FWT: Kollin Stuart and Harry Coulton take wins as Nicholas Brueckner and Giovanni Bromante Claim Championships

Championship Sunday. The final day of the 2013 Florida Winter Tour is in the books as series hit the track at Ocala Gran Prix under a wide mixture of weather, including very heavy winds and even an intense downpour, and heated action on track. Seven class champions were crowned, with six tickets awarded to the Rotax Grand Finals, held this November in New Orleans, USA.

Micro Max

Matthew Latifi (TonyKart) took the lead from the start of the Micro Max Pre final ahead of Guilherme Romano Peixoto (TonyKart), Dylan Tavella (TonyKart), Jack Doohan (Tony Kart), and Harry Coulton (Birel) as the top five battle for the top spot. On lap two Tavella would take the second position away from Peixoto. Two laps later Tavella would challenge Latifi for the top spot and take command of the race. Coulton then took fourth away from Doohan as the young Australian droped down from the leading pack. With four laps to go Latifi regained the top spot as Peixoto followed him by Tavella. Romano took the lead from Latifi with a pass in turn five with two laps to go, then Tavella would pass to take the lead in the final corner. Tavella took the win ahead of Peixoto, Latifi, Coulton and Nicholas d’Orlando.

Latifi took the lead of the Micro final on lap one and he would be followed by Coulton and Tavella. Coulton would be faster than the leader Latifi for majority of the race but was not able to find the line that would help him get past the Ferrolati Corse driver. With five laps to go Latifi was passed by Coulton as the MRP driver would pull away to a one-second lead in about two laps. Coulton would go on to take the win ahead of Latifi, Peixoto, Giovanni Bromante (Tony Kart), and Sebastion Rodriguez (Tony Kart).

Championship wise Bromante would hold on to his lead as he also earned a spot to the Rotax Micro-Max Invitational at the NOLA Motorsports Park later this year. Peixoto took second in the standings as he had a successful North American debut in the championship. Tavella and Coulton took third and fourth with great runs all year long. Venezuelan Leonardo Rinaldi had an average tour taking a well earned fifth in points.

Mini Max

Nicholas Brueckner (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)

David Malukas (Birel) continued to show top form in Mini Max as he led early in the Pre final ahead of Santiago Terife (TonyKart) and Neil Verhagen (Arrow). Nicholas Brueckner (Birel) who had a poor start would drive back to second on lap three as he needed to take as many points as he could to keep his championship hopes alive. On lap five it started to rain and Brueckner took the lead from Malukas who would drop out of the race after spinning off track. Verhagen would now be in the second postion as the two leaders would be 12-seconds ahead of the field. At the line Brueckner would take the win ahead of Verhagen, Kollin Stuart (TonyKart), Michael Benyahia (Tecno), and Luis Alfonso Perez Pena (TonyKart).

Brueckner looked strong at the start of the Final as he would look to do what ever he could to take the championship away from Anthony Gangi Jr. (TonyKart). Stuart would be in second, half a second behind the leader and he would be followed by Ramirez and Verhagen. Gangi would charge from seventh to third at the halfway point in the race as the Championship would now get heated. Brueckner would lose the lead to Stuart as the championship contenders would be right with each other. The results would not change for the remaineder of the race as Stuart took the win ahead of Brueckner, Gangi, Terife, and Verhagen.

With a stellar weekend on track Brueckner would win the championship as he did it based on consistent finishes after not winning a single Final in the Championship. As champion Brueckner would also be invited to the Rotax Mini Max Invitational that will be held in conjunction with this years Grand Finals in New Orleans, USA. Gangi Jr. came very close to securing both cadet championships of the Tour as he would come up twenty-five points behind the champion. Mathias Ramirez (TonyKart) finished in third ahead of Malukas and Verhagen.