|
 |
|
 |
| June 01, 2012 News |
| Race Report: Florida Karting Championship Series - Orlando Kart Center |
| Article by: Tony Modica |
Race number five took the Florida Karting Championship Series to the newly renovated and repaved Orlando Kart Center. With another great turnout there were many points battles on line and some of the best racing was on hand under sunny skies and temperatures in low 90's. Friday practice turned out very strong as drivers had many rounds of practice as they prepared for the weekend.
Kid Karts
The stars of tomorrow, the kid karts had another great turn out this weekend with eight karts in the field, Jeremy Fletcher, Chase Heffner, Lucas Rodriguez, Akela Pacitto, Mathias Freebury, Alessandro De Tullio, Connor Toole, and Valentino Mini all raced this past weekend. These young drivers continue to work on their skills and getting prepared for the next step in karting and moving up into the sportsman classes. It was an outstanding day of training on Saturday for all of the kid kart drivers.
Box Stock Sr.
In the twelve lap final, nine karts would take the green flag with the 2011 points champion Joey Miller starting on the pole. Miller would take off to an early lead and would build a ten second lead by the halfway point. Miller would go on to pick up his fourth straight win crossing the finish line with thirteen second lead to 2nd. Miller would get a ten second penalty for a starting lane violation, finishing second it was Glenn Fichter getting his best finish of the season and third it was Doug Moff. Pre-final winner was Joey Miller, second going to Glenn Fichter and third to Randy Balmer. In qualifying Joey Miller set fast time with time of 1:04.537.
Rotax Mini Max
In the final it was another good turnout with fifteen karts in the field with Olivier Bellanger on the pole. Bellanger would hang on the lead for the first two laps until giving it up to Mathias Ramirez. Bellanger would stay behind Ramirez until the finish giving Ramirez his second win of the season, second going to Bellanger, who would be disqualified in the Tech shed, giving second to Devin Bowerman who would get his best finish of the season and third going to Ruben Grillet. In the pre-final, Olivier Bellanger took the win, second it was Mathias Ramirez and third going to Michael Benyahia. Mathias Ramirez set fast time in qualifying with time of 57.250.
 | Alex Speed
(Photo: Eydie Evans) |
Rotax Micro Max
Sixteen karts took the green flag in the final with Devin Boutot on the pole, we would see some very close racing for the entire twelve laps with six lead changes between four drivers including Nicholas Brueckner who would get the lead late and would be able to hold off some very good drivers. Boutot would keep the heat on the leader Brueckner when the checkered would drop it was Brueckner scoring the win. He would have to take a two position penalty for avoidable contact which would give the win to Devin Boutot giving him his fourth win of the season, second going to Harry Coulton and third it was Brueckner. Devin Boutot took the win in the pre-final with Harry Coulton picking up second and third going Nicholas Brueckner. In qualifying Nicholas Brueckner, had a quick lap of 1:01.557.
Rotax Senior
Fourteen karts would take the green flag for the twelve lap final with substitute driver Alex Speed filling in for Andrew Evans. This race would see five lead changes among four drivers including Speed, Jonathan Kotyk, Brandon Salyer and Nick Neri. Speed would get the lead away just past the halfway point from Salyer and Salyer would drop back leaving Kotyk on the heels of your leader Speed. Neri would charge his way from the twelfth place starting position. Speed would get the win by just over a second over Kotyk matching his best finish of the season. Neri would settle for third his worst finish of the season after sweeping the first four races. The pre-final win went to Alex Speed with Jonathan Kotyk second and Brandon Salyer in third. Jonathan Kotyk set fast time in qualifying with a time of 55.538.
KPP Junior
In the final it would be Derek Sobel on the pole in a very lite field with only five karts taking the green. It didn’t take long for Ashley Rogero to grab the lead coming from inside of row two. By lap one Rogero would set sail and would go wire to wire for her fourth straight win in four starts. Second place going to Sobel getting his fifth straight second place finish on the season and it was Austin Jordan matching his best finish of the season. Derek Sobel took the win in the pre-final with Austin Jordan picking up second and third going Ashley Rogero. In qualifying Ashley Rogero set quick lap with a 56.600.
 | Ashley Rogero
(Photo: Eydie Evans) |
TAG Cadet
Another strong field of karts took to the track with twelve drivers taking the green flag with Olivier Bellanger starting on the pole. This race would feature four lead changes among three drivers, joining Bellanger it was Mathias Ramirez and points leader Seve DePinto all doing battle lap after lap among the three drivers. On lap eight Bellanger would drop out leaving a two kart battle for the lead with Ramirez proving to be too strong and would go on to get his second win of the season. Second going to Mayo Livingston who came from his sixth place starting position and third was Michael Benyahia picking up his best finish of the season. The pre-final win went to Bellanger, grabbing second it was Mathias Ramirez and third was Seve DePinto. Mathias Ramirez set a time of 1:00.003 in qualifying.
