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Wednesday, 26 May 2021 17:10 |
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Hannah Greenemeier became the first female winner on the SKUSA Pro Tour with victory in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The 2021 edition of the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SpringNationals came to close on Sunday at the Utah Motorsports Campus. It was a weekend of battling tough weather conditions and fierce fields in Grantsville, Utah with the threat of rain added into the mix on Sunday. A brief sprinkle is all that presented itself, as the winds continued throughout the day. As you would expect on the final day of action, the racing amped up with drivers taking a few extra chances in certain moments, with the results not equating to success. Nine drivers did come away with triumph at the end of the main events, including four more first-time winners on the day – including Colorado driver Hannah Greenemeier who became the first female driver to win at the SKUSA Pro Tour in its 12-year history.
The Rolison Performance Group X30 Senior class saw a lot of drama unfold from start to finish. Saturday winner Ryan Norberg was able to edge out RPG / Kosmic teammate Hannah Greenemeier for the pole position by a mere 32 thousandths of a second. At the start of the Prefinal, Norberg was shuffled back with Greenemeier and Trey Brown (RPM / Tony Kart) able to get away. It took five laps to catch back up to the top-two and when there, Norberg made a slight mistake, making contact with Brown as Greenemeier slipped past at turn one. Norberg and Brown went off at the exit, out of the race. That allowed Greenemeier to cruise to the Prefinal win. Norberg, starting at the back, was involved in contact on the opening circuit of the main event and recorded a rare DNF on the day. Up front, Greenemeier and Cole Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) were shuffling for the top position nearly every lap. This allowed for a seven driver lead group for much of the race. On lap 17, Hannah was able to secure the top spot with RPG / Kosmic teammate Branyon Tiner coming through in second. Morgan came under pressure for the third position with Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) on the attack. Nepveu worked past Morgan at turn 10, and at turn 11, Morgan drove over the back of Nepveu, pushing both off the course and out of the race. Following the contact, some extra-curricular activities commenced resulting in a DQ for both drivers. Up front, Greenemeier was able to put in solid final laps with Tiner on her bumper to the checkered flag for the victory. Round Two winner Connor Zilisch (Nitro / Redspeed) crossed the line third ahead of Jake Drew (RPM / Tony Kart), but both suffered penalties. Zilisch a three-second for pushback bumper and Drew a disqualification for pushback bumper manipulation post-race. That promoted Nathaniel Cicero to third, making it an all Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic podium. Zilisch was classified fourth, bouncing back from qualifying 12th. Rounding out the top-five was Oliver Calvo (LEM / Exprit), up three positions to fifth.
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Sunday, 23 May 2021 12:45 |
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Ryan Norberg became the third different winner on the season in X30 Senior (Photo: EKN)
The Superkarts! USA Pro Tour has invaded the Utah Motorsports Campus for the weekend, and the 0.9-mile, 18-turn Alan Wilson designed track provided the stage for some tremendous racing during the opening day of competition on Saturday. The 11th running of the organization’s SpringNationals began in extremely cool temperatures, but as the day heated up, so did the action. With the temps rising to the mid-60s by the early afternoon, the main events featured some tremendously close racing and tons of wheel-to-wheel dicing – with non of the nine categories seeing one driver sweep the action on the day. Four-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg dominated the X30 Senior main event for Rolison Performance, leading an impressive 1-2 finish with teammate Branyon Tiner, while AJ Myers scored his third straight Pro Shifter win of the 2021 season to put Magik Kart USA back on top of the podium. With nine classes running in eight race groups, the action did not stop all day.
