02/01/2007

Nicholas Silva

Kart Mini driver Nicholas Silva, put up a good performance at the first round of the 2007 Florida Winter Tour in Homestead, Florida. On
Saturday, engine problems during qualifying, placed him in the 24th
starting position. In the first heat, Nicholas made an exceptional start that had him finish in 7th place. For the ultra competitive final heat, Nicolas finished in 6th place and this was in a field where the top 10 drivers were separated by no more than 3/10 of a second.

On Sunday Nick qualified in14th place for the pre final which saw him
work his way up to 6th place. Sadly, on the last lap a crash between the 3rd and 4th placed karts forced Nicolas to spin and this
effectively put him out of the race. Very disappointed but not
discouraged, Nick jumped from 27th to finish in 12th place in a heavily contested final event.

Success had eluded young Nicholas in Florida but it would not take long for a podium finish to find him. The following Saturday, Nick achieved his first podium of the year. This took place at the Gatorz Karting Cup season opener held at Moran Raceway, California. On a cold and windy day in January, Nich managed to claw his way to the front in a very heavily contested and competitive Mini Max Rotax event. Nick’s machine seemed to slump at the start and this pushed him back into fourth place. During the course of the race, the determined “head-down” approach of Nicholas Silva could not be deterred. The battle for second place was contested by three drivers. Multiple position changes punctuated each lap. At the
checkered flag however, Nick came out on top. Triumphant and jubilant, Nick could not believe he had finished in second at weigh in. He was excited!! The Ekartingnews.com race comments speak for themselves; “Mini Max was the sole domain of Dakota Dikerson, who completed the sweep of pole position, pre-main win, and final win. However, Nicholas Silva, Cameron Hayley, and “Little” Al Simpson thrilled the fans with their battle for second, but in the end it was Silva taking second, with Simpson third. Michael Davis finished fifth.”

Young Mr. Silva returns to Florida in February to see if he can once
again climb the steps to another podium finish. Kart Mini has a future star in this young man.