By: KMS North America
Ben Cooper was able to make a successful move back to DD2 at the last round of the Florida Winter Tour. Qualifying in the top-3 for both days, he would go on to have a second place finish on Saturday and take the win on Sunday in a highly competitive DD2 field.
“The move back to DD2 was a good move I think for myself and for the team. We all felt back at home with the DD2 class as we have worked a lot over the last two years to develop our speed and equipment. It’s a good way to end the FWT and a great confidence boost before the first Euromax round.”
Elsewhere in the team Nataël Cantin was able to take home a great top-10 finish on Sunday’s final finishing eighth, a great result for him after a disappointing race weekend at Ocala where he had great speed. He now moves onto the Canadian season with the ECKC Championship and Canadian Nationals on his mind.
Jeremy Tallon has been one of the most improved drivers in the team throughout the whole of the FWT. Starting off with a target of top-20 at the first round to now having a target of being top-10. He achieved this at Orlando and he also moves onto the Canadian season where podiums are on his mind.
The two Columbian members of the team, Joaquin Caicedo and Valeria Vargas also showed good speed in DD2 Masters and Micro Max, but a blown engine and a snapped chain meant that neither was able to show what they were really capable of on Sunday. We look forward to working with them again either in Columbia or in Canada at the Jim Russell Karting Academy.
Finally Garret Britton would struggle over the weekend to get back up to speed with the highly competitive field in Senior after being out of the seat for nearly seven months. He will be able to take this experience back home to Regina, Saskatchewan and show what he is capable of in the Western Canadian Championship.
We would like to make a special mention to all other Birel drivers out on track who had great results in Orlando.
Firstly to Luke Varley and Dan Roper in Senior Rotax, both having speed to be in the top-5 all weekend with Luke taking a second in Sunday final and Dan taking home fourth place.
In Micro Max we would like to congratulate Sebastian Montoya for taking home two second place finishes over the weekend as well as Jak Crawford making it a Birel 1-2 by taking the win on Sunday.
Finally in Mini Max congratulations to Emiliano Richards for having a pair of second place finishes in both Saturday’s and Sunday’s finals.