TAG Junior
In the final twenty five karts would take the green flag with Derek Sobel starting on the pole. Sobel would jump out to an early lead and by the halfway point he would have a two second lead over the field. With Sobel checking out the racing was for the final two podium positions between three drivers A.J Meyers, Sebastian Sierra and Oliver Askew. All three drivers switched back and forth for position and we would see some great racing, with Sobel going on to get his first win in the class. Second going to Oliver Askew who would out muscle Sierra for second and third it was Sierra getting his best finish of the season. The pre-final win went to Derek Sobel with second going to Ryan Norberg and taking third it was Sebastian Sierra. In qualifying Derek Sobel turned quick a time of 54.674.
TAG Masters
In the twelve lap final twelve karts would take the green flag. Points leader, Scott Roberts would start on the pole and wasted no time breaking away. By the halfway point Roberts would open up a seven second lead and would prove too much for the field, as he would go on to pick up his third straight win in a row. He would cross the line with a gap just over eleven seconds back to second. Finishing second was Jason Heffner and third going to Brad Sanders. Pre-final win went to Scott Roberts taking second was Jason Heffner and third Brad Sanders. In qualifying Scott Roberts set fast time with a lap of 55.736.
Box Stock JR 1
Hunter Padilla started on the pole with Nash Duyn starting outside of row one. Once the green would drop Duyn would move around the leader Padilla early on, and would check out on the field and would have no problem securing his second win of the season. Second was Padilla and third going to Jacob Howard who picked up his best finish of the season. In pre-final it was Hunter Padilla taking the win, second going to Nash Duyn and third Jacob Howard. Picking up fast time in qualifying was Hunter Padilla with a time of 1:02.652.
 | TaG Cadet lead pack
(Photo: Eydie Evans) |
Box Stock JR
Points leader Benjamin Withers would prove to be too strong for the field as he would start on the pole and easily go on to a wire to wire victory for the fourth time this season. Finishing second was Jimmy Jackson matching his best finish of the season and coming across the line in third was Katie Kirkpatrick. Pre-final winner was Benjamin Withers with second going to Evan Cowen and third it was Katie Kirkpatrick. In qualifying Benjamin Withers set fast time with a lap of 1:04.376.
Rotax Masters
In the twelve lap final just six karts would take the green flag. John Dalton started on the pole with current points leader Scott Roberts starting inside of row two. Roberts wasted no time getting to the front and by lap one he was the new leader and by the halfway point Roberts would have opened up a four and half second lead. Roberts would go on to score his fourth win of the season. Second it was Jason Heffner and third going to John Dalton matching his best finish of the season. In the pre-final John Dalton took the win, second going to Brad Bridges. In qualifying fast time went to Scott Roberts with a time of 57.046.
Rotax Junior
The final brought nineteen karts to the green flag with Ryan Norberg on the pole, Sebastian Sierra started outside of row one. Sierra would jump out to the early and would hold that position to lap three when A.J. Myers coming from inside of row two would grab the lead. Myers would have his hands full with Sierra, Norberg and Benjamin Auriemma all going back and forth for top position. By the time the dust settled it would be Myers coming across the line first, picking up his first win of the season, second going to Norberg who scored his best finish of the year and third went to Sierra. In the pre-final the winner was Ryan Norberg finishing second Sebastian Sierra and third going to AJ Myers. In qualifying Oliver Askew set fast time with a lap of 55.465.
