Mathias Ramirez (Parolin) was very slow off the start line in the Rok Shifter Final, but he rebounded back to the lead by the end of the 28-lap race, only to be penalized and lose his victory. This meant Canadian Antonio Serravalle (CRG) inherited the race win in his first start of the season at the Florida Winter Tour.
From the pole-position, Ramirez struggled to get off the line when the green flag flew allowing not only Jimmy Cabrera (Kosmic) to beat him to turn one, but also Marjin Kremers (BirelART), Serravalle, Rory Van Der Steur (FA Kart), Michael Stevens (BirelART) and Arthur Leist (Kosmic).
Notably missing from the front of the grid was Austin Garrison (TonyKart) and AJ Myers (TB Kart). On the opening lap of the PreFinal, Myers made a late lunge in the tree turn, flying over Garrison and ending his race. The day got worse for Garrison in the Final as he came across a crash in turn one and had nowhere to go, meaning he didn’t complete a lap of competition on Sunday.
While Ramirez recovered his way forward, Kremers went to the lead before the opening lap was over. Cabrera fought back on the next lap, but Kremers quickly fired back and resumed the lead.
As Kremers built up a lead after that, Ramirez had worked by Serravalle on lap nine and was scaling up Cabrera for third. Finally making his move on lap fourteen, contact was made and Ramirez went over the fairing of Cabrera, allowing Serravalle to move into second.
Building back up his momentum, Ramirez got back by Serravalle and by lap twenty-one, he had his eyes on the lead. A dive bomb into turn six caught Kremers a little off guard, but to avoid contact, Kremers gave him room. Ramirez used every inch and forced Kremers wide on the exit and the BirelART driver dropped a wheel, surrendering the lead and second place.
The race settled there, with Ramirez crossing first, Serravalle second and AJ Myers third after getting by Kremers with three to go. But officials awarded Ramirez a two-position penalty, moving Serravalle go the win, Myers to second and Ramirez third.
Full results can be found here: http://bit.ly/2Exksl1.
