GT7 Motorsports

GT7 Motorsports, along with team driver Dylan Tavella, rocked the podium in the opening weekend of the Rotax Micro Max championship as he took third place in both the Saturday and Sunday A Main finals in the stacked 42-kart field. The nine-year-old racer from New York City was all business all weekend long as he worked with the GT7 Motorsports crew to stay near the top of the time sheets throughout the three-day, double-header event. In fact, Tavella kept his new Tony Kart Cadet ride inside the top four in all six official competition sessions. Working with tuner Bob Radivoy and driver coach Garett Grist, Tavella kept himself in a position to win throughout the weekend.

"This is a great start to the season for sure. I couldn't be happier for Dylan and all the crew at GT7," commented Phil Tavella following Sunday's podium presentations. "The move to Tony Kart has been great and Dylan is working well with the entire team. It's still early (in the championship) and we have a lot of work to do to stay at the front, but I really like the start we got this weekend."

On Friday the GT7 Motorsports team would look to qualify well and challenge for wins from the start. With temperatures below normal for January, Tavella went second quickest in the first session to set the grid for the Sunday prefinal. In the second qualifying session it was fourth quickest on the time sheets for Tavella to sit on the second row for the Saturday prefinal.

On Saturday Dylan held station in the prefinal crossing the finish stripe in fourth place and keeping clean for the final. In the final Tavella would be separated from the two leaders early in the race. He would break from the chase pack by himself showing some incredible speed as he looked to close in on the lead duo. As the race progressed Tavella was not able to close the gap on the leaders and the chase pack was not able to close in on him to provide a much-needed draft. The result was third place at the line and a podium spot to kick off the championship run.

On Sunday the sun made an appearance to warm the crowd and the field was looking for quicker lap times. In morning warm up Tavella would go quickest in session one and second quickest in session two setting himself up nicely for the prefinal. In the prefinal, Tavella went to work quickly as he charged to the front looking to control the pace. At the line it was Tavella with the win and P1 for the Sunday A Main final. An excellent final race ensued, as the front of the field saw several drivers take the point with each driver looking to be in position to win. In the closing stages it was a three-kart battle that came down to the last lap. A drag race to the line out of the final corner had Tavella hit the stripe in third for a second podium finish to open the Micro Max title chase.

"My kart was fast all weekend. On Saturday in the final the group behind me couldn't catch up and I was on my own," comments Dylan Tavella. "I knew that on Sunday to win I needed to push someone clear of the field. It almost worked. Two podiums to start the FWT is awesome. I want to thank GT7 Motorsports, Bob, Garett and my dad for all their help."

Tavella and the entire GT7 Motorsports crew will be on hand for the next stage of the Florida Winter Tour taking place at Homestead Karting Complex located near Miami, Florida. Tavella will be joined by Anthony Gangi Jr. for the TaG Cadet weekend. That will be followed with a return trip to Homestead to contest the Micro Max class for Tavella and Mini Max for Gangi Jr.