The Stage is Set for the Florida Winter Tour Rotax MAX Challenge Championship Weekend at Ocala Gran Prix
by Ken Johnson, FWT Media Coordinator
This weekend marks the final two rounds of competition in the 2011 Formula Kart Productions Florida Winter Tour season. The final weekend of racing will take place here at the accommodating Ocala Gran Prix facility and feature the seven classes of the Rotax MAX Challenge.
Going in to the weekend, all but one championship is still open to multiple competitors. The lone exception is Rotax MAX Junior where Dore Chaponick Jr. has a very healthy lead in the standings thanks to an outstanding year that has seen the DFR driver win three out of the four races contested.
One of the marquee championship battles is Rotax MAX Senior. Australian David Sera is currently leading Costa Rican Danny Formal, Canadian Marco Di Leo, U.S. driver Nick Neri and the U.K.’s Dan Wheldon. The fact that five countries are represented in the top five is not that unusual in the Florida Winter Tour. This is because all the best drivers from around the world look for the best competition they can find. And, this time of year, there’s no better place to be than racing at FWT.
Naturally, many people want to come to Florida this time of year because of the great weather and world renowned attractions for the family. But, what has really made the Florida Winter Tour the largest Rotax MAX Challenge series in the world is a lot more than just sunshine and roller coasters. The entire Formula Kart Productions crew, led by President Bill Wright, works tirelessly to bring the very best experience to the competitors.
Formula Kart Productions continues as the leader in karting safety, technology and innovation. To this end, 2011 has seen the introduction of the evolutionary Tracksa remote controlled light marshalling system, a portable starting gantry with starting lights and a speed display board, expanded FWT Live! online programming with ten camera views, a 16 channel video marshaling system, and a barcode scanning system for scrutineering.
It is interesting to note the affect these new innovations have had on the actual racing. For example, at Orlando, when the video marshaling system was first put to use, there was a staggering number of starting lane violation penalties. However, as the drivers got used to the proper starting procedure, these decreased to where, in the Formula Kart OGP rounds last week, there was not a single starting lane infraction. This keeps the competitors safe as well as keeping a level playing field.
Other headlines for the weekend include the hopeful return of Alex Tagliani in the DD2 Masters class. Alex has had a great season so far, winning three of the four DD2 Masters races. Unfortunately, this weekend’s event in Ocala conflicts with his IndyCar Series race in St. Petersburg. However, if everything wraps up in time, Alex is planning on helicoptering from the IndyCar race to the FWT race at OGP.
If this happens it would be unprecedented. We all know the stories of drivers like Tony Stewart and others hopping from one pro race to another. But, when was the last time you heard of a driver rushing to leave a race in a major professional series so they could attend a kart race? That more than anything illustrates what the Formula Kart Productions Florida Winter Tour is all about.
Can anyone “Do the Double”? At the Formula Kart season finale last weekend, Ashley Rogero won the Formula Leopard Junior title and Sebastian Ordonez won the TaG Senior title. Ashley is not contesting the Junior MAX title this year, so she’s not in the running to “Do The Double”. Since Rogero won the TaG Junior title Luke Chudleigh can’t “Do the Double” in Junior, but Chudleigh is set to take the Junior share of the award if Ordonez can’t “Do the Double” in Senior. Ordonez still has a legitimate shot at winning championships in both series and “Doin’ the Double”. Granted, Sebastian has a lot of ground to make up in just two races to capture both championships, but he does have a legitimate shot. Should Sebastian not win the Senior MAX title, he’s still looking real good at bagging the most combined points of all Senior class competitors from both divisions and taking home his share of the $50,000 Skip Barber “Doin’ The Double” Awards program. For a good look at who’s still in it to win an opportunity to race Skip Barber Racing machinery, check out the points pages in www.FloridaWinterTour.com.
As always, for those watching from afar, log into FWT Live at www.FloridaWinterTour.com/fwtlive/2011 for live video, live timing and interactive blog. For those not able to attend the races, it’s the best way to stay in touch with the Florida Winter Tour as it happens.
Sincerely,
Bill Wright
Formula Kart Productions, Inc
Product and Event Promotion
Video and Live Streaming Productions
Exclusive owner and promoter of the FWT
Administrator of the Pan American RMC
Tracksa Light Marshalling Systems Representative
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