Returning to their 2019 form, Supertune took on the second round of the much anticipated ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour. After a huge event on the temporary circuit in Pompano Beach, Florida, the series returned to Ocala Gran Prix, a staple track in Florida, and had much success. Claiming a pole position and heat race wins, Team Supertune and their Tony Kart branded drivers stood on the podium on Sunday in multiple classes.
“Ocala is a short but technical track, so we worked a lot with our drivers on minimizing mistakes, and holding position on track,” explained Ben Cruttenden. “In between rounds one and two we were able to find something in the engine department and that really helped us in our race efforts, and I hope we can bring that to the next event in St Pete.”
Competing under the Syntech Racing banner but utilizing Supertune power, Parker Delong stole the win in Mini ROK. After qualifying seventh and finishing 19th in the first of three heat races, Delong drove his way to the front of the field taking wins in heat two, three and the prefinal before topping the podium blocks in the main event. Diego Ardiles garnered the Mini ROK pole position on Friday and had a trio of top-five finishes between his heat races and prefinal. Going for it all in the main event, Ardiles kept Delong true and put Supertune on the podium with a one-two finish. Mini ROK Challenge of the Americas race winner Christian Cameron ended his event with a top-ten finish in ninth while Christian Quijano was in the top-ten throughout the heat races, but trouble in the final relegated him down the order to finish 15th.
A trio of Supertune drivers found their way to top-ten results in the 100cc Junior class led by Jorge Ortiz. The 2019 ROK the RIO Champion scored the heat two victory and finished third in the prefinal. Looking to take the win on Sunday, Ortiz finished a very close second in a drag race finish to the line and will look to return to the top step of the podium during the final event weekend in a few weeks’ time. Noah Baker drove his Supertune Tony Kart to a sixth place finish while Anderson Leonard ended his weekend in eighth.
After winning a heat race on Friday, Carson Morgan was consistent through heats two and three to claim the pole position for the ROK Junior prefinal. Aiming for a solid finish to set himself up for a shot at the victory on Sunday, contact forced him to retire and down the starting grid for the main event. Never one to give up, the kid from California drove through the field gaining nineteen positions and was named the biggest mover of Sunday’s final as he drove forward to finish ninth. Older brother Cole Morgan showed top-ten pace in ROK Senior and looked to have claimed a top-15 result before an on-track penalty pushed him down to 23rd in the final tally.
In the youngest class of the weekend, Team Supertune entered Alessandro Truchot and Carlos Molina. While Molina did not take part in any racing action, Truchot found himself with one of his best races of the season. After qualifying seventh and running inside the top-ten in two of the three heat races, the young driver garnered a 12th place result at the end of Sunday as he continues to show consistent improvement each and every time on track.
Supertune will now enjoy two weeks of downtime before returning to St. Petersburg, Florida for the third and final round of the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour.
For more information on Supertune, race team opportunities in 2020, OTK product sales, or engine and dyno services, please contact Ben Cruttenden at 317.900.3141 or via email to Ben@Supertune.us.
Photos: Canadian Karting News