Date: February 19, 2014
Re: Race Department
Location: Ocala, FL
Pilots: Bressan, Chick, Forteza, Ilavia, Ilavia, Issa, Tyler
After a successful opening to the 2013 season in Homestead, FL, J3 Competition took its show to the third and fourth rounds of the Florida Winter Tour held in Ocala, FL. With clear objectives, J3 Competition entered one driver in Max Sr. with reigning FWT junior champion Thomas Issa while it entered a total of four drivers in Max Jr.; Theo Chick, Luis Forteza, David Ilavia, and Ethan Tyler. The team rounded out its entry list with Alessandro Bressan in DD2 where he was joined by Michael Ilavia.
The team situated itself very well after the free practice sessions from Wednesday through Friday morning. For the DD2 category, Bressan was able to secure 2nd place in Saturday’s qualifying while grabbing 4th place for Sunday’s events. In Saturday’s final, Bressan looked poised to challenge for the win during the early stages, however a fight with a fellow competitor made victory out of reach as Bressan took valuable points and a spot on the podium in 2nd. Sunday’s event saw similar pace as Bressan took 2nd in the pre-final and settled for respectable finish of 4th in the final. The results from Ocala closed the gap in the Championship, which will have to wait to be settled in Orlando next month. Teammate Michael Ilavia closed the distance all week long with several good races as he clearly became more confident in his new package, Ilavia now sits outside the top ten with a chance to break into the top ten in points with a solid outing in Orlando.
The junior quartet anchored by Luis Forteza showed well as drivers progressed throughout the event with Ilavia missing his spot in the final with a couple close events. Forteza took a commanding stance on Friday by taking pole position for both days showing an improved pace from the opening round. Forteza backed up his pole positions with two 4th place finishes in the finals to record solid points moving the Puerto Rican into 3rd place in the championship. Tyler had a solid top twenty run on Sunday as he maintained solid pace during the entire event. Chick qualified for both finals with a couple hard breaks caused by crash damage which hindered his ultimate results in each final.
The team ended each day with Rotax Sr. where Thomas Issa found himself at the pointy end of the field all week long. Issa qualified well against the world’s elite Rotax drivers taking 5th place on Sunday’s session and 9th on Saturday’s run. Issa recorded a 7th place finish in Saturday’s final with the 3rd fastest time and showed solid pace and direction from the start of Sunday as he clocked the fastest time in warm-up. Issa marched through Sundays final with a well-fought 5th place finish and one of the top times in doing so. Issa’s solid efforts have now moved him into 4th in championship battle. With a solid run in Orlando, Issa will be poised for a potential third place in the championship.
Event Highlights
• Bressan on the podium again and closes the gap in the DD2 Championship
• Forteza takes pole position both days in Max Jr., now 3rd in Max Jr. Championship
• Issa drives up front all weekend with a 5th place, now 4th place in Max Sr. Championship
• All drivers utilized J3 Competition developed and branded products in their efforts
J3 Competition is an industry leading Raced Department, which attends some of the world’s most challenging events. Interested parties are encouraged to contact J3 Competition at Technical@J3Competition.com or 814-864-1846 to realize a potential program fit.
About J3 Competition
J3 Competition Inc. is an undisputed leader in Race Services since 2004, providing the necessary tooling and management to take drivers to the next level. Starting in 2015 through its COMPKART ™ brand, J3 Competition will provide a full line of high-quality chassis and products designed and engineered for the Karting industry alongside it potent Race Department. J3 Competition will aim to deliver the COMPKART ™ chassis line to the North American market as well as customers globally in 2015 and beyond with unprecedented performance and service. With its content, B2B, and B2C websites presently under construction, please visit http://www.j3competition.com along with all its social media outlets to stay up to date on the latest releases and happenings regarding the COMPKART brand.
