What We Learned: 2016 Florida Winter Tour ROK Ocala

What We Learned: 2016 Florida Winter Tour ROK Ocala

Formal Triumphs in Shifter and OGP shows strength

After the weather seen in Homestead you couldn’t ask for better weather for racing in Florida in February. 148 drivers competed at the Bull Ring of kart tracks in Ocala, Florida and gave the spectators some great racing.

Head to our On Location page for full results.

Photo Credit: Canadian Karting News

Formal Saves Best For Last

Throughout the heat races it looked like it would either be Oliver Askew or Austin Garrison taking the win with Askew taking heat one and two and Garrison taking heat three. Come Sunday and Askew slowly pulled out a 1.6 second lead over Formal and Garrison mainly in the beginning of the race.

In the final Formal and his DR Kart was able to get the jump from the outside and take the lead from the start with Askew falling to third. From There the trio stayed within striking distance, but no one could match the pace of Formal as he crossed the line .588 ahead of Garrison.

Kirkwood, Ramirez, and OGP Untouchable

Ocala Gran Prix once again had a great showing at their home track and most notably in the Senior and Junior ROK categories. In ROK Senior Kirkwood was just unmatched in outright pace and in the final pulled out a ten second lead. This is quite impressive on a track where they are turning 36 second lap times. The fight for the top five did get a little interesting with Alain Sisdeli being able to beat out Ryan Norberg for second while Luis Forteza moved up to fourth followed by Holden in fifth.

Photo Credit: Canadian Karting News

Though the final did not show it, the battle for supremacy in ROK Junior was a bit more interesting. Mathias Ramirez went unbeaten all weekend, but that was not without pressure from the d’Orlando brothers multiple times. In the final both brothers made contact on track forcing Nicholas to retire early and Michael to fall back. All of this allowed Ramirez to break away and pull out the win by 9 seconds. He was followed by Tyler Gonzalez and Gabriel Paturle. Michael d’Orlando wound up eighth in the final standings, which will shake up the points standings going into the final round.

Photo Credit: Canadian Karting News

Morgatto Puts Zanella Racing and Energy on Top

The Mini drivers were exciting as usual and the man of the weekend was Zanella Racing’s Matheus Morgatto who competed on an Energy Kart. After winning the prefinal Morgatto had to start on the second row after a few failed starts, but he wasted no time getting to the lead on lap two and stretching his lead out to a 3.6 second victory. The battle for the final podium spots did not disappoint with Jason Welage moving up from his eighth place starting spot to finish second ahead of Reece Gold. Jak Crawford finished fourth and though not the result he wanted this will keep him in a good position for the title going into the final round next month.

Speaking of the championship Derek Carmenate still leads by a solid 134 points over Morgatto who moved up nicely with his win. Crawford sits in third another 27 back. Following him are Maxson and Gold who still have a shot at the title, but will both need to have their best weekends yet at the final round to have a shot.

Photo Credit: Canadian Karting News

Denny Finishes What He Started in Micro

After heat one Oliver Denny let every single lap in heat two, three, and prefinal. In the final that would all change with the Benik driver falling back to fifth on lap ten and having to battle his way past some very talented drivers. With five laps to go he was able to take back the lead and the win over Connor Zilisch and Freddie Slater.

Photo Credit: Canadian Karting News

Honeywell Takes Win and Championship Lead

The Master’s action this past weekend was much more exciting than in round one without Matos in the mix. Anthony Honeywell and his Praga led every lap of the final, but that wasn’t without PCR’s Adam Pettit keeping him honest. The duo had a great scrap throughout the weekend, and Honeywell’s consistency paid dividens allowing him to keep a small buffer between him and Pettit. Rounding out the podium was Brazil’s Andre Duek aboard a Kosmic.

By: Kart 360

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