With championship titles on the line, as well as tickets to the ROK International Final and ROK the RIO event, stakes were high for those in contention. An approximate 33% increase in championship points, progressive from rounds one and two, left many drivers in position to earn titles and set up an incredible weekend of racing at the Orlando karting hotspot under perfect, sunny Florida weather.

Micro ROK

Entering the finale weekend the Micro ROK points leader, Parolin USA’s Caleb Gafrarar inched closer to the championship title by scoring the pole position in Friday qualifying, although not without pressure from Benik Kart’s Matias Orjuela, who ended the session just 0.007 seconds back. Gafrarar then went on to take wins in all three heats, the prefinal victory and capped off a perfect weekend with the main event win. Hot on his heels, Danny Dyszelski of Kaos Kart Shop came home second in the final with Orjuela completing the podium.

With his picture perfect weekend, and main event victories from the first two rounds in West Palm Beach and Ocala, Gafrarar went undefeated to earn the 2018 Florida Winter Tour Micro ROK championship title. The championship podium would be the same as the finals, with Dyszelski vice-champion and Orjuela third. The trio was awarded ROK the RIO race entries for their efforts, and it will be exciting to see what all three have in store when they hit the track in Las Vegas later this year.

Mini ROK

The action-packed Mini ROK class started with Speed Concept Racing’s Alex Powell taking the pole position in a very close qualifying session. Heat 1 went to Jeremy Fletcher of Mike Doty Racing, while James Egozi, who entered the weekend as the points leader, claimed the win in heat 2. A third different winner saw the Benik of Kai Sorenson come out on top in heat 3, making it anyone’s game heading into championship Sunday.

Starting on pole for the prefinal, Fletcher was unable to hold onto the top spot, setting up the win for Sorenson. In a racy final, Egozi took the lead by lap two, with Fletcher eventually finding his way to the point. In a six-kart train, the leader got shuffled out as Egozi went back to the front. With the laps winding down, karts started darting for position, as Sorensen bided his time to make the ultimate move. Waiting until the last lap, Sorenson went around Egozi on the back straight and made it through the last complex of corners to take the victory. Egozi finished second with Powell completing the podium.

The championship chase saw Koene USA’s James Egozi as the Mini ROK champion with Sorenson only 23 markers back. Powell finished third. Egozi will represent Team USA at the ROK International Final in Italy after punching his ticket via his first FWT championship title.

ROK Junior

Thomas Nepveu put his PSL/BirelART on pole in a tight ROK Junior qualifying session. Heat 1 saw championship leader after two rounds Matheus Morgatto on top, with Arias Deukmedjian taking the win in heat 2. Nepveu was back in heat 3 to post the win, after trouble in the first wheel-to-wheel action saw the Canadian down the running order. Starting tenth in the prefinal, Nepveu was on a tear, quickly moving to the lead and posting a 3.7 margin of victory.

With Koene USA’s Ugo Ugochukwu jumping to the lead early in the 18-lap final, Nepveu made his way back to the lead by lap two and never looked back, going on to post a nearly two second victory. The BirelART driver came up short in the points, settling for third. AM Parolin’s Morgatto crossed the stripe in second, but with enough points to take the championship title and corresponding ROK International Final berth. Deukmedjian ended his FWT with a second place podium result for the race while Ugochukwu claimed vice-champion status in the points.

ROK Senior

The top spot in ROK Senior qualifying went to NF Piquet Sport’s Eduardo Barrichello, with fellow Brazilian Arthur Leist hot on his heels 0.079 seconds back. The duo showed their speed again in heat 1, although results were flipped with Leist taking the win. Again swapping in heat 2, with Barrichello scoring the victory, Leist was back on point for the third and final heat. With Leist first in heat points and Barrichello second, championship leader and PSL/BirelART pilot Ryan Norberg would line up third for the prefinal after a quiet start to his weekend.

