Seven Wins and Five Championships for OTK Brands at 2022 Florida Winter Tour Series Finale
Successful final stage of ROK Cup USA winter program in Orlando for OTK teams and drivers
A first FWT victory for the LN Racing Kart by Oliver Wheldon in the Mini ROK category (Photo: Canadian Karting News)
The third and final event of the 2022 ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour was held over the March 10-13 timeline at the Orlando Kart Center. The Orlando, Florida facility is just minutes away from the OTK USA headquarters, with many drivers and teams representing the OTK brands during a challenging weekend of weather. In the end, a total of seven victories were collected in the main events, concluding with five series championships for OTK drivers.
Jeremy Fletcher swept the victories in all three rounds of VLR Senior to claim the series championship (Photo: Canadian Karting News)
A total of four classes resulted in an OTK sweep for the main event to close out the FWT program. The first came in the VLR Junior division, led by Caleb Gafrarar (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). Gafrarar went wire-to-wire in the 20-lap main event to a 1.1-second margin of victory over Californian Christian Cameron (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed) and Helio Meza (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart). Cooper Shipman (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart) and Jorge Ortiz (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) completed the top-five sweep. Meza would go on to earn the series title with Charlie Smith (Nash Motorsportz / EOS) and Shipman joining him on the championship podium.
The second came in the VLR Senior division. Jeremy Fletcher (Gary Willis Racing / Tony Kart) fought off challenges at the halfway point to go on and win by one-second, securing a third straight victory to claim the series title. Victor Schoma (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) held off Canadian Cedrik Lupien (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) for the runner-up spot. Brothers Adam Ali (Racing Edge Motorsports / Kosmic) and Daniel Ali (Racing Edge Motorsports / Kosmic) finished fourth and fifth. Adam ended up second in the point standings with Wes Duchak (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) to complete an OTK sweep of the championship podium.
Danillo Ramalho scored victory in the Masters ROK division at the series finale (Photo: Canadian Karting News)
Danillo Ramalho (Racing Edge Motorsports / Kosmic) stepped up to claim his first victory of the season at the Florida Winter Tour to close out the Master ROK division. Ramalho beat out two-time winner Renato Jader David (Orsolon Racing) in an OTK top-five sweep ahead of William Isaias (International Motorsports / Tony Kart), former Formula One driver Antonio Pizzonia (Orsolon Racing / Tony Kart) and Scott Roberts (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed). David claimed another FWT title with Isaias and Danny Robertson (Rolison Performance Group) on the championship podium as well.
The fourth OTK sweep of the top-five came in the Junior ROK division. Florida driver Steven Miller (CDR / Redspeed) was able to lead all 20 laps in the Final. He was pressured all race long by Canadian Ayden Ingratta (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed), who was 49 thousandths short at the checkered flag. Caleb Gafrarar (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) added a second podium finish on the day, placing third ahead of Sebastian Wheldon (JC / LN Racing Kart) and Teddy Musella (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic). The victory put Miller on top of the championship podium with Jorge Ortiz (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) second and Ingratte third.
Steven Miller clinched the Junior ROK championship with a victory at the series finale in Orlando (Photo: Canadian Karting News)
Oliver Wheldon (JC Karting / LN Racing Kart) secured his first FWT victory of the season in Orlando. Wheldon started fourth and worked his way into the lead toward the end, holding on until the checkered flag. Asher Ochstein (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) finished fourth.
A career first victory at the FWT for Canadian David Zhao (Goodwood Kartways / Exprit) in Micro ROK. Zhao started back in the ninth position, advancing forward with each lap to take over the lead with two circuits remaining. David was able to drive away with the top spot to earn the victory. Antonio Pizonnia Jr. (Orsolon Racing / EOS) finished third in his FWT debut with Matheus Ramalho (Racing Edge Motorsports / Kosmic) driving to fifth, earning the third spot in the final championship standings.
The seventh victory on the day came in the VLR Master class. Orlando Kart Center’s own Charlie Fonseca (Tony Kart) won in a great Final battle that was decided by only eight hundredths of a second at the line. Rob Maier (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) was fifth in the main event. Galo Barros (VTM Racing Team / Tony Kart) put OTK on the championship podium, placing third in the final standings.
Two wins over the three rounds helped to put Matheus Morgatto on top of the championship podium in Senior ROK (Photo: Canadian Karting News)
Two drivers stood on the podium in the Senior ROK category. California driver Blake Nash (Nash Motorsportz / EOS) came away with a runner-up finish while Brazilian Matheus Morgatto (AM Racing Team / Exprit) joined him in third while Canadian Nolan Bower (NBM / Exprit) placed fourth. Morgatto’s three podium finishes, including two wins helped him to earn the championship as Jeremy Fletcher (Gary Willis Racing / Tony Kart) closed out the standings in third.
Drivers looking to compete with the most popular kart brand in the world or purchase OTK karts and components can contact their local OTK USA dealer. Head to www.otkusa.com for a complete list of dealers and details on the entire brand roster.