The Ryan Norberg was a similar ‘Ryan Norberg’ to who we saw in 2019 here in Utah for the SpringNationals. A dominating performance in the Rolison Performance Group X30 Senior class, but not a complete perfect day. Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic teammate Hannah Greenemeier edge Norberg for fast time in qualifying by 15 thousandths of a second with a 57.663-lap. Contact in the opening lap with Greenemeier and Cole Morgan (RPM / Tony Kart) sent them to the back of the field. That allowed Norberg to lead all 12 laps of the Prefinal unchallenged with Branyon Tiner (RPG / Kosmic) driving to second. That was how they would start the Final, and finish the main event with Norberg leading all 20 laps, recording the fast lap of race, winning by over four seconds. Tiner was able to get away in second, giving RPG a 1-2 finish. The fight was for third with Dante Yu (PGR / Ricciardo) moving up two spots to the third step on the podium. Greenemeier put in a great drive in both the Prefinal and Final. Moving up to 16th in the Prefinal, she powered her way to fourth by the end of the Final, but a pushback bumper penalty dropped her to sixth. That moved Canadian Thomas Nepveu (PSL / Birel ART) to fourth and Thomas Annunziata (MDR / Tony Kart) to fifth.
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Thursday, 20 May 2021 07:31 |
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Nitro Kart’s Connor Zilisch is the new X30 Senior championship leader heading into Utah (Photo: On Track Promotions)
The 2021 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour resumes this weekend with the 11th running of the SpringNationals. Competitors will converge on the Utah Motorsports Campus to continue this year’s SKUSA Pro Tour championship program, which began back in March at the NOLA Motorsports facility for the WinterNationals. The May 21-23 event in Grantsville, Utah will host Rounds Three and Four as the 12th season for the longest running national series program continues.
The inaugural SKUSA Pro Tour event was back in 2010 with the first SpringNationals at the Sonoma Raceway facility. The SpringNats was the opening event to the SKUSA Pro Tour until 2017 with the introduction of the WinterNationals. With last year’s program held all at the New Castle Motorsports Park for the Summer Festival, this marks the 11th running of the SpringNationals. The Utah Motorsports Campus opened in 2006, known then as the Miller Motorsports Park. SKUSA has visited twice before, once in 2012 for the SummerNationals and lastly in 2019 for the SpringNationals. The Star Trek layout at 9/10-mile with 18 turns in the clockwise direction is the circuit for the weekend, with temps set to be at the mid 60s all weekend. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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Monday, 29 March 2021 01:00 |
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Nitro Kart's Connor Zilisch scored a thrilling X30 Senior victory in the second round of the SKUSA WinterNationals (Photo: On Track Promotions)
After enjoying a thrilling day of WinterNationals competition on Saturday to launch the 2021 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour at NOLA Motorsports in Avondale, Louisiana, the drivers and teams returned to the track on Sunday to do it all over again. A midday shower added a wrinkle in the storyline, and the finals were packed with action. Six drivers completed weekend main event sweeps on Sunday, as Jeremy Fletcher (X30 Senior), Cole Morgan (KA100 Senior), Noah Baker (KA100 Junior), Enzo Vidmontiene (Mini Swift), Gianmatteo Rousseau (Mini Swift) joined defending SKUSA Pro Tour Pro Shifter champ AJ Myers in starting the season with two victories. That said, on more than one occasion, the winners did not cross the line first as pushback bumpers penalties played a role in final classifications.
The Rolison Performance Group sponsored X30 Senior class was the first affected by the light rain that hit the facility at the very end of the Prefinals. Rain began to fall on the opening lap of the 10-lap race and sent the top-three off the track. After a lap of wet running, SKUSA brought out a full course yellow and eventually the red flag to end the session. The decision was made to go to lunch break and come back with a complete restart. The rain shower lasted less than 20 minutes, but the restart of the Prefinal was still run on a very wet track. Connor Zilisch (Nitro Kart / Redspeed) showed his mastery of the tough conditions to take the win and the pole for the main event.
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Saturday, 27 March 2021 01:00 |
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Reigning SKUSA Pro Tour Pro Shifter champ was on his game to start the 2021 season, winning the opening round at NOLA Motorsports (Photo: Ken Johnson - On Track Promotions)
Superkarts! USA returned the site of the 2020 WinterNationals this weekend at NOLA Motorsports in New Orleans, where COVID-19 put an end to the plans for the year’s Pro Tour. The organization and its teams and drivers were back at the facility on Saturday to take care of unfinished business. The opening round of the Pro Tour was completed under cloudy skies with intermittent sunshine, and the racing was all that was expected.
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