The 2008 Rotax Grand Nationals were held on September 10 - 13, 2008 at the USA International Raceway in Shawano, WI Kart teams from all over the country converged on this small town in search of bragging rights and a trip to Italy for the 2008 World Finals. In order to be eligible for the Grand Nationals, drivers were required to enter and compete in their respective regional Rotax series.
The South Florida Rotax Challenge (SFRC) hails from the southern most tip of the U.S., sunny Homestead, Florida. Located at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead Karting hosts one of the most competitive Rotax series in the country. One of the top five Rotax series in the country, the SFRC has some of the most competitive drivers in the U.S as evidenced by our results/representation at the 2008 Rotax Grand Nationals. Thirty drivers from the SFRC attended the Grand Nationals. Of those thirty drivers, eleven placed within the top ten of their respective classes. Jesus Rios Jr., Ryan Fowler, and Andres Lopez all won spots on the American Rotax Team and will represent the SFRC at the 2008 Grand Finals.
In the Micro Max class Justin Wood took home a podium finish with 3rd place. Logan Sargeant placed 4th, Devlin DeFrancesco 6th, and Enzo Fittipaldi finished 8th.
In the Mini Max class SFRC had Jack West take home a 2nd place trophy, with Pietro Fittipaldi-DaCruz coming in 4th, Jordan Perry rounding out the top five in 5th, and Dalton Sargeant in 6th.
In Rotax Jr., SFRC had two podium finishes with Daniel Formal in 1st, and Jesus Rios Jr. in 3rd. Sebastian Ordonez rounded out the top ten Junior finishes placing 8th.
In Rotax Senior Matthew Mair took home a 6th place finish.
In Rotax DD2, Andres Lopez took home the win, with Ryan Fowler taking home the second place trophy and fastest race lap.
This has been a very successful year for the South Florida Rotax community. We expect the next year to be even better as we continue to expand our series and better train our drivers. Good luck to all of our drivers at the Grand Finals in Italy.
South Florida Participants (30):
Rotax Masters: Todd Ulmen, Michael Riolo Sr., Mario Mair
Rotax Senior: Dakota Donovan, Kyle Gregg, Mattew Mair, Gaby Chaves
Rotax Junior: Jarvis Gennari, Andrew Hawkins, Daniel Formal, Bobby Ross, Ryan Rupp, Ethan Ringle, Jerry Aguirre, Jesus Rios Jr., Sebastian Ordonez
Rotax Mini Max: Garrett Sargeant, Jordan Perry, Pietro Fittipaldi-DaCruz, Dore Chaponick, Kyle Kirkwood, Jack West
Rotax Mico Max: Devlin DeFrancesco, Michael Riolo Jr., Logan Sargeant, Andrew Veloza, Enzo Fittipaldi DaCruz, Justin Wood
Rotax DD2: Andres Lopez, Ryan Fowler.
