2010 CKI Florida Cup Round 1 Event Preview

After a very successful first season as the premiere national series, the Championship Karting International program will launch the CKI Florida Cup presented by Supertune USA and DeFrancesco Racing this weekend at the Homestead Karting Complex. Racers from around the globe will descend on the Southern Florida facility for the inaugural series that will award more than $130,000 in cash and prizes including a brand new Mazda 3 to the Rotax Senior champion.

With only seven classes on the docket, racers from around the world will do battle in KF2, KF3, Leopard Senior and the Rotax divisions of Rotax Senior, Junior, Mini Max and Masters. With big awards for all class champions as well as unique team and individual awards throughout the series, the CKI Florida Cup presented by Supertune USA and DeFrancesco Racing will be one of the most hotly contested series that North America has to offer.

While drivers will be awarded points for both their prefinal and main event finishes, an overall winner of the weekend will be classified after the completion of competition on Sunday and both days’ events are calculated together. Looking to promote one winner per weekend, the CKI Florida Cup will look to turn weekend champions into stars in front of the karting media after each and every event.

2009 KF2 Champion Arie Ouimet A strong KF2 field with returning drivers, national champions and fast rookies will contest in Homestead and leading the way will be Tony Kart’s Alex Speed and SSC East’s Arie Ouimet. Both drivers have shown terrific speed throughout the 2009 season with Ouimet taking the CKI national championship while Speed claimed the Grand Finale race victory. These two drivers will be the favorites to take the win but will be hotly contested by senior rookies Phillip Orcic aboard a J3 Competition Kosmic and Top Kart’s Phil De La O. Both drivers have been seen at the front of their respective junior divisions and should be a threat for race wins and the overall series title.

Also joining the KF2 field will be SodiKarts Andrick Zeen, who compete in Europe much of last season, as well as Gillard’s Dominic Lamanna, who will make the trek to sunny Florida. Energy pilots Nicolas Madsan and Russian hotshoe Sergey Sirotkin will battle with North America’s best in what looks to be a very competitive KF2 field.

While the KF2 national champion will be in attendance, the same goes for the KF3 title holder as Kosmic’s Tristan DeGrand will look to secure the inaugural CKI Florida Cup championship. DeGrand, who was on a tear in the KF3 division in 2009, gained knowledge and experience by competition in the WSK program where he showed great speed. DeGrand was also the 2009 Grand Finale race winner on his way to scoring the national championship. Joining DeGrand in the KF3 class will be Kosmic teammate and front running driver Alessandra Madrigal. The Massachusetts resident has been developing her race craft for the past season and is one of North America’s fastest young females. Both DeGrand and Madrigal look to be the early favorites for the championship.

2009 KF3 Champion Tristan DeGrand As the KF3 class continues to gain momentum, two more drivers will return from CKI’s summer program. National #6 in the country, Maranello’s Evan Komar and National #9 Broc Yocom will look to improve on their KF3 rookie season results. RC Enerson, Camden Geise and Canadian phenom Jesse Lazare are also entered in the junior KF category. Energy pilot Dennis Olsen will make the long trip from Norway to compete in the inaugural round of the Florida Cup as he battles with a tough field of KF3 pilots. Olsen, who is a front runner in the Italian Winter Cup and WSK program, has multiple championships and track records in Europe. The 13-year-old has competed in only 150 events in his career and has won more than 60 of them as he tears up the KF3 ranks. As a good friend Petter Solberg, the professional rallycar driver is helping Olsen with his professional career as the factory Energy Kart driver will make his North American debut.

A strong Rotax Senior field will do battle in Homestead as a pair of professional motorsports drivers will contest in the class. BTK Motorsports driver and IndyCar Series Panther Racing pilot Dan Wheldon as well as Sarah Fisher Racing driver Jay Howard will look to fight for race wins and the Florida Cup title. Wheldon, who has contested several kart races in the past season, will be aboard an Arrow racing chassis while Howard will join the PSL Karting/CRG squad for the series.

A stout entry list in the Rotax Senior field continues to grow as a few drivers will do double duty throughout the weekend. Tony Kart’s Alex Speed and Top Kart’s Phil De La O will also contest the Rotax Senior division aside their KF2 duties while Joey Wimsett will make the switch from Intrepid to the SSC East squad aboard a CRG chassis. Californian Taylor Miinch, Floridian Jarvis Genari and Puerto Rico’s Richard Benitez will also join the list of talent as the Rotax Senior class looks to provide some of the best racing action of the weekend.

