Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

When he turned up at the Moroso Motorsport Park in West Palm Beach, Miami, last weekend for the Florida Winter Tour Go-Kart championship, Jamaica's Thomas Issa entered the event as an underdog, shaking behind the steering wheel.

But after a pep talk from his driving coach, Peter Rae, the St Peter and Paul Preparatory student displayed his best performance ever, stunning his North American rivals with an impressive second-place finish, in qualifying for the Rotax Minimax Class.

"I was surprised when I came second, because I was nervous at the start," said young Issa, who celebrated his 10th birthday five days ago.

This was the second leg of the Florida Winter Tour. The third and final leg is scheduled to get under way at Ocala, Florida, in three weeks. The event will feature 230 of the best Rotax drivers from around the world.

series of accidents

According to Neil Williams, president of the Jamaica Karting Association (JKA), who was also at the meet, on the second day of competition, Thomas delivered an amazing second place, in qualifying for the Rotax Minimax class out of 33 karts. He then followed up with a fourth place in the pre-final and a sixth place in the finals.

Issa, who made his debut two years ago at the Palisadoes International Raceway, was not the only Jamaican who competed at the meet. Reports are that Colin Daley Jr, who qualified a very good seventh on the second day in the Minimax Class, had a series of accidents and equipment failures which sidelined him in the races.

Matthew Williams had a series of misfortunes both in the qualifiers and the races. His best performance was a second place in the Constellation Finals on Saturday. Philip Myers and Justin Wong made the finals of the Rotax Junior Class on the second day and put in strong race performances.

Further reports are that Joel Jackson, competing in Rotax Senior class, had difficulties with his engine for most of the practice and had various issues with the handling of the kart.

In the meantime, the JKA local championship resumes next Sunday with a 10-race programme at the Palisadoes International Raceway, Kingston. The meet is scheduled to start at noon.

Meet dates

February 24 Meet # 2

March 16 Meet # 3

April 20 Meet # 4

May 4 Meet # 5

July 6 Meet # 6 International Meet

July 27 Meet # 7

August 17 Meet # 8

September 21 Meet # 9

October 5 Meet # 10

November 16 Meet # 11 Abe Ziadie Meet