The second and final race day of the opening Formula Kart weekend of the Florida Winter Tour hit the track at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. The action was very much the same as Saturday with repeat winners and consistent front runners.
Canadian drivers were once again a force to be reckoned with all day in most classes, with a few standing on the podium at days end. Here is a run down of how our Canadians fared.
TaG Cadet
For the second straight day, it was the d’Orlando brothers who swept the front row in 31-strong Vortex TaG Cadet class. The Team Koene USA drivers had a strangle hold on the class all weekend long and Sunday was no different.
The pair each won a heat race before Michael was able to score his second race of the weekend ahead of brother Nicholas. It was Gianluca Petecof who completed the podium while Lachlan Defrancesco had a great day ending up fourth overall.
Canadians Matthew Latifi and Matthew Barry ended up 13th and 16th overall, after Barry was accessed a penalty for passing after the delineation line.
TaG Junior
Trying to keep up with the impressive form of his Koene teammates, Canadian Roman DeAngelis scored his second pole-position of the weekend in TaG Junior.
While it was a tough run for DeAngelis in the heat races, it was another Canadian who advanced through the field to start the Final on the pole; Antonio Serravalle.
A tough opening lap for Serravalle saw him fall well down the order on the opening lap. Fighting back from starting 14th, DeAngelis set his eyes on the early leaders and was quickly making his way forward. Lap after lap he inched his way up, picking off positions all the way to third at the finish line, to earn his second podium of his junior debut weekend.
A disqualification in the tech shed following the race would see DeAngelis step up to second at the podium ceremony, behind winner David Malukas and ahead of Zach Holden, leaving him with a great points haul heading into round two next month.
Serravalle would recover to end up seventh, while Gianfranco Mazzaferro was 17th. Kami Laliberte was DNS for the Final.
TaG Senior
The lone Canadian in TaG Senior was Zachary Claman DeMelo. Making the debut on his new Goodwood/Intrepid Kart, DeMelo was P4 in qualifying, again P4 in heat one, and then winner heat two.
DeMelo got into second early on in the Final, but would surrender the position on lap seven and from there hold on to finish third and on the podium.
The race was won by DeMelos Goodwood/Intrepid teammate Ed Brand with Dan Roeper finishing second.
Shifter
Indy Lights driver Mathew Di Leo scored his second Stock Moto victory of the weekend, while finishing third overall in the Shifter race. Dominic LeGrand was third in Open Shifter while his father Michel was a DNF in Masters Shifter.
Briggs LO206 Challenge
Seeking the weekend sweep, Kevin King enjoyed a great battle on Sunday with Jordan Perry. However he had to settle for second at the line, while his PSL Karting teammate Mathieu Demers ended up fourth.
The second round of the Florida Winter Tour for the Formula Kart classes will be on February 7-9 in Ocala, Florida.
Next weekend we will be trackside at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Rotax round of the FWT.
