Team Cadillac wins the 24 Hours of Ocala By Tim Horton-Brown OCALA, FL - The 24 hours of Ocala endurance karting event was held at the Ocala Gran Prix facility in it's namesake town, in Florida. This was the very first time an endurance Karting event was held in the USA, even though they've been held for many years in Europe and elsewhere in the world as a joint project between the Start Racing program and the Ocala Gran Prix facility. Preparations started in earnest just over six months prior to the event, when a lighting plan was developed for this new racing track. Track owner Wayde Alfarone recognized the need to expand the track's operating hours into the evening. It was a natural evolution to expand the plan to include night racing and the twenty-four hours event was born. The track was built as a complete Karting facility from day one. It was host to the WKA World championship in December of 2001, and is used for the Rotax MAX and the CART 'Stars of Tomorrow' series for the 2002 season. As the lighting plan grew, so did the idea of hosting a 24-hour event. With two of the racing world's most famous endurance races based in Florida (the 12-Hours of Sebring and the Daytona 24-Hours) an endurance Karting event was a natural to help make a name for this new world-class track. The 24 hours of Ocala Endurance event used a team format with all prospective teams submitting a list of drivers. A minimum of three and a maximum of seven drivers were allowed per team kart. Just before qualifying, each team was randomly issued a kart for the race. Each endurance kart was spec'd with a dino chassis using Honda power, and built to be as identical as possible. Team strategy would be as important as lap times, if the competition was close, and that proved to be the case. All fuel stops and any tire changes would be done by track personnel in the pits. That placed a premium on each team's ability to conserve both. For safety purposes, firty-seven mandatory driver changes and/or fuel stops were required throughout the twenty-four hours, but at each teams discretion for timing. A myriad of strategies where tested, some of which seemed a little unorthodox. Some karts made it into the pits sputtering from a lack of the all important petrol, while others came in because drivers were just a little to tough on tires. Many drivers sang the praises of the mechanics in the pits. Pit safety was maintained with a long and slow required 'pit in' but the re-fueling, driver swaps, and tire changes were no less quick than at LeMans. Phil, Carlos, and Arek, the Start Racing mechanics, did re-fueling in seconds and tire charges in under three minutes all throughout the event. The winners, Team Cadillac, recorded 1610 laps on the 6/10 mile track. That's 966 miles, or roughly the distance of an interstate drive from the track to New York City! The Ocala Gran Prix track consists of eight combination left and right turns per lap. The top teams turned lap times of 51 or 52 seconds each, with the longest 'rest' for the driver coming during the front straight past the flag stand. This seven to eight seconds of relaxation is not nearly the break a driver gets on the Mulsanne Straight at LeMans. That's endurance racing! At Noon on Sunday the 21st of April, 2002 with hundreds of spectators flooding the finish line, Team Cadillac driver Jordan Taylor rolled through the crowd to take the checkered flag, bringing an end to the 24 Hours of Ocala. Jordan, youngest son of famed Le Mans driver Wayne Taylor, was quickly lifted out of the kart by the crowd and carried to the podium. If indeed genetics play a part in driving, it was on display as Rickey (12) and Jordan (10) Taylor are sons of the teams coach/co-driver Wayne Taylor. The name is familiar because he's the same Wayne Taylor of GM's Caddillac entry in the AMLS and LeMans racing efforts. Though not on the pole for this race, Rickey holds the single fast lap record for the Ocala Gran Prix facility. Team Cadillac drivers Ricky, Jordan and Wayne Taylor joined by Warren Schecter (nephew of Jody Schector), Jason Palmer and David Lipman performed flawlessly throughout the twenty-four hour race. According to Wayne, this was no easy go-kart race, but was still a fun opportunity to have a 'soccer Dad' weekend with his sons. He did note that with 50 - 53 seconds lap times for twenty-four hours, it was just as grueling a test of both man and machine to go the distance as the other race weekends we may have watched on TV.....and he should know! The second place finishing team was Team Easystreet, a pickup team of drivers from around the state of Florida, consisting of Glenn Howle, John C. Dean, Phil Van Tubbergh, Mark Gray, and Wayde Alfarone. When asked how he felt about the race Glenn simply stated, "Who better to loose to than Team Cadillac". Glen is a competitor in the CART 'Stars of Tomorrow' program which runs regional events from this same track. Team driver John C. Dean was on the pole with a fast lap in the 50-second range, and lead the field in the early hours until the first set of pit stops began to sequence the Karts out of order. He