#FloridaWinterTour
Martella and Urlin Lock Down Their First International Podium Finishes at FWT2
Our Canadians were at it again this past weekend down south as more than 50 Canucks took part in the second round of the 2023 ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour at the new Piquet Race Park in Loxahatchee, Florida.
It was a challenging weekend at a facility not quite ready to host more than 200 racers from around the continent, but most persevered and for a couple, it paid big dividends on Sunday in the Finals.
A break-out weekend for Anthony Martella saw the Junior driver score his first international podium finish in the VLR Junior Final, taking third place. He backed it up with another trip to the podium, finishing second in the ROK Junior Final later in the afternoon. He finally had some success after coming so close a number of times this season already. Martella is racing with Speed Concepts Racing this winter and has really gelled well with their race program, and was joined by three other Canadians under the tent as well. And after two celebrations, he remained humble when we reached out to him, focused on getting that first major victory.
Another Canadian raced his way onto the podium in Florida and that was Hudson Urlin. He competed in both Micro and Mini Rok on the weekend and benefitted from the extra track time to put himself in the hunt in both classes. He avoided all the drama that unfolded in the final two laps of the Micro Rok Final to round the final corner in third place and score his best result in a two-cycle race to date and his first international podium. Like Martella, he has been focused on racing down south this winter and his efforts were rewarded on Sunday with a Florida Winter Trophy to add to the mantle.
For a number of other Canadians, the podium was within reach all weekend but the results came up just short.
David Zhao backed up his victory in the opening round with a fourth-place finish in the Mini Rok Final. He was in the hunt until the very end but some defensive driving kept him from scoring a second trophy this weekend.
Sara Vico made her first start in VLR Senior this weekend and nearly found the podium. She took finished fourth after running in third place for the first half of the Final.
Jordan Di Leo was right in the mix with Martella in VLR Junior this weekend and he kept his nose clean to score a sixth-place result. Given the challenging circuit conditions and how unpredictable the VLR Juniors were this weekend, staying up front and out of trouble really rewarded Martella and Di Leo.
Nolan Bower was one of the biggest movers on Sunday in the ROK Senior Final. His Prime Powerteam BirelART was hooked up in the Final. He started at the rear and advanced 15 positions to finish sixth at the checkered flag.
Nicholas Lorusso put forth his best drive thus far in the Micro Rok Final to lock down the seventh position in the Final. Like the VLR Juniors, the Micros were buzzing all over the circuit this weekend and Lorusso did well to steer clear of the action and earn a great result on his Racing Edge Motorsports Kosmic Kart.
Another Canadian to make a number of passes in their Final was Caleb Campbell, another driver with Speed Concepts Racing. After starting the PreFinal on the front row and not even making it to corner one due to contact with another driver, Campbell had to start 24th for the ROK Junior Final. He passed 19 karts, kept his nose clean and recovered to earn a top-five finish.
Sadly, it was a similar situation for Josh Conquer in the ROK Shifter Final. The round one winner started the Final on row two, but contact with another driver sent him off into the gravel on the outside of corner one and ended his race on the spot.
All in all, it was another great weekend of racing for Canadian drivers at the ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour. We’re so impressed by the number of racers and we hope it grows when the series wraps up next month at the Orlando Kart Center on March 16-19. Registration will open soon on the Rokcupusa.com website.
Florida Winter Tour Round #2 Final Results
Micro Rok
3. Hudson Urlin
7. Nicholas Lorusso
10. Asher Pavan
13. Leo Da Silva
15. Melville Dos Santos
17. Massimo Lorusso
18. Sebastian De Moissac
20. George Ho
21. Aiden Kishun
24. Domenico Crupi
25. William Choquette
26. Marco Fazari
30. Dominick Moskalenko
32. Jayden Francisco
Mini Rok
4. David Zhao
9. Antoine Lemieux
10. Cole Medeiros
11. Decklan Deonarine
12. Rocco Simone
14. Hudson Urlin
16. Jackson Morley
Junior Rok
2. Anthony Martella
5. Caleb Campbell
11. Nathan Dupuis
13. Major Makovskis
14. Joseph Launi
17. Matisse Costantini
18. Mayer Deonarine
20. Carlo Sasso
21. Pearce Wade
23. Anthony Raducanoiu
24. Aristeides Theodoropoulos
Senior Rok
6. Nolan Bower
10. Frankie Esposito
17. Khloe Drummond
19. Frankie Savaglio
Shifter Rok
6. Dominic Legrand
9. Lucio Masini
10. Michael Riccio
12. Jared Ramnarayan
DNF. Joshua Conquer
Shifter Master
7. Francesco Vassallo
9. Martin Janson
13. Michel Legrand
Master Rok
5. David Laplante
7. Sylvain Coulombe
DNF. David Waite
VLR Junior
3. Anthony Martella
6. Jordan Di Leo
21. Joshua Soumvalis
DNF. Ty Fisher
VLR Senior
4. Sara Vico
6. Sebastian Matthews
8. Aidan Shimbashi
VLR Masters
DNF. Mark Pavan
