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| March 13, 2012 News |
| Event News: Florida Winter Tour - Ocala - Formula Kart Weekend - Sunday Report |
| Article by: Ken Johnson and Bill Wright |
 | | James Russell jr. (21), Carlo Rinaldi (middle) and John Dixon (77) wage a ferocious battle for the lead in Sunday's TaG Masters Pre-Final |
With a total of 115 drivers, accounting for an average of 158 entries per event weekend, and with some of the biggest names and teams in American karting attending, the 2012 FWT Formula Kart program was a growing success. And with arguably the best racing seen during the 2012 FWT it’s a program not to be missed in 2013.
After five rounds of racing, six classes were set to square off in their final round to determine the 2012 FWT Formula Kart champions. It was a day that tested every facet of the competitors skill as the beautiful and challenging Ocala Gran Prix circuit played host to some challenging weather conditions for some of the world’s best kart racers.
After the Saturday action CRG took the Manufacturers Championship lead away from Tony Kart by a very slim margin, with Intrepid closing the gap in third. The USA increased its substantial lead in the Nations Cup Championship, with Canada still second, and Venezuela closing in third.
As per the usual Formula Kart weekend schedule, the day started off with short morning warm-up sessions followed by qualifying for the individual classes. This particular Sunday morning was very overcast with a constant threat of rain that kept teams looking skyward with rain tires always ready to go. During the Pre-Finals there was a period of time when we did experience some precipitation. Some would have called it rain. But, natives to Florida considered it more of a tactile humidity that was more nuisance than hindrance.
Walking around the pits Sunday morning one could sense an unusual quietness about the paddock. Once racing got underway the reason for the quietness was clear, on the day the championships are decided, everyone is that much more focused. As such, the normal high level of intensity that we’re accustomed to at the FWT was ratcheted up a notch as the competitors were determined to leave nothing behind.
 | Alex Guenette wins Sunday's TaG Senior Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Two such competitors are Masters Champions from the 2011 Florida Winter Tour, Carlo Rinaldi, 2011 FWT Rotax MAX Masters champion, and James Russell Jr., 2011 FWT TaG Masters champion. These two have been pushing hard in this year’s TaG Masters Formula Kart class in search of another title. Both drivers have had great results, but both have found that repeating as champion in the FWT is a difficult task.
For Carlo Rinaldi, the 2011 season had a dream ending. “My greatest accomplishment in racing was winning the 2011 MAX Masters championship”, said the 43-year-old Venezuelan. “After problems in the Pre-Final, I start last in the Final and went through the pack to win the race and the championship. That was very special indeed!” he said with a smile. Carlo is part of the large Venezuelan contingent that has come to the Florida Winter Tour. They are currently third in the Nation’s Cup thanks in no small part to Carlo’s great performances.
When back home in Puerto La Cruz, Carlo works as a mechanical engineer and owns a Volvo servicing dealership. He says racing is his main passion, but he also enjoys staying fit by playing squash. Although he started karting when he was four, he stopped at the age of 18 but took the sport back up again when his son, Leonardo, wanted to give it a try.
Karting is widely known as a family sport, and Carlo and Leonardo are just one of the many father/son teams that compete. Perhaps, in their case, the desire to race came from Carlo’s grandfather who was the first to bring a kart into the country of Venezuela. From those humble beginnings karting has grown in Venezuela, but Carlo says to find the best competition one must still travel to the Florida Winter Tour.
Also from a family with strong karting roots, Jim Russell Jr. is part of a karting dynasty that began back in 1959 when his grandfather, George, started Russell Karting Specialties just outside Kansas City, MO. Jim has been in charge for the last few years and when asked to describe what he does for a living, he just said, “I sell go-karts.” It was a typically modest answer from a man who owns a company that imports kart engines, tires and chassis. However, no matter what his role is when he’s at the office, when Jim Jr. is at a race track, he’s all about driving and winning.
