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The ‘08 racing season was an important step in the career of the young Gustavo Menezes, one of the brightest young stars in North American karting. Traveling thousands of miles across the globe to compete at the highest levels possible in the sport of karting was not only fun for the 14-year old, as it also helped the development of his maturity and knowledge of the sport. Now set to tackle the ‘09 season, the Californian’s first journey took him to the Sunshine State to compete at the opening round of the Florida Winter Tour at the Homestead Karting circuit. No stranger to the Tour and the Homestead facility, Menezes stood on the podium at the same track just one year ago, recording a victory and a third place finish in the Junior Intercontinental A (JICA) division. The ’09 season kicked off in similar fashion with both a runner-up finish and win, this time in the new KF3 category.

After a day of testing, the event officially began on Saturday morning with the qualifying session. The run was a solid one for Menezes as he would come in just short of the pole position, putting his Tony Kart on the outside pole position. Menezes would get through the start of the Prefinal cleanly, slotting into second behind the pole driver. The two ran nose-to-tail until the leader pulled off with a mechanical issue on lap 12, handing Menezes the point and the Prefinal win. With the pole position secured for the feature, the race was Menezes’ to lose. The opening portion of the race was smooth sailing as he led the field for the first half of the 18-lap race. With just a few laps remaining, a carburetion issued struck Menezes’ Vortex engine, slowing his pace and dropping him to second in the order at the line.

Sunday’s portion of the event was nearly flawless for Menezes. Picking up two-tenths from Saturday’s qualifying session, Menezes earned the pole by one tenth of a second over the previous pole winner. Menezes would go on to a flag-to-flag victory in the Prefinal, taking the checkered flag a half-second ahead of his closest rival. The feature race began in similar fashion with Menezes showing the way until lap three when he fell back to third. He would compose himself to quickly resume the point just four laps later. From there, he pulled out to a four-second advantage after the 18 laps for his first win of the 2009 season.

“It feels great to get my first podiums and win of the season this quickly,” stated Menezes. “Saturday was a disappointment, but we were able to overcome it. When I fell back early on in Sunday’s final, my kart was still coming in, so I was not worried. The Tony Kart chassis and Vortex power were awesome. It was a great weekend”

Menezes will make his first trip to Europe for the 2009 season for a weekend test at the La Conca circuit in Italy on January 28-30 to prepare for the opening round of the WSK International Series on February 5-8.