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| EKN Trackside: SKUSA SuperNationals XV - Practice Report |
| Thursday, 17 November 2011 00:00 |
 The Superkarts! USA SuperNationals XV is underway outside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The 15th edition of the series primer event has welcomed a record number of drivers, record number of entries (528), with a record purse of over $120,000 to be handed out after SuperSunday.Teams made their way to Vegas beginning over the weekend with the first official sessions on-track starting Wednesday. For two days, the 11 categories were split into two groups - five taking part in the morning and six in the evening hours. In total, they received eight seven-minute sessions to prepare for battle Friday thru Sunday. The first few major bits of news came early. During the morning sessions, KZ2 driver Matthew Di Leo (Praga) was involved in a single-kart incident that put him head on into one of the water barriers outlining the track. What appears to be a mechanical failure with the throttle system resulted in two fractured wrists, broken right heel, a few broken fingers and a concussion. He’s staying in a Las Vegas hospital for now with updates still coming from his family. EKN would like to send our well-wishes to Matthew in his road to recovery. A major event unfolded that forced changes in the schedule. A large shipment of engines from the French engine shop Tec-Sav was stuck in customs. Nearly 50 engines were kept there after improper paper work kept them there. The problem forced competitors in KZ2 and G1 to adapt and change plans, some sharing engines. That put SKUSA in a position to change up the schedule for Sunday around because of the problem, putting KZ2 first on the schedule rather than later in the day close to G1. Mid-Thursday, the shipment was cleared and finally made its way to Las Vegas. The talk throughout the paddock is the new track layout. The more technical 0.7-mile course is putting the drivers, the mechanics and the engines to work. As they come to grips with the layout, the surface continues to change after each session with more MG Tire rubber laid down. Aside from battling each other, it’s been a tire battle amongst the competitors. It’s been a mixture of drivers taking new tires, to those running old ones. To spotlight one driver, S4 pilot Nick Galante has been practicing both days with the same two-weekend old set, and putting in some top-10 times each time out. With the record amount of entries and prize purse, SKUSA is continuing to improve the atmosphere surrounding the event. In addition to the Race-Monitor.com live timing app, they set up a live scoring feed in the vendor area for spectators to view as the event unfolds. A total of four grandstand sections surround the track, including another added for the mechanics along pitlane next to the GoPro media tower EKN is calling home, nearly in the middle of the track. Topping the charts in the final session of the day in the morning were: Rick Dreezen (KZ2), Nick Neri (S2), Teemu Suninen (KF2), George Russell (TaG Junior), Juan Correa Manuel (TaG Cadet). In the evening session, it was: Tom Dyer (S1), Devin Lindsey (TaG Senior), Jimmy McNeil (S4 and G1), Leonardo Nienkotter (TaG Master), and Miguel Lopez (S5). eKartingNews.com will be live from 8:50am through the day as the classes contest their qualifying sessions and first rounds of heat races. Listen live at http://www.ekartingnews.com/live and get update on the EKN Twitter Page and EKN Facebook Page for results and other breaking news. |