With the 2017 season only a few short holiday filled weeks away, MAXSpeed Entertainment has one event left on their agenda. This weekend, they will host their first ever Florida Winter Tour Collective Test at Homestead Karting in south Florida, expecting nearly 100 drivers and giving drivers and teams their first official test aboard the new Max One by Vega tire that most Rotax classes will utilize in 2017 and beyond.
We spoke with Andrew Campbell, of MAXSpeed Group, ahead of this weeks test to hear his thoughts on what to expect when drivers hit the track this weekend and to get his feelings towards the new tires MAXSpeed will introduce.
“I’m definitely excited and looking forward to seeing many familiar faces before we start the new year. We worked to ensure our customers can use tire compounds that offer a balance between grip, longevity and performance.”
“This event gives our drivers and teams an opportunity to prepare for the most important winter Championship in North America, the Florida Winter Tour. The series attracts drivers globally from regions of the world where motorsport is held to the highest degree. The Homestead circuit should be near race-condition by Sunday with the amount of rubber and drivers on track, so I feel the drivers will appreciate the simulated conditions when testing different kart setups.”
There will be teams a plenty on track in Homestead as an impressive group have shown intentions to be on track this weekend. As a great opportunity to prepare for the FWT, it doesn’t surprise us to see many of the Florida region teams making a presence, but to see the number of teams willing to travel across the country shows just how important this test will be.
“Andersen Racing, Koene USA, Legree, Team BENIK, Orsolon Racing, PSL Karting, OVRP, AKT Racing, Zanella Racing, Positive Motorsports, J3 Competition, Ben Cooper Racing, Montoya Racing, Racing Edge Motorsports, Iron Rock Motorsports, Prime Powerteam, and a large number of privateers. Not all have RSVP’d, but we have close to ninety drivers confirmed now. I am more than happy with the turn out, as will are planning to make this into an annual event.”
Campbell expects the new tires to close the gap and create better racing this year, helping out drivers who often found themselves on the outside looking in at Rotax events on MOJO tires, but not at other races where a softer tire was utilizes.
“The biggest reaction and observation is for drivers who are normally off-pace by a half-second on hard-tires, they are able to close the gap to two-tenths with the softer tire. Drivers also report feeling confident in their abilities to attack corners harder than before. As well, the gap in chassis’ for particular brands who succeed on harder tires is almost non-existent, giving a fair chance to all. And most importantly, drivers are entertained driving on sticky tires.”
And finally, Campbell also expects to see much faster lap times at Homestead for the Rotax Max machines, although he’s not too sure how much quicker it will be until most likely this Sunday.
“Difficult to accurately guess, but I assume somewhere between one and two-seconds a lap quicker.”
