The Formula Kart Racing Florida Winter Tour presented by Tony Kart Florida rolled on this weekend as two days of Formula Kart racing put the first events of the 2009 FWT Formula Kart Championship into the history books. One hundred twenty-one drivers covered eight classes at Homestead Karting, and the facility was blessed with another fabulous weekend of weather. Ten different drivers from four different countries climbed to the top of the podium, and with four races down, Bill Wright is pleased with the start and looking forward to the next round in February.
“Given the concerns about the economy I’m pleasantly surprised at the numbers, and absolutely thrilled with the depth of talent” said Wright, exclusive owner and promoter of the Florida Winter Tour. “ We exceeded our expectations in every component. Based on the number of inquiries and requests I’ve received it looks like February will have bigger numbers and more big names. The Euro’s are coming!”
Formula ProShifter – sponsored by Team pslkarting.com
ProShifter kicked off the schedule and provided a definite sign of things to come as Speed’s TonyKart edged Hawksworth’s Energy kart by the slimmest of margins: 0.003 seconds! Venezuelan TonyKart driver Jose Zanella made his presence felt in his ProShifter debut he took the prefinal lead in the early stages, but Speed duly took it back, and by half distance Hawksworth was back to P2. The Brit then dropped a clanger at the start of the prefinal and slotted fourth behind Speed, Zanella, and Italkart’s Hayden Duerson. Hawksworth kept up the hunt, but he had to think as much about Zanella behind as he did Speed in front. Speed then found the groove and cruised home. Hawksworth was second and Zanella completed the Saturday podium.
On Sunday Hawksworth produced a blinding 45.308 to take pole position, in front of Speed. The lead pair then wasted no time in the feature as they had established themselves after the first flier with Hawksworth leading and Speed in tow. First Hawksworth dropped a 46.2 on lap ten, only to have Speed rebound with a 46.1 on eleven. He then put down the quickest lap of the race on fourteen when he timed 46.0, and while Speed wasn’t gaining any ground, he wasn’t giving any either. In the end they came side-by-side to the line, with Hawksworth winning by a nosecone. After sparring through the early stages, Leesmann completed the podium with Cody Hodgson fourth and Pier-Luc Ouellette fifth.
For more details and other classes, download the document below.
Info Florida Winter Tour / © pictures FWT