|
 |
|
 |
| January 16, 2009 |
| Driver News: Devlin DeFrancesco - Florida Winter Tour Rotax Report |
 | DeFrancesco is in the thick of a FWT Championship
(Photo: Cody Schindel - Autosports Media) |
Devlin DeFrancesco kicked off his second Championship schedule last weekend as the Eleventh Annual Florida Winter Tour began outside Homestead-Miami Speedway. Racing on back-to-back days, the eight-year-old Canadian produced a pair of impressive top-five drives for firstkart.com.
After posting the second and fourth-quick times in final practice Friday, DeFrancesco was sixth in morning warmup before qualifying fifth in what would prove one of the most exciting race weekends of his young career. Taking the waved green for the Saturday prefinal, DeFrancesco slotted fifth for the first pair of laps before passing into fourth for the next two. Lap five then proved wild as he went from fifth to the lead in a single lap! He dropped to second on the next tour, and held station there to lineup on the front row for the main event. This time he slotted seventh as he suffered on the outside line, then steadily picked forward as his kart began to come in. He passed into fifth on lap two, moved to fourth spot through six, and by half distance he was third and in a heated battle for the final podium position. Back and forth it went before he ultimately settled P4 and took valuable championship points.
The same schedule repeated itself Sunday as race two of a six race championship hit Homestead Karting. Dropping his qualifying time by three-tenths, DeFrancesco timed sixth before taking to the track for an early afternoon prefinal. Though he fell to seventh, the DTR/FirstKart pilot set the fastest lap in the field during the heat race and did so on the tenth of ten laps. Things were set well for the Sunday main, and DeFrancesco delivered with another spirited drive. After racing both within and outside the top five over fifteen laps, he set his fastest lap of the race on eleven and crossed fifth at the final flag. The 375 points gained at opening weekend place DeFrancesco third in the International Rotax Max Challenge which resumes in February.
The team will be back in action long before that though, as DTR/Firstkart will race the same Homestead layout this weekend when the FWT Formula Kart classes begin. DeFrancesco will compete in Cadet, and just as he did a week ago the young racer will face complete race days on Saturday and Sunday after two days of practice. |
|
|
|
Go Top
|
|
|
|
|
