Local News
Cape Coral 6-year-old to race for Team USA in Spain
Lauren Halpern
•9/9/2026
Source: WINK News
CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK) — A 6-year-old from Cape Coral is taking his go-kart to the international stage.
Ilan Gomez will represent Team USA in the biggest race of his young career in Spain. WINK News sports reporter Lauren Halpern was with him as he prepared to take on the world.
He's been racing for less than a year, and it didn't take long to understand why he's progressing. Ilan's race IQ is like nothing you've ever heard from a 6-year-old.
His father tells Halpern he watches nothing but F1 videos on YouTube, which landed him behind the wheel. All by himself, he fell in love with cars since he was a baby, and with McQueen, and then slowly fell in love with Ferrari.
"He asked me to go karting, and that's how we started," said Francisco Gomez, Ilan's father.
Francisco says it was obvious from the start that this was more than a hobby.
"From the beginning, once he got in the car, you could see in his eyes that this is what he wanted to do," Gomez said.
While Ilan is the one behind the wheel, his dad doubles as his mechanic. Francisco only knew how to change tires on a car, so he's learning as well.
"It's a learning curve," Gomez said. "We are both learning the sport at the same time, and it's kind of cool."
Ilan is learning how to read the track and all the data that comes with racing from the technology on the car. It can tell his father where he's putting the gas on, or the brake, or the acceleration, and which turn and things like that.
When asked what's the fastest he's gone in one of these, Ilan responded with 58. Fifty-eight miles per hour from a driver, a decade away from getting his driver's license.
His ultimate goal is Formula One, specifically looking up to Charles and Ferrari. For now, Ilan heads to the T4 Nations Cup in Spain to race against drivers from around the world.
When asked what place he's hoping to get, Ilan said, "First!"
The cup begins Sept. 30, and then it's right back to racing in Florida before Ilan moves up to a new class next year.
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