TAG
The final brought out nineteen karts to the green flag with substitute driver Alex Speed filling in again for Andrew Evans. Speed started on the pole. This would be a great battle between four drivers including three different leaders and five lead changes between Speed, Dan Roper Jonathan Kotyk and points leader Nick Neri, by the final lap Speed would show he had enough to grab the win. Second going to Dan Roper picking up his best finish of the season and third it was Nick Neri. In the pre-final Alex Speed scored the win with Nick Neri finishing second and third it was Jonathan Kotyk. Fast qualifier was Alex Speed with a time of 54.559.
 | Derek Sobel
(Photo: Eydie Evans) |
Yamaha Junior
The twelve lap final had just six karts in the field, with Ashley Rogero on the pole and Derek Sobel outside of row one. This race would quickly go in two different directions for row one when the field was going into turn one for the first time, Sobel would get hung up with two other drivers Tyler Jordan and Eddie Rodriguez leaving all three drivers deep in the field. In the meantime Rogero would check out and by the halfway point she would have a full seven second lead, cruising home for her fourth straight win. Sobel would make a great come back to finish second, third went to points leader Austin Jordan securing his fifth straight top five finish of the season. Ashley Rogero picked up the win in the pre-final followed by Derek Sobel and third going to Austin Jordan. In qualifying Derek Sobel set fast time with a lap of 55.465.
Cadet Sportsman
Seventeen karts started in the final with Jacksonville, FL driver, Jason Yarbrough on the pole with Devin Bowerman starting outside of row one. Bowerman would only be able to hold the lead for just one lap when Yarbrough would sling around Bowerman to take over the lead. Yarbrough would be able to hold the lead for the rest of the race with some heavy pressure from Justin Gordon. Yarbrough would pick up his first win in the cadet class, Gordon hung on for second and third was points leader Seve DePinto picking up his fifth top three finish. Pre-Final victory went to Jason Yarbrough second it was Devin Bowerman and third going to Seve DePinto. In qualifying it was Seve DePinto with a time of 1:02.327.
ICC Shifter
Five karts were in the field with Brad Sanders starting on the pole. Sanders would cruise along with no competition from the field until late in the race when points leader Chris Grektorp would make a late charge coming from back of the field in the three combined classes to close into within 2 tenths of Sanders. Grektorp would run out of laps and would come up short. Leaving Sanders scoring his second straight win of the season Grektorp would finish second and third going to Farshad Bagheri getting his best finish of the year. The pre-final win went to Brad Sanders, second went to Farshad Bagheri and third was Morgan Pagano. Brad Sanders set fast time in qualifying 54.796.
Masters Shifter
In final Chad Waldron would pick up the win getting his third win of the season. Pre final winner was Chad Waldron. Chad Waldron set fast time in qualifying with a time of 55.554.
Stock Moto
In the final Chris Bany started on the pole with points leader Richard Comier starting outside of row one. Tony Kart factory driver Nick Neri started in the back of the field after a DQ in the pre-final, which didn’t affect Neri at all. By lap three he would grab the top spot and then broke away with a well over six second lead at the halfway point, leaving him to pick up his fourth win of the season and third in a row. Second place going to Chris Bany matching his best finish of the season, third it was Richard Cormier. Pre-final winner was Chris Bany, second going to Richard Cormier and third it was Vicki Brian. Nick Neri set fast time in qualifying with a time of 53.364.
TAG Heavy
In the final thirteen karts took the green flag with points leader John Dalton starting on the pole, Dalton would waste no time checking out on the field and would go unchallenged for the entire race. Dalton would score his third win of the season. Second place went to Matt Blair, getting his best finish of the year, and third going to Louis Satterlee. In the pre-final John Dalton scored the win with second place going to Matt Blair and third it was Louis Satterlee. In qualifying fast time went to Michael Sachs with a time of 57.078.
Yamaha Sportsman
In the shortened eleven lap final points leader Jason Yarbrough started on the pole. Jason would lead until the halfway point when Justin Gordon would make the pass to only see that go by the wayside when a motor problem took him out giving the lead right back to Yarbrough who would go on to pick up his third win of the season. With second going to Mathias Ramirez and third it was Jordan Heffner getting his first podium of the year. In the pre-final Jason Yarbrough got the win, second was Justin Gordon and third going to Mathias Ramirez. In qualifying Mathias Rameriz locked in fast time with a lap of 1:03.248.
June 22-24 will be the last race of the 2012 season as the Florida Karting Championship Series will be in Jacksonville, Florida at the 103rd Street Complex. |
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