When asked why he comes to the Florida Winter Tour, Jim had just two words, “To Win!” And he’s been doing a lot of that in his 29 years of competition. He’s even recorded what may be the fastest top speed during an official kart race when he topped 162 MPH in a laydown twin 250cc kart on the high banks at Daytona. Jim is the defending FWT TaG Masters Champion and has run very strong in 2012, but hasn’t had the success this year that he had last.
 | | Phil Kirby (left) is all smiles after being awarded a spot on the FWT-MG Tires team at the Granja 500 by Formula kart Promotion's Bill Wright (right) |
Like Carlo, Jim is also part of a father and son team as his son has been a competitor in the FWT. His kids, James (14) and Elle (9) are also into playing soccer as well so Jim devotes some of his time to being a coach and a referee. With such a busy schedule, we’re very pleased to see Jim and the rest of his crew here at the Florida Winter Tour and hope to see them for years to come.
With a threat of afternoon rain, Sunday’s racing schedule was compacted just a bit in an attempt to get all the action in with the best track conditions available. Starting the Pre-Finals was the ZCD Autosports sponsored TaG Senior class. Danny Formal (Costa Rica) has been on a roll of late and looked to win his fourth Final in a row. After a sterling win in the Pre-Final, Danny was all set to start the Final on pole position with Alex Guenette (Canada) and Juan Diego Maldonado (Colombia) right behind. However, as the karts left the starting grid, there was no Danny.
As the competitors circulated on their warm-up lap, Danny and his tuner could be seen running through the paddock to the grid to get into the race. Although he did manage to make it on track, he did so just as the field was taking the start. What had previously looked like Danny’s championship was now firmly in the hands of Alex Guenette. Unless Danny could pull off a monster drive, the title would be headed to Canada. Up front, Alex did what he had to and put in a smooth drive to win the race going away.
But, back in the pack, Danny was doing what he had to as well and sliced through the competition to work his way up to third by the end of the race. That was all he needed to take the championship and add to his points tally in the Skip Barber Award competition.
After the TaG Seniors, the Keane Racing sponsored TaG Masters had their turn in the spotlight. In the opening weekend in Palm Beach, Chuck Gafrarar (USA) won both rounds. In Homestead, John Dixon (USA) also pulled the double. On Saturday Jim Russell jr. took the win so if history was to repeat itself, he would be the one on top of the box at the end of the day.
 | Kyle Kirkwood completed a perfect FWt season by taking six wins in six races in TaG Junior
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Although Jim got a great start in the Pre-Final, Carlo Rinaldi stormed through the pack and by halfway was right on Jr’s tail. With five laps to go they two went side-by-side through the fast sweeping turn one, with smoke coming off their tires as they banged wheels, then continued side by side for several corners until Carlo just got enough of an advantage to pull away. It was another one of those moments that if you did not witness either in person or on FWT LIVE!, you must remember to check back to the video archives at FloridaWinterTour.com to catch the replay when it’s available.
The Pre-Final win gave Carlo the top starting spot in the Final which he used to grab an early lead over Jason Bell (USA). From this point on the Venezuelan was in complete control of the race as he cruised to the win. Back in the pack, Chuck Gafrarar did not get the great start he was looking for but still managed to work his way up to third. This gave him all the points he needed to secure the 2012 Formula Kart TaG Masters championship.
These marked back-to-back years for the TaG Masters championship to go to someone under the Russell tent. But, there was even more to celebrate for that group when Phil Kirby’s name was pulled from the hat by Formula Karts Production’s owner Bill Wright to win the opportunity to be on the FWT/MG Tires team at the Granja 500 in Brasil later this year.
The next class to be settled was the AM Engines sponsored TaG Junior division. All eyes were on Kyle Kirkwood (USA) to see if he could complete the perfect season by winning all six 2012 TaG Junior Finals. On Saturday, it looked for the bulk of the race that the win streak was over. But, on the last lap Kyle was able to get around Ashley Rogero (USA) at the finish to win by just 0.030 of a second. In Sunday’s Final, it was not going to be that close as Kyle used his pole position earned by a Pre-Final win to assume the lead and stay clear of the pack.