is running in SCCA events in addition to Karting noting that a diversity of series' experience builds skills and broadens exposure to other driving opportunities as he looks to both open wheel and AMLS career paths. The other team drivers came from hobbyist racing backgrounds and Wayne Alfarone is the owner of the Ocala Gran Prix facility. Also in the race, coming in 3rd for a podium finish was the team from Alex Job Racing the factory Porsche entry in the American Le Mans Series, which just had a one-two class finish at the 12-Hours of Sebring. The third place finishers were another team that carried a 'famous' name. The Alex Job racing entries finished a kart in 5th and 8th places as well as the podium spot. Team Manager Mike Evans said that participating in the 24-Hours of Ocala gave the mechanics, support staff and friends of Alex Job Racing the opportunity to have fun, enjoy the competition. And best of all, leave the repair work, pit work and clean up to someone else for a change. Since all the Endurance 'spec racing' Karts were supplied, maintained and pit-serviced by Start Racing, a co-sponsor of the event, every team started with a well-prepared entry and could walk away from it at the races end. Drivers rotated through the 'AJR' entries, but some team members brought plenty of experience to the race. Mike's son, Mike Evens Jr., races a Yamaha, and drivers Bo Davis and Brian Boggs also have Yamaha kart backgrounds. Shifter kart veteran Phil Pierce turned in one of the team's quicker laps. Another interesting team was the two-car effort from the BMW Car Club chapter from Tampa Florida. The idea to compete started in casual conversations about the clubs 'motorcade' attendance at both the Daytona and Sebring endurance races. Team Organizer Jackie Parker said during the wee morning hours of the Ocala 24-Hours that the group's participation in this event gave them renewed respect for the BMW teams from PTG and others that compete in the more famous races. The BMWCCA/Tampa team had two karts entered. Kart #5 was piloted by Jackie, with Erin Heilman, Ivy Motschmann and Linda Dame. Track Starter and Chief Flagman Raymond Garcia said if there was a 'Big Grin of the Race' award, it had to go to Linda. He said that even a full-face helmet and the dark of night didn't keep you from seeing the huge smile on Linda Dames face, every lap past the Start/Finish line. The second entry, Kart #9, was handled by 'The Guys'Š..Rusty Zitzelburg, John Maples, Vince Heilman and Mark Vanderveen. When asked about the gender split-up of driver teams, Jackie said "The ladies didn't want the guys slowing them down". Team entries came from many places, but the most local team was also the last minute entry. Team NationsRent was staffed with personnel from the Ocala office of the national equipment rental/leasing firm. When Track owner Wayde Alfarone realized that the installed lighting wasn't really sufficient to create good driver safety, a call went out to find a solution. Heavy industrial/construction site lighting was obtained from NationsRent. Team leader Chuck Belder said that after an initial discussion about the race tracks needs for the weekend race, the staff worked equally hard on planning the logistics of the lighting requirments and the coordination of an employee team effort. It didn't hurt the team's chances that some of the local staff just happened to have experience with Modifieds at other regional dirt tracks. The teams lap times varied with the driver's experience, but a ninth place finish was a great result and a building point for 2003, according to Chuck. As in any Endurance race, a toll is taken in both man and machine. There were a few 'offs' attributable to human error. Every 50+ second lap required negotiating eight turns plus the traffic, so even in a sprint race, drivers are challenged by this track! On the mechanical side, the identical endurance karts provided by Start Racing stood up well. There were very few breakdowns. Any team with a mechanical problem, was issued a competitive, replacement 'spec' kart to use, until the original was repaired. Three full-time pit mechanics provided re-fueling, tire swaps, and mechanical repairs as needed throughout the twenty-four hours. The promoters of the event, Jay De Marken (Start Racing School) and Wayde Alfarone (Ocala Gran Prix), wish to thank all of the teams for making this an amazing race. They would also like to thank all of the track officials, corner workers, grid stewards, emergency crews, the pit crew, Nations Rent of Ocala, Cummins Diesel, and CJ's Generator. Without them there would not have been a race! For more information on the 24-Hours of Ocala, Ocala Gran Prix and Start Racing School please visit their websites at www.ocalagranprix.com and www.dinousa.com or call 352-690-RACE (7223). RACE RESULTS: 1.) Team Cadillac #4 2.) Team Easystreet #6 3.) Alex Job Racing #1 4.) Ocala Gran Prix Staff #2 5.) Alex Job Racing #22 6.) Team Fastenal #19 7.) BMWCCA Tampa #3 8.) Alex Job Racing #23 9.) NationsRent #15 10.) BMWCCA Team # 9 To view ALL the photos from the Ocala Gran Prix click here!