After Ryan MacDermid of Prime Powersports took the win in the prefinal, things really heated up under the Florida sun for the final. Six karts were hungry for the top spot, with NF Piquet Sport’s Kosmic Kart of Diego Ramos making his way to the lead. With battling still going on, Ramos eventually managed to build a cushion, but with Norberg close behind. Seeing an opportunity, Norberg tried for the win in the final corners, but wasn’t able to make a pass stick. Ramos crossed first, Norberg second and MacDermid third, however post-race penalties moved Norberg up to the top spot, with Leist, who was hard charger in the final after moving up 15 positions, second and Barrichello third.

Norberg would be crowned FWT ROK Senior champion, becoming back-to-back title holder, and will again represent Team USA in Italy. Barrichello finished second in points and MacDermid completed the championship podium.

ROK Masters

Orsolon Racing’s Magno Gaia put his Tony Kart on top in ROK Masters qualifying, setting himself up right as championship leader. Walking away with the heat 1 win, Gaia continued his streak, however saw some pressure from Circuit Group/FA driver Wesley Phillips. Gaia completed the sweep of the heats with his third win and continued his streak with the prefinal win on Sunday.

The final saw Phillips grab the lead from Gaia at the start and quickly built a gap on the Brazilian driver. Gaia was able to close in the final laps, but Phillips was able to take the checkers in Orlando. Unfortunately coming up light at the scales, Phillips was stripped of his win, giving first to Gaia with VSR/Tony Kart’s Adrian Donkers second and the Kosmic of Zanella Racing’s Gabriel Iemma third. The same trio would be back for the championship podium, in the same order, as Gaia was named ROK Masters champ and ROK International Final ticket holder.

ROK Shifter Senior

An excruciatingly tight qualifying session saw AJ Myers take the pole position in ROK Shifter Senior. Former Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello and championship leader heading into the finale Mathias Ramirez, posted identical times a mere 0.007 seconds off the TB Kart’s pole time, setting up some racy action to come. Ramirez bested the field for the first two heat races, but a mechanical issue left him at the bottom of the charts in the final heat. Myers was able to take the third heat victory, with fellow championship contender Jimmy Cabrera of AKT/KDM in third.

That duo started on the front row for the prefinal, while Ramirez needed to make up some ground starting fifth. The win went to Cabrera, followed by Ramirez and Myers. Some shuffling at the start of the final saw Cabrera take an early lead, with Myers, Barrichello and Ramirez all in the mix. By lap ten, Ramirez made his way to second and slowly closed the gap on leader Cabrera. Despite only needing a top-five finish to secure the championship title, Ramirez put everything on the line by making a last lap pass for the victory. His bold move put him on top of the day’s race podium as well as the championship podium, also earning a ROK International Final invitation. Cabrera had to settle for second in the race with Barrichello back on the blocks in third. Cabrera was again the bridesmaid in the points, with Myers completing his FWT championship third overall.

ROK Shifter Masters

Farshad Bagheri put his TB Kart on pole in ROK Shifter Masters qualifying, starting his championship run off right. Goodwood Kartways’ Hernando Sanchez took the win for the Formula K chassis in heat 1, with Bagheri back on point in the second heat. Sanchez added another victory this time in heat 3 and posted enough points to start on pole for Sunday’s prefinal action.

Peter Licciardi then put his BirelART in position to take the 15-lap pre-main win, and backed that up with a solid run to take the day’s final victory as well. Sanchez was second and Chris Gannon of TB Kart USA third. Despite a sixth place effort in the final, Bagheri was able to edge out Licciardi for the title and ROK International Final ticket, with Michel Legrand completing the championship podium.

With the 20th running of the Florida Winter Tour and first as promoter now complete, ROK Cup Promotions will now turn to yet another new endeavor, the two ROK Festivals. The first is set for May 17-20 at the extraordinary NOLA Motorsports Park, followed by a trip to New York and the Oakland Valley Raceway Park July 19-22. More ROK International Finals tickets will be up for grabs for drivers who compete in both Festivals, with ROK the RIO entries also to be awarded at both events. The crown jewel ROK the RIO event, which will take place October 30-November 3, will see ROKKERS from around the world back at the popular Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, cold hard cash will be awarded as well as additional prizes to be announced. Let’s ROK!