Press Release
Photo Credit: Cody Schindel, Autosports Media Group
Having stormed its way into existence in the most impressive way possible – taking wins over nine straight race weekends on every type of track and surface imaginable – Intrepid North America is now enjoying a short reprieve before taking aim at the North American summer schedules. The recent completion of the 2012 Florida Winter Tour has allowed the fabled Orange Order to hit pause for the very first time since launching at the Pan American Championship, and in looking back, one can’t help but be impressed with what has taken place.
“It’s been just a great start for us overall, meeting even the highest of expectations,” said Team Manager Marco Di Leo. “And the Florida Winter Tour was a great start to 2012 for Intrepid North America as well. We welcomed drivers from around the world in Florida, and were able to fill the paddock with Intrepid race products, showcasing the quality of the chassis and support we can provide. We scored multiple wins with both Intrepid and Praga, and had great support from all team partners. It’s all just been awesome!”
Of that there can be no doubt, with Winter Tour results adding to an already impressive list of accomplishments. A skeleton crew during Formula Kart race weekends and an all-world combination in the Rotax Max Challenge produced 11 wins and 26 podiums, evenly split with 13 coming from each. Intrepid North America had wins in four different Rotax classes and three different Formula Kart classes, and had 11 different drivers collect hardware while having Serious Fun in the Florida Sun. A number of drivers starred for the marque, especially the dynamic duo in Rotax Senior and a former World Junior Champion.
“Daniel Formal and Jesse Lazare controlled the pace for much of the Tour and I am thrilled for that,” Di Leo said of the team’s senior charges. “Danny was twice on pole in Rotax and dominated TaG on his way to the championship, and there is no senior rookie more impressive than Jesse Lazare. He was simply incredible, and at just 14 years old! In the end they were haunted by bad luck in terms of the Rotax Championship, but it will certainly make them hungry going forward and we’re sure to see them on top of the box again very soon.”
“Having Jordi van Moorsel in Rotax Junior was a great pleasure as well,” Di Leo continued. “He did everything right on track from start to finish, and was very unlucky not to win the championship in his first attempt. A flat tire at PBIR put him under pressure from the very first day, but he was awesome the rest of the way and looked primed for the title after the Sunday prefinal in Ocala. The tire rotation error left everyone in the team gutted, but that’s racing and these things happen. His drive after that showed the kind of character the kid has, and we were very happy to have him.”
To be more specific on events of the finale, van Moorsel was a definite threat for the Junior title after the Sunday prefinal. He’d just crossed fourth in adding to his point total, and could then have won the championship by advancing to first or second in the final, something he had done in every single final he had raced to date. Yet best laid plans went out the window shortly after when it was discovered his rear tires were mounted backwards. Instead of adding to his point total, he was sent to the back of the grid for the final and mathematically eliminated from championship contention. Much to his credit, van Moorsel nevertheless rebounded quickly and produced an epic final run.
“My father taught me to make challenges out of disappointments, so it cost me about ten minutes to recover and then I set my mind up for the next race,” van Moorsel said. “For me, the best races are when I start at the back. In fifteen minutes you have a lot of decisions to make within hundredths-of-a-second. That’s racing! My family always like when I start at the back. I started on the back with a 100 metre gap to avoid a crash and I always have a fast first three laps in the race, so I passed a lot of drivers. It was a fine feeling!”
Fine indeed, as the Dutch star passed eleven karts on the first lap, five on the second, and was into the top ten after just seven! He lowered his best lap seven times in the first half, and in the second half slowly crept forward to fifth. On the last lap of the race he took fourth, setting the fastest lap in the field on the final tour. It was an impressive feat to be sure, and one reminiscent of when he won the World Junior Championship starting from the Last-Chance Qualifier!
“You just pass as many as you can, you can not do more than that,” he noted of his final drive in Ocala. “I have had a lot of races like that in Europe, but my best was at La Conca in 2010. In the second-chance race in six laps I went from 19th to 3rd; then in the prefinal fourteen laps from 31st to 15th, and in the final twenty-two laps from 15th to 2nd. Then after a technical disqualification from the winner I became World Champion.”
