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Thursday, 11 May 2023 13:49 |
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(Photo: Spencer Russell – photosbysmr1)
The second event of the 2023 California ProKart Challenge saw teams and drivers return to the Buttonwillow Raceway Park over the May 6-7 weekend. Round Two of the Superkarts! USA regional program welcomed nearly 100 karters competing in seven categories around the 7/10-mile circuit in the clockwise direction. Perfect racing weather provided an amazing backdrop for the racing action over the two days.
Texan John Burke was able to repeat as spoiler on the weekend in the HRT Driver Development KA100 Senior class. A field of 30 drivers took to the track over the two days, with Kane Martin setting the pace at the beginning with a 51.254 lap time in qualifying to edge out Ethan Lampe by 96 thousandths. Martin went on to lead all 12 laps of the Prefinal while Burke advanced two spots to join him on the front row for the main event. Burke was able to grab the lead on the opening circuit of the Final from the outside pole position. From there, he led all 22 laps to drive away with a 1.3-second advantage at the checkered flag for a second straight victory. Lampe drove to the second spot as Martin fell back to third. Steven DeKeyser advanced three spots to fourth with Izaac Gutierrez completing the top-five.
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Monday, 01 May 2023 15:12 |
The month of May is here and so is the second round of the 2023 California ProKart Challenge. The Superkarts! USA regional series returns to the Buttonwillow Raceway Park to complete the back-to-back trips to start out this year’s championship program. The 19th season of the series began in March at the Buttonwillow, California facility and during this return, the drivers will run in the clockwise direction for the two-day Round Two event.
The HRT Driver Development KA100 Senior class was the largest of the opening weekend in April, featuring 26 drivers. Texas racer John Burke crashed the California PKC party to steal the Round One victory ahead of Chase Hand and Ethan Lampe. The SpeedSense Motorsports KA100 Junior division nearly matched the Senior category’s grid size with 22 drivers in the field. Defending series champion Keagan Kaminski nearly pulled off a sweep on the weekend, missing out on qualifying before winning both the Prefinal and Final. Payton Westcott and Nico Sarphati joined Kaminski on the podium at the opening round as he leads the championship standings coming into the weekend.
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Thursday, 06 April 2023 14:22 |
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Morgatto enters the championship hunt with his crucial win (Photo: OTP.ca)
The teams and drivers on the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour reconvened at the Orlando Kart Center on Sunday for the final day of action at the WinterNationals, taking to the 13-turn track for another schedule of intense competition. The weather was a carbon copy of Saturday with temperatures in the high-80s under sunny and partly cloudy skies. Throughout the weekend, drivers had complained of a very greasy track due to the heat, which only served to increase the challenge for everyone involved. PSL Karting’s Matheus Morgatto (BirelART) worked forward throughout the day to score a major X30 Senior win for the team and the brand, while Billy Musgrave made history for his Factory Karts program, becoming the first driver to win on the SKUSA Pro Tour driving an American-made chassis. In the final Senior category – KA100 – Aiden Levy (Team Tarp / Kart Republic) backed up his win from Saturday with a dominant run to victory and a sizeable lead in the class championship heading to Utah in June.
Sunday’s main event action was capped by a thrilling battle in Speed Concepts Racing X30 Senior. SCR / Redspeed drivers Austin Garrison, Ayden Ingratta, and Pauly Massimino stepped up their game from Saturday to lock-out the top three positions in qualifying thanks to a positive set-up adjustment and an overnight powerplant change for Garrison. PSL Karting / BirelART drivers Matheus Morgatto and Diego Ramos timed in fourth and fifth, setting the stage for the day-long battle. The Prefinal and main event pole belonged to the rookie Ingratta, who had Garrison holding the PSL Karting pair at bay in the Prefinal.
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Sunday, 02 April 2023 08:47 |
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Turney claimed victory just days after winning at the FIA Karting European Championship in Spain (Photo: OTP.ca)
The opening round of the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour rocked the Orlando Kart Center on Saturday, as the organization’s national series kicked off with the annual WinterNationals. The intensity was high all day long and the long main events made tire management part of the strategy for the Pro classes. The tighter nature of the 13-turn OKC layout added to the excitement as it delivered close competition and aggressive driving. The weather was ideal all day with sunny skies and temperatures in the high-80s. In the Pro Shifter class, a spectacular battle between Danny Formal (RPG / Kosmic) and Billy Musgrave (Factory Kart) was a race-long affair, as Formal had to draw on all his experience to hold off the Californian for 24 laps. In the end, Formal earned the big win for RPG and OTK. Kart Republic factory driver Joe Turney emerged from an epic fight with five-time SKUSA champ Ryan Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) for the win in X30 Senior, while Aden Levy (Team Tarp / Kart Republic) scored the KA100 Senior after on-track winner Fernando Luque (Tony Kart) was issued a pushback bumper penalty.
The X30 Senior battle was electric up front, with Norberg leading early after driving around the pole-starting Turney in the opening run through turns one and two. Turney slipped back by quickly to assume the lead but Norberg settled in comfortably to chase the leader. After hounding Turney, Norberg would go back by with a nice inside move in turn eight on lap 10, but the Brit returned the favor in turn 10 on the very next lap. Sodi Racing driver Harley Keeble (Piquet Sports / Sodi Kart) had fought his way to third during the opening circuit and slowly reeled in the lead duo, closely as they battled. Just a lap later, Norberg tried to pass Turney on the inside of turn five after he defended in turn four and the resultant contact allowed Keeble to get a run and drive around the outside of Turney in turn six to take the lead. Turney went right back by in turn 12 later in the lap and this overtake slowed the leaders and brought Hayden Jones (Trinity Karting Group / Kart Republic) and Brandon Carr (RPM / Tony Kart) into the scrap.
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Saturday, 01 April 2023 06:57 |
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Ryan Norberg begins his quest for a sixth SKUSA Pro Tour title in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The 2023 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour is set to begin this weekend with the organization’s first trip to the Orlando Kart Center on March 31-April 2. The Orlando, Florida facility has been the unofficial home for many national teams and competitors over the last month, with the 2023 SKUSA WinterNationals as the final event of a busy winter season. The 14th season of the SKUSA Pro Tour hosts the first two rounds of the championship program in Orlando, with a warm weekend expected for the over 200 entries set to battle in the nine categories.
The Orlando Kart Center was developed in 2009, situated a few miles from the Orlando International Airport. It has hosted several major events, with the 2023 SKUSA WinterNationals the first event for the Superkarts! USA organization ever at the facility. The circuit measures out to 8/10-mile and will be contested in the clockwise direction. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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