|
Sunday, 03 April 2022 01:00 |
|
Rolison Performance Group's Ryan Norberg scored his first SKUSA Pro Tour win at NOLA Motorsports Park,
beginning his 'Drive for Five' titles (Photo: Ken Johnson - OnTrack Promotions / Studio 52)
After soldiering through wind and heavy rain on Saturday to put the opening round of the 2022 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour in the books, over 200 drivers, their mechanics, and their families were treated to ideal weather on Sunday when blue skies and temperatures in the high 70s were the order of the day. The fifth annual WinterNationals, which was being held for the fourth time at the 1.1-mile, 17-turn NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, was wrapped up with extremely close racing highlighted by several thrilling finishes. Four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg out-gunned his Rolison Performance Group teammate Nate Cicero for the win the X30 Senior, while 2020 CIK-FIA Karting KZ World Champion Marijn Kremers delivered a flawless performance to back up his Saturday triumph with another victory. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
|
Saturday, 02 April 2022 01:00 |
|
Jeremy Fletcher made a masterful last-lap pass to take the win in Saturday's X30 Senior main event
(Photo: Ken Johnson - On Track Promotions / Studio 52)
The Superkarts! USA Pro Tour kicked off its 13th season today at the NOLA Motorsports Park facility in Avondale, LA with the fifth running of their WinterNationals. NOLA’s 1.1-mile, 17-turn circuit features a multitude of overtaking opportunities which resulted in another thrilling day of close-quarters competition. A total of nine classes of IAME and KZ categories were on the docket, and from the very start of the day, weather played a key role in the overall storyline. As forecast, rain arrived on the scene early in the morning, eventually delaying the start of the official sessions, but it also sent the field onto rain tires for both qualifying and then shortened Prefinals. Only X30 Senior ran their Prefinal on slicks as the last class in the rotation. In the headline classes, GWR / Team Felon’s Jeremy Fletcher (Tony Kart) emerged from a thrilling multi-kart battle in X30 Senior to score his first top-tier Pro Tour victory, while PSL Karting’s Marijn Kremers (Birel ART) dominated the Pro Shifter category from start-to-finish. It was the first SKUSA win for each driver; the first Senior victory for Fletcher and the first win for Kremers in a shifter on American soil. In the Junior races, Caleb Gafrarar (X30 Junior) and Helio Meza (KA100 Junior) scored the wins. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
|
Thursday, 31 March 2022 01:00 |
|
Hannah Greenemeier looks to repeat in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The 2022 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour is set to kick off this weekend (March 31-April 2) at the NOLA Motorsports Park. The fifth edition of the SKUSA WinterNationals at the Avondale, Louisiana will host the opening two rounds of the championship program, which celebrates the 13th season. The ‘Big Easy’ always provides a threat of rain, with Saturday looking to be the day that could be the most impacted in terms of wet weather racing.
This weekend’s is the largest WinterNationals on record before walk-up entries at 224 in the five-year history of the event. The first edition came in 2017 at NOLA and was there the year after before moving to the CalSpeed Karting facility in 2019. COVID-19 halted the 2020 edition as Friday practice was wrapping up and the world changed over the coming days. The WinterNationals returned in 2021 to NOLA, with all four previous editions featuring over 200 entries. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
|
Written by Matthew Fink - Hagerty Media
|
|
Friday, 11 March 2022 10:16 |
|
Late race drama: on the last lap of the K100 senior race, the top five contenders crashed, handing Brandon Lemke the win. (Matthew Fink)
Which race do you consider to be the greatest motorsports event in the world? Is it the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Perhaps, the Indy 500? Or, maybe you favor something more extreme, like the Isle of Man TT bike race or Pikes Peak Hillclimb? I would like to add a lesser-known event to the list of title contenders: The Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) SuperNationals.
This karting event in Las Vegas, Nevada annually provides high speed and high stakes. It is a collection of the world’s top motorsports drivers with varying agendas and equipment. These aren’t your local family fun center five-horsepower karts. No, these are lethal machines that pull big g-force numbers in the corners and high digits down the straights. Speed, history, prestige, and close competition–this race, like its well-known crown jewels counterparts, has it all, and I’ve know this for a while.
Fresh out of college, in the early 2000s, I worked for SKUSA and helped conduct some of the largest events in karting history. SuperNationals is widely regarded as the most prestigious karting event in the world. The race–and SKUSA, in general– have helped evolve karting into the professional motorsport that it is today. I hold them in such high regard but haven’t attended a SuperNat race since 2003. To see if it could still be consider one of the greatest motorsport events in the world, I attended the 24th running of the great kart race in the desert. Read full story on Hagarty.com |
|
Monday, 14 February 2022 01:00 |
|
Diego Ramos held on to secure his first win of 2022 in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The 2022 Superkarts! USA Winter Series closed out on Sunday, February 13 at the AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex presented by MG Tires. The fourth and final round was contested at the Homestead, Florida facility, which was delayed by lightning and heavy rain during warm-up. After grinding through qualifying, the Prefinals were shortened to catch up on the schedule. And by the main events, the sun was shinning for the last chance for drivers to battle for a win and the championships. Rolison Performance Group driver Caleb Gafrarar stole the show on the day and the weekend, earning victory in all four Junior categories. In the headline X30 Senior division, Brazilian Diego Ramos edged out fellow countryman Matheus Morgatto, who put together four straight runner-up results to claim the series championship.
The Group A Apparel X30 Senior division began with only one driver dipping below the 1-minute mark in qualifying, thanks to PSL Karting / Birel ART driver Marijn Kremers. A lap of 59.814 cleared the 40-driver field by over three tenths. He would only complete four of the eight laps in the Prefinal as a broken reed stopped his engine from performing. In turn, Diego Ramos (REM / Kosmic) shined through on the drying track to earn the race win and pole position for the main event. Ramos jumped out to a solid lead at the start of the Final and eventually was caught by point leader Matheus Morgatto (AM / Exprit). Morgatto was into the lead by lap 11 and Ramos positioned himself on the his rear bumper. It was not until Lap 21 that Ramos made his move, grabbing the lead. Morgatto tried to regroup and make a pass, but was unable to complete the move. Ramos took the victory by one-second at the line – becoming the fourth different winner in the four rounds. Saturday winner and three-time defending champion Ryan Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) joined them on the podium in third with Round Two winner Alessandro de Tullio (Parolin USA) and Carson Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) completing the top-five. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
|
|
