It was an impressive performance back in February at round two of the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour and Speed Concepts Racing is looking to carry that momentum into the final event of the 2020 winter program. Showing pace and having a front of the field presence in both ROK Junior and ROK Senior, the potent driver lineup will aim to do the same in the inaugural St. Pete event aboard their Redspeed by OTK branded chassis.
“Our driver lineup remains relatively unchanged except for the welcoming back of Kyffin Simpson,” explained Mike Speed. “We have had some very good showings this season and Ocala was the best of them all. We would like to close out the Florida Winter Tour with class wins in both Junior and Senior and let the championship points fall where they may.”
Luca Mars will be the lone Speed Concepts Racing driver in the ROK Senior class and currently sits second in the championship point standings. With a points payout that is 33% more than round two and 66% more than round one, it will be any driver’s championship, and accompanying invitation to the ROK Cup Superfinal in Italy later this season, to win.
Jace Park sits third in the Florida Winter Tour ROK Junior field and will lead the quintet of drivers into St. Pete. Sitting 165 markers in arrears of the current championship point leader and with points on the line for heat races, prefinal and the main event, anything is possible. Joining Park in the junior category will be 2020 podium winner Paul Bocuse and Ocala pole position winner and heat race victor Jack Jeffers. Both drivers were consistently in the top-five at the most recent event but trouble in the prefinal and main event took them out of contention for the win. Paul Bocuse had the fastest race lap during the main event in Ocala and gained sixteen positions while Jeffers’ lap time put him in the top-five, but a post-race penalty relegated him down the running order.
Moving from the Mini ROK ranks to ROK Junior, Ayden Ingratta impressed in Ocala. In only his second junior event ever, Ingratta qualified in the top-ten in a field of more than thirty and scored a pair of heat race results in the top-12. Poised for a top-ten performance on Sunday, a first lap incident put him on the sidelines, but the young Canadian will look to make up for that this weekend in St. Pete.
Venturing into the formula car ranks, Kyffin Simpson will return to Speed Concepts Racing for the first time in 2020. A winner in the SCR program in 2019, Simpson will look to return to the talent filled series and run at the front of the field at a circuit that no driver has any prior knowledge or setup data.
Speed continued, “It will be an interesting weekend as there are several drivers in each of the classes that are mathematically able to win the championship, and we have a pair under our tent. A temp circuit levels the playing field and we will work hard to make sure our drivers have all the necessary tools needed to accomplish their goals.”
For more information on Speed Concepts Racing and the Redspeed Racing Kart, please contact Mike Speed via email to Mike@Speed-Concepts.com. Be sure to follow Speed Concepts Racing on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for news, results, information, and photos from the event. Find us at ‘Speed Concepts Racing’ or @SCR_Karting.
Photos: CanadianKartingNews.com