It was a spectacular weekend of racing for our Canadian contingent at the second round of the 2020 Rok Cup USA Florida Winter Tour. On Sunday, Canadians scored four podium finishes at Ocala Gran Prix, including a dominant victory but Mathieu Cousineau in Briggs Junior and three second-place finishes.
The race weekend started off with on and off drizzle on Friday, disrupting Qualifying and the first round of heat races. That couldn’t stop Thomas Nepveu from putting his PSL Karting BirelART machine on the pole-position in ROK Senior, which featured an event-high 37 competitors.
Thankfully, the warm weather and sunshine returned to the state of Florida on the weekend and our Canadians went to work, seeking the podium in a number of categories, where Canadians made up 43 of the 240 race entries.
To start the day off on Sunday, Mathieu Cousineau (PSL-BCR/BirelART) led nearly every lap of the Briggs Junior Final, surrendering the top spot for only a lap near the midway point. As the laps ticked down, Cousineau fought off fellow Canadian Logan Ferguson (Prime/BirelART) and the rest of a pack of six to maintain the lead and celebrated the race win at the finish line by throwing his hands up in the air. Unfortunately for Ferguson, he has accessed a 5-position penalty for contact in the middle of the race with another driver, pushing him off the podium. Matthew Demarinis (Prime/BirelART) earned himself a top-five finish, while Franco O’Dowd-Savaglio (REM/Kosmic) had to retire early after spinning while battling for position.
In the other Briggs Final, Gianluca Savaglio (REM/Kosmic) charged through the field from his seventh-place starting position but came up short of a chance at the victory when his battle for second was held up with two laps to go. He had to settle for second at the finish, which is nothing to complain about considering it was a last-minute decision for Savaglio to race in Briggs. Nicky Palladino (VSR/Exprit) and Owyn Thomas (Prime/BirelART) finished in the top-ten, taking sixth and ninth at the finish line.
Canada’s third trip to the podium in the morning run of Finals came in the hands of Ilie Tristan-Crisan (BCR-PSL/BirelART), who drove superbly to finish second in the Micro Rok Final, overtaking for the position on the final lap. Jensen Burnett (AKT/Energy Kart) finished fifth in the race as well, while Zachary Hitchcock (JC Karting/Kosmic) had his great start ended early with a spin in corner four that ended his race, finishing one spot behind Rocco Simone (Goodwood/Intrepid).
In one of the most anticipated Finals of the afternoon, Rok Senior took to the track as some dark clouds rolled into the Ocala area, cooling off the heavy humidity for a short moment. After Diego Ramos (REM/Kosmic) jumped out to the early lead, he was tracked down just shy of the midway point. Erupting with the lead after a mid-race charge was Ryan Norberg (RPG/Kosmic), while Patrick Woods-Toth (Prime/BirelART) joined in on the battle for the top-three. While Norberg checked out, Woods-Toth stayed with Luca Mars (SCR/RedSpeed) and overtook him in the late stages to finish second and claim Canada’s fourth podium result.
Starting the race from the rear of the field following a penalty in the PreFinal yesterday, Nepveu was the biggest mover in the race, advancing up 19 spots to finish fifteenth.
ROK Cup USA will be back in action during the first week of March when they host the third and final round of the 2020 Florida Winter Tour at Tropicana Stadium in St. Petersburg. A number of Canadians are once again expected to compete in the event and CKN will be trackside once again to keep taps on our racers. Learn more at http://rokcupusa.com.
For all of the results from FWT Round 2 at Ocala, click here: http://www.apex-timing.com/goracing/results.php?path=/otkusa/2020/fwt2/.
Full Canadian Results
Briggs Junior
1. Mathieu Cousineau
5. Matthew Demarinis
7. Logan Ferguson
DNF. Franco O’Dowd-Savaglio
Briggs Senior
2. Gianluca Savaglio
6. Nicky Palladino
9. Owyn Thomas
16. Brendon Murdoch
17. Eli Yanko
Rok Masters
9. Sylvain Coloumbe
Rok Micro
2. Ilie Tristan-Crisan
5. Jenson Burnett
16. Rocco Simone
DNF. Zachary Hitchcock
Shifter Master Rok
5. Nicholas Bedard
16. Thierry St-Onge
19. Michel Legrand
20. Martin Janson
100cc Junior
9. Louka St-Jean
100cc Senior
5. Jack Drury
Mini Rok
16. Caleb Campbell
18. Michael Riccio
19. Samuel Spurling
20. Meyer Deonarine
Rok Senior
2. Patrick Woods-Toth
12. Gianluca Savaglio
15. Thomas Nepveu
21. Nalin Shah
25. Nolan Bower
29. Andrew Maciel
30. Nicky Palladino
DNS. Zachary Claman DeMelo
Rok Junior
11. Marcello Paniccia
16. Marco Filice
18. Zack Lalonde
20. Connor Pritiko
22. Luke Mann
DNF. Callum Baxter
DNF. Ayden Ingratta
DNS. Cole Newton
Shifter Rok
11. Antonio Serravalle
15. Davide Greco
23. Dominic Legrand
24. Owen Clarke
DNF. Lucio Masini
