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Strong effort J3 Competition in Florida Winter Tour
Published by Bas Kaligis 21 januari 2009 22:28 - Print | | Carrying the familiar Kosmic colors, the team at J3 Competition put a strong effort in at the opening round of the Florida Winter Tour in Homestead, FL. Utilizing the recently released Kosmic ‘Mercury’ chassis, J3 was able to capture a total of four victories along with several fast times and pre-final wins throughout the two days of racing. The action started with the KF3 category as drivers Tristan DeGrand and Alessandra Madrigal pushed forward throughout the entire weekend in what is the future of Karting – KF racing.
In Saturday’s final event, Tristan DeGrand drove a flawless race as he made a hard braking pass on the leader with four laps to go and continued through to the checkered flag capturing the win. Sunday’s final looked to be a repeat of Saturday’s final, however, DeGrand would be sidelined with a mechanical failure while challenging for the win early on in the final. After a tough pre-final, Alessandra Madrigal drove her Kosmic Mercury from last place to finish in fourth place directly on third places bumper while taking the fastest lap of the race.
Tristan DeGrand and Alessandra Madrigal also competed in the TaG Jr. class on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday Florida Winter Tour history was made as Alessandra Madrigal became only the second, and now most prolific female Finals winner in the history of the FWT. Madrigal swept TaG Junior on Saturday, and then backed it up with another sweep of the class on Sunday. Tristan DeGrand finished right behind Madrigal on Saturday with a spectacular run through the field to finish a solid second. DeGrand would not be as fortunate on Sunday as he lined up for the final in fourth place, however a mechanical failure sidelined the young driver before the green flag was even thrown.
J3 Competition kept the momentum going in the KF2 category as Richard Benitez and Shin Iguchi paired to make impressive progress throughout the weekend. The teams KF2 highlight came in Saturdays final after Benitez qualified third and benefited from and error free final to take home the first KF2 win of the year for Kosmic by a significant margin of victory. After qualifying well in 6th on Saturday, Iguchi was unable to record a finish, thus ending the day with a DNF.
Sunday’s KF2 racing heated up even more as the entire field closed the gap on each other making for great racing. Benitez was penalized for an on-track altercation during the final while Iguchi was able to best his results from Saturday with a solid sixth place finish.
The team finished the weekend with Richard Benitez’s entry in the TaG Sr. category. Saturday’s events plagued the Puerto Rican driver with a few unforeseen mechanical failures that were solved in time for the final whereby a sixth place finish was reached. Sunday’s final looked promising with an early run into the top three in the pre-final before a broken exhaust sidelined his efforts. However, perseverance finally paid off as Benitez was able to march through the field to take a well deserved sixth place finish while capturing the fastest lap of the race.
The team’s next on-track activities will be a full test program before the next round of the FWT in Homestead, FL. |
MEER NIEUWS OVER OTHER KARTINGNEWS
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