Top Fives For AJ Myers At FWT
press release
Arrow Kart driver AJ Myers had another strong outing at the Ocala Gran Prix facility in Ocala, Florida in the final round of the 2011 Formula Kart Productions Florida Winter Tour. In the 52 kart Rotax Junior field, Myers would run in the top ten all weekend long and when the dust had finally settled, would close the weekend with a pair of top five results.
Above: AJ Myers claimed a pair of top five results in Ocala
pic - Autosports Media Group
"The racing at Ocala was intense," expressed Myers after the weekend was over. "The nature of the Ocala track provides for some very close racing and there seemed to be a little more contact than normal. I was happy with our results as qualifying on Friday afternoon did not go quite as planned."
After Thursday's unofficial test sessions, Myers would enter Friday's qualifying runs as one of the expected five or six to make a run for the pole. With changing track conditions as the hot sun increased the track temperature, Myers struggled slightly as he could only manage an eighth place effort for Saturday's prefinal and an eleventh place run for Sunday's.
Myers continued, "The track changed a lot from the morning warm-ups to the qualifying sessions in the afternoon. The kart was decent but we missed the setup to challenge for the pole position."
Looking to improve throughout the event days, Myers would start Saturday's racing action from the outside fourth row. With a goal to make it through the first complex of corners unscathed and advance forward as much as possible, Myers did exactly what was needed and scored a sixth place finish. Looking to improve even more in the main event, Myers drove his Arrow machine into the top five as he hunted for a podium result. Racing against some of the best junior drivers in the country, the talented Florida-based pilot score a fifth place finish when the checkered flag flew.
Moving forward to Sunday, Myers was determined to improve on his Saturday results. Even though he started three positions further back in the heat race, the 14-year-old felt better about his chances on the final day of action. Looking like a carbon copy to Saturday's prefinal, Myers progressively moved forward to claim the sixth position and a row three starting spot for the main event.
As the green flag flew for the start of the final, Myers quickly went on the attack, as he and a quartet of drivers would battle for track space. Contact was made on several occasions throughout the main event as one time Myers went sailing through the infield grass, but he never gave up and continued to turn fast race laps. Though short of the podium, Myers did claim a fourth place result including his second top five of the weekend.
With the pair of solid finishes, AJ Myers wrapped up the 2011 Florida Winter Tour with a fifth place result in the Rotax Junior title chase.
2011 will see the young up-and-coming talent compete at several high profile series and events throughout North America. After completing the Florida Winter Tour, Myers will also see action in the South Florida Rotax Max Challenge program, the United States Rotax Grand Nationals at the famed Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah as well as the Rotax Pan-American Challenge and the Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) SuperNationals in Las Vegas.
