Tough Weekend For Sofina Drivers At FWT
press release
Nicholas Latifi of Toronto, Ontario, a member of the Sofina Foods Driver Development Program, completed an up and down weekend of DD2 racing action in the latest rounds of Florida Winter Tour held at Palm Beach International Raceway. Fellow Sofina Foods development driver Austin Milwain, who was running the Senior Max class, joined Latifi to contest rounds three and four of Rotax Max action. Both drivers were able to show speed through out the weekend, but were bit by racing gremlins and early contact that short-circuited their strong performances.
Above: Nicholas Latifi
pic - Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group
"That was a tough weekend. We had a couple of switches go bad and that cost us in testing and in racing," comments David Tennyson, coach for Latifi. "Everyone did a great job to get the problem solved and Nick drove his heart out."
In Friday qualifying it was Latifi setting the 14th quickest lap for Saturday action and the 13th quickest lap for Sunday qualifying in the 28-kart DD2 field, while Milwain would go 24th and 30th in the 51-kart senior field. Both drivers would look for speed to move up the field in racing action on the challenging PBIR track that now features one of the longest straightaways.
Saturday action started off tough with Latifi who never got a lap in the prefinal as a broken starter switch ended his race before it began, classifying him in 28th place. From the last row in the final, the 15-year-old rookie driver charged forward to take 20th at the line. On Sunday Latifi used his 13th starting spot in the prefinal to battle all race long, looking to move forward despite missing at the top end of the race track. A solid run saw him hold station to finish in 13th. In the round four final race another solid run had Latifi in the mix through all 20 circuits and he was able to grab a couple spots just missing the top ten to hit the stripe in 11th.
"Last weekend was filled with many ups and downs. We were struggling with the kart and the engine. During practice we were always just outside the top ten so I knew it was going to be tough racing for me," commented Latifi. "When I qualified 13th and 14th I was disappointed but I was also looking forward to coming through the pack in the races. I had great starts in all my races and picked up almost eight positions at each start."
For Milwain it was also a tough weekend. On Saturday a brilliant drive in the prefinal saw the talented teen charge up the grid to 13th place. That went for not in the final as a four-kart crash in corner one ended the Keswick, Ontario driver's day early. On Sunday Ozzy would have to start the Last Chance Qualifier were he took the win from his front row starting spot. Milwain translated that run into a nice drive up to 18th passing 20 karts in the process. Now racing with a set of tires that had one more race then most of the field, Milwain completed a solid run in the final saw him move further up the time sheets taking 16th in the 51-kart field at the line.
"We ended on a high note as in the final race the kart felt the best it had felt all weekend. I am looking forward to Ocala and I'm confident that we are going to bounce back and have a good weekend," continued Latifi. "I would like to thank Coy, JF, Tony and David along with PSL Karting and my parents for all of their hard work and support."
Above:Austin Milwain
pic - Cody Schindel - Autosports Media Group
Latifi will head next to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA for the final round of the Gatorz Challenge of the Americas, were Nick holds the points lead in DD2 action.
Latifi will be joined for the final weekend of Florida Winter Tour Rotax Max classes by fellow Sofina Foods Development Driver Austin Milwain as the Rotax faithful head to Ocala Gran Prix to cap off an amazing season of winter racing.
The Sofina Foods program is proud to support Canadian drivers reaching the international stage and will make announcements on their 2011 program in the coming months.
