of the Florida Karting Championship Series took place this past weekend at the excellent Ocala Gran Prix racing facility where 12 year old Olivier Bellanger’s resilience helped him secure race wins in the Rotax Mini Max and Vortex Tag Cadet classes.
“I had a tough time at the FWT Homestead, declares the youngster. We struggled with the chassis set-up and I was not able to get the speed to compete with the front runners, we consistently came short ˝ second. I qualified 14th on Saturday and 24th on Sunday, so when starting mid-pack I had to go through a crazy turn 1 and 2 with lots of contact. On Saturday I made the best of it and quickly got to 7th within the first two turns but later on I was bumped off the track and fell way back to 29th , driving with a bent tie-rod and steering shaft.
Sunday was a bit better with more close contact racing, added Olivier. I managed to finish 15th after being parked in a traffic jam on turn 1. I was very disappointed with my results but I knew we were heading to Ocala the following week and I was determined to turn things around.”
The Ocala Gran Prix race track is Olivier’s favorite in Florida. The packed competitors assembled for the second round of the Florida Karting Championship Series delivered close action racing in every class to racing fans.
Bellanger wasted no time and after the morning practice he set fast time and took pole positions in both classes entered, Rotax Mini Max and Vortex Tag Cadet. Bumper to bumper racing kept spectators cheering on their feet in the pre-finals and finals. In Mini Max, four drivers fought for the lead in almost every lap until Olivier took control in lap 11 and kept his Tony Kart ahead of the pack to cross the finish line first and claim the win.
In the Vortex Tag Cadet, Bellanger secured the win in the pre-final and enjoyed a comfortable lead in the final until the last 3 laps.
“We were running this class with last month’s tires”, explained Olivier. “So I knew I had to pull away quickly as my tires got worse as the race went on. I had a feeling that Seve (DePinto) would catch-up to me at some point and when he passed me under the white flag in turn one, I kept my focus and stayed in his bumper to set-up a pass either in the hairpin or the tree turn. When I could not make it there, I had no choice to go for a last turn pass and was glad that I could make it stick to take the checkered flag. This ended up being a perfect racing weekend for me, I wanted some redemption and give back positive results to my crew and people supporting me”, added Olivier.
I want to thank my sponsor K1 RaceGear, Nate Grindell and the entire OGP Team for their help and support, also many thanks to Gary Willis and Christian Toro for always being there for me, Mr. Rogero for the great advice and all my family and friends.”
Bellanger will be facing more close competition the next three weeks with the opening round of the North Florida RMax Challenge then back to back FWT racing in Ocala for the last rounds of this international race series.
For more information or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Olivier at Olivier.bellanger@live.com |
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