Rotax Junior will see some of the nation’s best junior drivers fight to start the season off right. RDD Motorsports and Kart Mini driver Sebastian Ordonez will look to lead the way against SCS Racing/Merlin frontrunner Shawn Sharkey. Alonso Kart’s Jack West will look to take the win as he works with Bobby Wilson’s DFR crew in 2010. Tony Kart pilot and Homestead front runner Tristan Nunez will be back in action while Texan Mason Chelootz and Floridians RC Enerson and Colin Warren look to battle up front.

The Rotax Mini Max class looks to be one of the biggest classes of the weekend as a bunch of North American’s top dogs will compete in Homestead. Talented up and comers in Patricio O’Ward, Ashley Rogero and Devlin DeFrancesco will look to take down the always fast Kart Mini trio of the Sargent brothers of Logan, Dalton and Garrett. With a paid entry to the US Grand Nationals, the wheel-to-wheel action will be fierce from the drop of the first green flag.

2009 IAME Jr. Champion Taylor Miinch makes the move to the Senior division The Leopard Senior class looks to be the smallest class on the weekend but nothing short of sheer talent will be displayed. TaG Junior national champion Taylor Miinch will make the jump to the senior ranks and will battle with Kosmic’s Angel Caban to see who can get the early point lead in Homestead. Making the trek from Europe will be F3 champion and long-time karter James Winslow as he will compete with Jay Vromwald’s Zanardi USA team at the Southern Florida facility.

As announced late last week, Pole Position Productions will provide live streaming video during all Florida Cup events. While teams and drivers look to fight for more than $130,000 in cash and prizes, viewers at home can watch the racing action live via the Championship Karting International website. Along with the live streaming video, Pole Position Productions will be shooting special segments throughout the weekend that will also be uploaded o the website. Features on teams, drivers and new products will be posted on the both the Pole Position Productions and Championship Karting International websites following the events.

Viewers wishing to watch live action from the Championship Karting international Florida Cup presented by Supertune USA and DeFrancesco Racing can do so by clicking on the CKI Florida Cup LIVE button on http://www.ChampionshipKartRacing.com anytime throughout the event weekend.

Along with the awards package listed below, several companies within the karting industry will be providing contingency awards throughout the series. Drivers and teams carrying these companies’ decals on their karts or utilizing the equipment outlined, may qualify to claim contingency awards after the completion of the racing activities each and every day.

The following is a breakdown of the Prize Packages to be awarded for the 2010 CKI Florida Cup.

Prizes For the Championship of the 2010 CKI Florida Cup:

Rotax Mini Max Champion – US Rotax Grand Nationals Entry for US Residents (non-US Residents will receive $1,000 Cash)
Rotax Junior Champion - US Rotax Grand Nationals Entry for US Residents (non-US Residents will receive $1,000 Cash)
Rotax Senior Champion – 2010 Mazda 3 as well as US Rotax Grand Nationals Entry for US Residents
Rotax Master Champion - US Rotax Grand Nationals Entry (non-US Residents will receive $1,000 Cash)
KF3 Champion – Entry into the WSK World Series Round 2 at Millville, NJ
KF2 Champion – Entry into the WSK World Series Round 2 at Millville, NJ
TaG Senior Champion – FREE Entry into the 2010 WSK North American Series by CKI

2010 CKI Florida Cup Series Incentive Awards:

Incentive Award to the Driver with the most Top-10 Finishes, $2,500 Cash
Incentive Award to the Team with the most Podium Finishes, $7,500 Cash
Incentive Award to the Team with the most Entrants, $2,500 Cash

Cash Prizes for each Event of the 2010 CKI Florida Cup:

KF3 Event Winner - $700
KF3 Event 2nd Place - $300
KF3 Event 3rd Place - $200

KF2 Event Winner - $1,500
KF2 Event 2nd Place - $1,000
KF2 Event 3rd Place - $500

Leopard Senior Winner - $1,000
Leopard Senior 2nd Place - $500
Leopard Senior 3rd Place - $250

Rotax Mini Max Winner - $300
Rotax Mini Max 2nd Place - $150
Rotax Mini Max 3rd Place - $75

Rotax Junior Winner - $700
Rotax Junior 2nd Place - $300
Rotax Junior 3rd Place - $200

Rotax Senior Winner - $700
Rotax Senior 2nd Place - $300
Rotax Senior 3rd Place - $200

Rotax Master Winner - $700
Rotax Master 2nd Place - $300
Rotax Master 3rd Place - $200