“I wanted to do the same in Palm Beach on Sunday after a flat tire in qualifying, but ended up two times in a start crash,” he continued. “Still, the Florida Winter Tour was a great series for me. The races were very organized and I liked the system of qualifying on Friday. I especially liked Homestead, as it was a track to show if you were a technical driver, but I was most impressed at Palm Beach when I saw an alligator three metres in front of me without a fence! I must say thanks to all the organizers of the Florida Winter Tour, Intrepid North America, Goodwood Kartways, HRS Engines, and everybody who made it possible for me to race in America.”
Back in Europe now for the summer season, van Moorsel will see a familiar face from Canada in the paddock as senior driver Jesse Lazare is set to return to the European Rotax Max Challenge with TKP Holland and is set to contest WSK and CIK Championship events in KF2 as part of the Intrepid Driver Program. Experience from Florida will certainly prove an asset, as Lazare is now preparing to race among the best drivers in the world.
“I’m very excited to be asked to race KF2 with Intrepid,” Lazare said of preparing for the summer. “I don’t know what to expect, but I will continue to do my best. We didn’t have the best of luck in Florida, and could have done better, however I am very happy with my results, especially from Homestead where I proved I can be the best!”
Lazare will race in Belgium, Germany, Sweden and France in the European Rotax Max Challenge and in KF2 will race in the WSK European Championships, the CIK European Championships and the CIK World Championships. He’ll take to the track twice in Italy and Spain, along with France, Germany, and England – all but one track being new to him.
While Lazare left Florida very pleased with his Rotax efforts, teammate Daniel Formal certainly wasn’t in the same boat despite sitting on pole twice. He took solace in the TaG Senior Championship, but was left with some unsettled business in Rotax.
“The TaG weekends went great with winning four out of six races, it was amazing,” Formal said following the Tour. “But the Rotax weekends did not go as I wanted. I had horrible luck and I did not win or come close to winning. When I got pole at PBIR and Homestead if felt great, but I knew that the race was the important part so it was just satisfying. Racing in the top five in a field like that is a great feeling though, especially with seventy other drivers. It lets you know you are among the best drivers in the field, so it’s a great feeling.”
Formal’s TaG Championship led the Intrepid North America efforts in Florida, and he was also fourth in the final Rotax standings, despite his disappointment at not scoring a win. Both van Moorsel and DD2 Masters driver Jean Valerio Mange were vice-champions, while the team had three other top-five results. Lazare was fifth in Rotax Senior, while defending champion Carlo Rinaldi was third overall in both DD2 Masters and TaG Masters. Rinaldi had a very strong outing at Ocala, going 2-1 on the TaG weekend and scoring another second-place result in Rotax to close the Tour. Also back on winning form was Matthew Di Leo, fully recovered from a horrific crash at SuperNats. Di Leo took his Praga shifter to third on Saturday, then closed out the schedule with a win before returning to his F2000 duties.
Intrepid North America is now back at its home base near Toronto, Canada, and preparing for the upcoming Eastern Canadian Karting Championship starting in May. Also on its schedule is the Pan-American Rotax Max Challenge, Canadian Nationals, and SKUSA SuperNationals. For more information on how Intrepid North America can assist you at these or other events, please visit intrepidnorthamerica.com
Intrepid North America Team Results – FWT Ocala Gran Prix
Rotax Micro-Max
Alessandro Famularo – 6th, 5th
Anthony Famularo – 14th, 6th
Leonardo Rinaldi – 10th, 33rd
Valentina Sarmiento Gil – 36th, 25th
Rotax Mini-Max
Pedro Fonseca – 10th, 7th
Victor Prato – 23rd, 13th
Andres Carreno – 37th, 37th
Rotax Junior
Jordi van Moorsel – 1st, 4th
Fabrizzio Famularo – 26th, 16th
Rotax Senior
Daniel Formal – 8th, 5th
Jesse Lazare – 9th, 6th
Luis Schiavo – 6th, 19th
Jesse Lazare – 9th, 6th
Alejandro Liverant – 40th, 36th
Rotax DD2
Reid Arnold – 4th, 6th
Mario Iemma – 9th, 4th
Rotax DD2 Masters
Jean Valerio Mange – 7th, 1st
Carlo Rinaldi – 9th, 2nd
Enrico Friso – 5th, 8th
Juan Font – 3rd, 5th