Race Report: "F1600 Southern Series" Season Opener @ Daytona

The official start of the 2019 "F1600 Southern Series" was kicked off on Saturday, May 4th. Daytona was the place to be as the drivers chased each other around the prestigious 3.56 miles of pavement.

John Robinson II driving his "Cricket Farm Motors/Lee Racing Swift DB6" earned pole position with a time of 2:07.9, followed by Jim Morgan, Rick Bernard and John Schimenti in his new 2014 Spectrum Honda.

As the green flag waved for the first race an ambitious field of contenders battled it out through turn 1 with John Robinson pacing the field. Sixth place qualifier Roel Blok would unfortunately end his race early with suspension damage to his "Van Diemen Ford".

Jim Morgan and Rick Bernard had a race-long fight for second which had them trading positions nearly almost every lap, Morgan would later go on to finish .168 seconds ahead of Rick. Trailing them was John Schimenti in 4th with Anna Schimenti and Dom Seddio dueling it out for a top 5 finish.

Roel Blok and his crew Alan Opel repaired his "Van Diemen" in time for Sunday's race.

Once again John Robinson led the field throughout the first lap, unfortunately, he would pit early with a broken carburetor float. Rick Bernard inherited the lead in his "Bernard & Associates Swift Honda", closely followed by Jim Morgan. For 30 minutes these two fought hard for gold, Morgan made a last-lap move to win the race by .236 seconds. Anna Schimenti in her "Schimenti Construction Swift Ford" had a very consistent race and was able to finish 3rd on the podium.

Series organizer James Lee remarked that "it was a fabulous start to the season with close racing throughout the field, we are looking forward to seeing more drivers for the rest of the season".

The series is heading to PBIR on May 18th, and will be running in conjunction with the "Southern F2000 Series", we hope to see you there!