While Kyle was on his way to history, a host of drivers gave chase. Luck often plays a part in racing and this day Championship contender Ashley Rogero had none of the good kind, struggling from deep in the field for most of the day. In the end the final order was Kirkwood followed by Juan Manuel Correa (Ecuador) and Sam Cate (USA).
 | Sweden's Rasmus Lindh used his wet weather skills to win Sunday's TaG Cadet Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
After the points were tallied up, Kyle Kirkwood had a lock on the championship with his six wins. FWT rules use a drivers top 5 points scoring finishes and drops the lowest result. We must note, no one here can remember the last time a win was used as a drop which proves how great a season Kyle had. Second in the championship was Ashley Rogero who, in addition to her karting accomplishments, was inducted into the National Honor Society last week so good for her. Third place in the TaG Junior championship went to Ecuador’s Juan Manuel Correa for his steady finishes all season.
The DeFrancesco Racing sponsored Formula TaG Cadet Class is the largest class in the FWT Formula Kart program. As one can imagine, the competition for supremacy amongst the youngest of the drivers has been at a fever pitch all year. Among those drivers was Anthony Gangi (USA) who won Saturday’s Final. Also sitting well in the points was Floridian Darren Keane who knew just staying in the top five would be enough to ensure he was the 2012 Florida Winter Tour TaG Cadet champion. Just as the Cadet Final left the grid for the start it started to rain. And this time we mean real rain, not just the tactile humidity. As such the Cadets were called back in for rain tires. When their final resumed the karts put on a great show, sliding through the turns and throwing up huge rooster tails as they drove through the water.
There’s an old saying in racing, “Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go”. But no amount of money can buy talent and when it’s wet, the real drivers come to the front. Many drivers spun off the track but some thrived in the conditions. The one doing the best was Sweden’s Rasmus Lindh who drove in the rain like he’d been doing it all his life. From taking the lead early on, Rasmus never looked back to take a dominating win. Staying just in sight of Lindh was Darren Keane and that was all he needed to take the 2012 Florida Winter Tour Formula Kart TaG Cadet championship. This was a great accomplishment for the young driver and we’re sure it won’t be the only championship he wins. Logan Sargeant hung on for second, and third was Anthony Gangi jr. who has been running strong all season long. Anthony used a Saturday win and a Sunday third place in the rain to move up the leaderboard.
For the shifter kart classes, both Euro Motorsports sponsored Open Shifter and Masters Shifter which share track time, the track was moderately slippery for their Pre-Final and completely soaked for the Final. There’s nothing quite like trying to wrestle a high horsepower gearbox kart around a tight slick track. And, there’s nothing like watching it either. As such, those watching in attendance and on FWT LIVE! got to see championship caliber drivers fighting for control of their beasts through every corner.
 | Matthew DiLeo mastered the wet conditions to take the in in Sunday's Open Shifter Final
(Photo: Ken Johnson - studio52.us) |
Many spun off the track. Some continued and some had their race end right there. But, in both the Pre-Final and the Final, Canadian Matthew DiLeo had the rain mastered and ran away to an easy victory. Likewise, in the Masters Shifter class, Kurt Mathewson turned in a very solid performance, finishing ahead of all of the Masters Shifter and most of the Open Shifter class karts.
In the end the Open Shifter Championship was repeated by Zachary Meyer (Canada), with Alex Manglass (USA) second and Jamaican Collin Daley Jr third. In Masters Shifter George Moss (USA) held on for the title followed by fellow U.S. drivers David Levy in second and Tim Ulmen third.
After the Sunday FK action the Manufacturer’s Cup battle between CRG and Tony Kart is too close to call. However, third place Intrepid is not too far behind to be considered a contender. The final results will be determined by next weekend’s FWT Rotax program, but with a super tight points battle throughout the 2012 FWT Man Cup the ultimate winner will see the FK weekend play a pivotal role. The United States still has a commanding lead over Canada in the Nation’s Cup Championship, with Venezuela again closing the gap in third. With mixed Formula Kart event results, the top challengers for the Skip Barber Award are still locked in a close battle going into the final weekend of racing.
Once the podium celebrations had been completed, the only thing left to do for the Formula Kart Productions team was to get things dried out, cleaned up and prepared for next weekend’s FWT Rotax MAX Challenge Championship weekend. The FWT MAX championship is the world’s largest MAX Challenge and everyone is looking forward to a big weekend. Simply put, the Florida Winter Tour is “THE Winter Place To Be”. For more results, news and information log on to FloridaWinterTour.com and be sure to watch the racing action live on FWT LIVE! |
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