#FloridaWinterTour
FWT: Carlton Steals the Show in Shifter; Barrichello Shines in Junior
The opening weekend of the 2017 Florida Winter Tour wrapped up on Sunday with a spectacular day of racing for the ROK Cup categories. Smooth running in the heats and PreFinals led to some surprises in the Finals culminating a special weekend of racing.
Two headlines stood out from the Finals. First, American Gary Carlton took home the honours in an impressive ROK Shifter category after the weekend was dominated by Belgian driver Jonathon Thonon. While Thonon has the best pace all weekend, it just wasn’t there in the Final. After Carlton took the hole shot into turn one, he never looked back as a great battle for second ensued. AJ Myers, Rubens Barrichello, Thonon and Juan Manuel Correa with Colin Daly and Zachary Claman DeMelo within reach.
But as Myers battled Thonon for second, that was all Carlton needed to break free and never look back. Eventually Barrichello worked past Myers for second as Thonon faded. Correa retired midway after contact and that also collected DeMelo. Myers took third while Daniel Formal recovered from nearly last on the grid to cross in fourth, only to be penalized for cutting the track on lap one to avoid an accident moving Thonon to fourth with the fastest lap. Canadian Gianfranco Mazzaferro crossed in sixth just behind Daly. Ethan Simioni battled his way to a solid twelfth-place finish while DeMelo was scored seventeenth. Antonio Serravalle was twenty-fourth.
With support from Goodwood Kartways, Gary Carlton took home the victory in ROK Shifter. (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
Secondly, Eduardo Barrichello, son of former F1 driver Rubens, scored a dominating victory in ROK Junior about 30 minutes after Rubens finished second to Carlton. The emotions shown by the Barrichello family following the victory show the true passion they have for the sport of karting and the family values they entrust in each other. It truly was a special moment to witness.
Barrichello’s victory occurred in a pretty lacklustre Junior race as the race was on for second. Derek Carmenate put in a late race charge to move into the position ahead of Tyler Gonzalez and Nicholas d’Orlando at the finish line. Ryan MacDermid wound up seventh, Jeremy Fairbairn twelfth and Jade Hubert twenty-sixth.
Canadian outfit Energy Kart North American scored the victory in Mini ROK as Luca Mars was lights out in the final, dominating every lap. Justin Arseneau and Dale Curran had an eventful battle inside the top-ten where Arseneau ranked seventh and Curran ninth. Christian Alger scored a thirty-second place effort in his FWT debut.
Luca Mars was lights-out in Mini ROK (Photo by: Cody Schindel / CKN)
ROK Senior saw Austin Garrison deliver on game day, overtaking Ryan Norberg early on and never looked back. Norberg dominated the entire weekend leading up to the Final but wound up third as Arthur Leist took second. Logan Cusson was fourteenth.
Other winners on the day included: Miguel Costa in Micro ROK, Gaia Magno in ROK Masters and Renata David in ROK Shifter Masters.
Florida Winter Tour action resumes this coming weekend when the Rotax Max racers make their way to the Homestead-Miami Speedway for their opening round of competition.
