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Monday, 11 March 2024 06:25 |
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Matheus Morgatt led through only the final corners to secure his first SKUSA Pro Tour Pro Shifter victory (Photo: EKN)
What began as a wet and cloudy day at the Orlando Kart Center for the final day of action at the 2024 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour WinterNationals, the Sunday activities were greeted with warm weather and sunshine once qualifying began for the in the morning hours. The Orlando, Florida facility was wet for the opening warm-up sessions with the track drying just as the time sessions began. Those and the Prefinal runs were contested along with the Round Two main events for the Semi-Pro divisions while the Pro Show categories settled their WinterNationals with 25-lap main events at the end of the day.
The last main event of the day was the PSL Karting Pro Shifter Final, featuring 26 pilots from all over the world seeking to become the first Pro Show winner in SKUSA Pro Tour history. Prefinal winner Danny Formal (RPG / Kosmic) launched from the with Marijn Kremers (RPG / Kosmic) slotting in behind. Top contender Kyle Wick (GFC Karting) was third until he dropped to third behind a charging Matheus Morgatto (PSL / Birel ART) on lap four. Wick retired just after, suffering a mechanical issue. Morgatto – who finished the Prefinal in fourth but a penalty for contact dropped him down the order of the grid – quickly worked past Kremers for second. A few laps later, Kremers was under attack from Jacob Gulick (GFC Karting) and Kiwi Jay Urwin (PSL / Birel ART). They exited turn five with Kremers trying to hold the outside on Gulick when the two made contact, sending Kremers into the wall and out of the race with a broken front end. Urwin slipped past both to hold the third position. The action up front remained unchanged until the closing laps when Morgatto was able to close in late. On the final circuit, Formal went defensive into the turn 10 hairpin at the end of the straightaway. A slight bobble out of the corner brought on slight bumper to bumper contact, and when Formal’s power reignited it darted him to the left of the track and nearly off course. This allowed Morgatto to power away, but not before Formal dove in deep in turn 13, making hard contact with the rear bumper of Morgatto. The contact nearly sent Formal upside down, as Morgatto powered away to reach the checkered flag first for his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory in shifterkart competition. Formal continued on to second with Urwin bagging his first major podium in SKUSA competition. Gulick held onto fourth with Giorgrio Carrara (Inter MS / Kart Republic) making it five different countries represented in the top-five (Brazil – Costa Rica – New Zealand – USA – Italy).
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Sunday, 10 March 2024 10:21 |
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Finnegan Bayliff secured his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory in KA100 Senior (Photo: EKN)
A warm and sunny day kicked off the 2024 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour WinterNationals at the Orlando Kart Center. Saturday’s racing featured a full round of racing for the Semi-Pro categories while a new era began for the two Pro divisions with Qualifying, Super Pole and Prefinal sessions took place during the evening hours in Orlando, Florida. The highlight of the day was the KA100 Senior main event where Finnegan Bayliff won in a dramatic finish with the Trinity Karting Group driver securing his first career SKUSA Pro Tour victory.
The Sodi Racing USA KA100 Senior category began with rookie Steven Miller (Nash / EOS) leading the 40-driver field in the timed qualifying session with a 56.115 lap time, beating out Collin Lloyd (Inter MS / Kart Republic) and Stephen Eisert (Sodi Racing USA). The Prefinal was a precursor to what we would get in the main event with Lloyd winning on the last lap over Miller and Peyton Phillips (RPM / Tony Kart). The final was two drivers up front after the red flag for Mario Barrios on the opening lap and early shuffling on the restart. Lloyd and Fernando Leque (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) were nose to tail and able to get away from the rest of the field, including Finnegan Bayliff (Trinity / Kart Republic) in third. Once the top two began shuffling for the spot, this brought Bayliff and others back into the mix. As they made their way through the two hairpins at the start of the lap, Phillips moved up to second on the bumper of Lloyd. Entering the sweeper, Phillips made contact with Lloyd’s bumper, sending both sideways. Lloyd pushed to the outside while Phillips was in the middle of the track. Bayliff slipped by both as Luque slammed into Phillips. This allowed Bayliff to lead the final lap, securing his first SKUSA Pro Tour victory. Cameron Weinberg (CDR / Kart Republic) made his way through nearly the entire field after starting 35th due to a Prefinal incident. He was sitting fifth when all this was happening, and was able to knife through the wreck to finish second as Eli Warren (Redspeed) crossed the line in third. A pushback bumper penalty dropped him off the podium, putting James Overbeck (BJR-MDR / Tony Kart) into third after pulling off a 360 degree spin in the air earlier during the race. Kane Martin (Nash / EOS) completed the top-five.
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Friday, 08 March 2024 08:15 |
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Two-time defending SKUSA Pro Tour champion Marijn Kremers making his OTK debut in the USA with RPG
The 2024 Superkarts! USA Pro Tour WinterNationals marks the 15th season of the organizations premier championship program. The March 8-10 event is scheduled for the Orlando Kart Center in Orlando, Florida. Part of the new Pro Tour format is the separation of two Pro categories and the seven Semi-Pro divisions that will battle over the three days.
The second visit to the Orlando Kart Center for the SKUSA WinterNationals will feature two rounds of racing for the Semi-Pro classes and one round for the new Pro Show. The Semi-Pro will compete in Round One action on Saturday with qualifying, Prefinal and Final with Round Two contested on Sunday with the same format. The new Pro Show has the X30 and Shifter divisions held out until the end of the day where they will run a Qualifying and Super Pole session before running their Prefinal races. The main events will then be held at the end of the day on Sunday, crowning the weekend winners. Read full story on eKartingNews.com |
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Thursday, 07 December 2023 09:26 |
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Fresh off the momentum of the 2023 SuperNationals, SKUSA is pleased to reveal a deeper collaboration globally with IAME Italy (S.p.A.S.U.) for the 2024 season. Beginning in January, the SKUSA Winter Series and subsequent ProTour events will also be recognized worldwide as the IAME Series USA West. The naming convention is part of a bigger push by IAME Italy to unify racing series across different countries and spotlight talent from multiple continents.
"It's a great thing to help bring everyone under one banner,” explained SKUSA’s principal Tom Kutscher. “The competition in the United States has become one of the best in the world, and we’re always keen on having our most talented drivers recognized in the same discussions as other greats in the sport.”
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Saturday, 14 October 2023 15:04 |
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With the 2024 Pro Tour dates set and the locations almost set for release, SuperKarts! USA is excited to announce an unprecedented prize package totaling over $310,000 in value and a revamped race format that will put the pro classes in a prime time, afternoon-only time slot. And as has been the case for 2023, every second of Kart Chaser LIVE Streaming will be fully free-to-view.
This prize package builds upon what was already a massive purse in 2023, which totaled $212,000. 2024’s Pro Tour purse will see a near 50% increase. Full details about this groundbreaking prize package have also been posted.
Based in part on the Kart Chaser LIVE Stream viewership data, the Pro X30 and Pro Shifter divisions will move to run only in the afternoon on all three Pro Tour weekends. This will additionally help teams in being able to share staff between their drivers in these two divisions and the Semi-Pro classes that will run in the earlier part of each day, just as teams have been able to do at the SuperNats with the split-day format used from Wednesday to Saturday.
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