Dollard Junior wins first place go-kart competition

Thirteen-year-old Dollard resident Gianfranco Mazzaferro won first place in the Rotax Max Champion go-kart competition in Homestead Florida, Jan. 18.

Mazzaferro has been in love with kart racing since he got his first go-kart as a present from his parents when he was eight years old. He began racing at the age of nine and, in 2012, captured the coveted Eastern Canadian Karting Championships Rotax Mini Max title.

Mazzaferro is a A member of the Gerrolati Corse Karting Team and , the 2013 Canadian National Junior Rotax Max Champion kicked off his junior level competition at the internationally renowned Florida Winter Tour. (FWT) -- a race that is Rranked as one of the top Rotax Max Csport’s most challenging.es, GF used the Formula Kart Series as warm up of the Rotax Max Series.

The Formula Kart series opens the new year the weekend before the Rotax series attracting racers come from all over the world, GF Massaferro benefitted from valuable data collected. “We knew it would be tough running Rotax on the Formula Kart weekend. but getting time on the track and collecting some data was our goal” says Mazzaferro. Formula Kart series is a tougher race and Mazzaferro used it to get more track time and collect data that would be useful for the Rotax Series.

It would appear evidently the hard work at the FWT paid off at the Rotax Max Series. Mazzaferro did not disappoint. On the Saturday he carved out a demanding race and crossed the line in first place. Youths from Brazil and Mexico took second and third place.

Massaferro and his teammates plan to participate in the second round of the FWT. The match will take place at the Ocala Gran Prix, Feb. 14 and 16.