Perfect Weekend For Oliver Askew
Tweetpress release
Sometimes it is easy to be perfect and this past weekend was the 'Perfect Event' for Ocala Gran Prix's Oliver Askew. Sitting fourth in the Rotax Junior overall point standings heading into rounds three and four, Askew was determined to build on his win from round two and catapult up to the top of the charts. Not his favorite track in the world, Askew and his team headed to the Homestead Karting Complex just south of Miami for the midway point in the Formula Kart Productions Florida Winter Tour.
Above: Oliver Askew scored a perfect weekend in Homestead
pic - Cody Schindel, Autosports Media
"This was a perfect weekend for me," explained Oliver after the event concluded. "I had some trouble at the first round and fell deep in the field in points but the last three main events I managed to stand atop the podium."
After pacing the field in Friday morning's official timed sessions, Askew went on a tear in qualifying late Friday afternoon. Taking the pole position for Sunday's prefinal with a lap time of 47.488, the Tony Kart driver improved his second session qualifying run to a time of 47.203 to take both pole positions.
Friday evening would prove to be a very difficult one for Askew as a muscle spasm would send him to the hospital immediately following the second qualifying run. Spending a few hours in the emergency room, Askew was released from the hospital and told to rest. Not wanting to risk the opportunity of competing on the weekend, Askew refused medication from the hospital and began the process of ice, heat, massage and pain relievers.
Arriving at the track Saturday morning, Askew was going to skip the morning warm up session but at the last second decided he wanted to try his hand at driving. Only completing two laps at speed, the K1 RaceGear supported pilot turned the third quickest time and was excited that he would be able to race.
Askew continued, "I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to start the event. On Friday I was in some major pain and nothing seemed to be going right. I was scared and upset but it all worked out for the good."
Askew dominated the rest of the weekend never missing a beat. After taking the heat race win on Saturday, the talented Floridian would jump to the lead in the main event from his pole position starting spot and never look back. Turning laps consistently three tenths of a second faster than his competitors, the OGP pilot scored a commanding race win by 2.728 second.
Sunday would prove to be much of the same for Askew as this time he topped every session of the day. After pacing the morning warm up, Askew went on to score another heat race win and pole position for the main event. Jumping out to an early lead before a red flag erased the margin, Askew was forced to do it all over again. At the drop of the green flag, the multi-time race winner drew away from his rivals taking a 6.898 second victory and scoring the fastest lap of the event.
Askew added, "I managed to score 500 points out of a possible 500. This greatly helps me in the chase for the championship. I would like to thank Jorge Arellano and Ocala Gran Prix, K1 RaceGear, Nate Grindell and Martijn Koene for the awesome engines and my tuner Mike Maurini for not missing a beat all weekend long."
Oliver will enjoy very little time off, as he will travel to Ocala Gran Prix this weekend to compete in the TaG Junior and Rotax Junior classes at the Florida Karting Championship Series.
