Returning home after a weekend in sunny south Florida, we caught up with Wesley Schindel to get his reaction to the Maxspeed Winter Collective test at Homestead Karting in anticipation for next months Florida Winter Tour race. Schindel worked with Ryan MacDermid for the past two years, helping the driver win the US Open and Eastern Canadian Karting Championship in Rotax Junior and qualify on the pole-position at the Rotax Grand Finals this past October.
Transitioning to a new driver for 2017, Schindel has teamed up with young gun Justin Arseneau for an assault on the Mini-Max category with support from Team PSL Karting.
Here’s what he has to say about the test.
“I was really looking forward to heading down to the MaxSpeed Winter Collective test, for a couple reasons. One, I was very impressed with the package we had received in Italy that I was excited to see that we receive some similar quality again back on home soil. Also, I was excited for some warm weather and sunshine after freezing back home in Toronto.
Most got to try out the new Max One by Vega tires, but as I was with my new Mini-Max driver [Justin Arseneau] I was still on the very familiar Mojo D2, which I think is a step forward for this category. Hearing and watching other people who got to try out the new Max One tire, was it a mostly positive attitude towards them. However I am personally not a huge fan of the switch. I believe the tires were not the problem most people made them out to be and we have now opened an even larger problem.
The big difference which really caught my eye in Italy were the cylinders. From my eyes the motors were the closest I have seen and I did not see many people who got lemons. This was also carried out and proven at the test, although some people did not upgrade their electrical when switching to the new cylinder, which could possibly have been a little more clear to the general public. I again saw the motors to be on a much more level playing ground than in the past.
All in all I came home with a positive feeling after the test, maybe from the warmth and sunshine but also because it was nice to be at a race track and not have so much negativity flying around. It may be because there was no racing so people were not so amped up but I really hope to see that atmosphere continue at the first round of Florida Winter Tour.”
The internationally popular Florida Winter Tour kicks off after the holidays on January 13 to 15 at the popular Homestead Karting facility which is right beside the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
