National QUICK LINKS
Winter Series Menu
Winter Series Sponsors
SEARCH
SKUSA Winter Series
| EKN Trackside: 2025 Superkarts! USA Winter Series – Orlando 2 – Saturday Report |
| Sunday, 09 February 2025 09:17 |
|
Justin White came out of the final lap with his first career victory in Pro Shifter (Photo: EKN) The penultimate round of the 2025 Superkarts! USA Winter Series was completed on Saturday at the Orlando Kart Center. The third round of the championship saw a lot of excitement across the nine categories at the Orlando, Florida facility. The heat and humidity was turned up from Friday and of course increased from the January weekend, bringing on different conditions for the roughly 285 entries on hand. A thrilling last lap in Pro Shifter provided Justin White (Maranello USA) the opportunity to celebrate a first career victory while former SKUSA Pro Tour and Winter Series champion Joe Turney (JHDD / Kart Republic) escaped the battling once again for a third straight main event win.
Joe Turney escaped for a third victory in Pro X30 (Photo: EKN) The final race of the day was the PSL Karting Pro Shifter division, which saw the sun setting over the Orlando facility with the lights just starting to come on around the 8/10-mile course. Former SKUSA Pro Tour champion AJ Myers (Magik Kart USA), who set fast time in qualifying and won the Prefinal, was able to get the holeshot over championship leader and EKN Driver Rankings #1 Matheus Morgatto (PSL / Birelart). Lap two, Morgatto got into the back of Myers in turn five, sending the North Carolina driver off the track and allowing Justin White (Maranello USA) to take over the lead after their scuffle. White was able to put down purple laps early to maintain the lead until the halfway point when Myers ran him down and took back the lead. Morgatto’s kart came on late, getting by White and then charging toward Myers with fast lap of the race. With two to go, the jostling for the lead began with Morgatto trying to find a way past for the lead. As they took the white flag, Morgatto dove inside of Myers in the second turn with barley enough room to get half the kart to the apex. As they attempted to exit the corner, the two made contact. Morgatto ended up spinning on top of Myer’s kart, and the two came to a stop backwards in turn three. White was able to tip toe around the two, inheriting the lead and going on to take his first ever checkered flag as a winner in Pro Shifter. Gavin Bayliff (TKG / Birelart) moved up to second with Vincenzo Sarracino (Maranello USA) in third. Morgatto crossed the line in fourth after restarting, but was penalized twice, both times for contact with Myers, dropping him down to seventh while moving CJ Bowman (Magik Kart USA) to fourth and Andrew Bujdoso (Magik Kart USA) to fifth.
Last lap, last turn move gave Anthony Rivera his first victory in KA100 Senior (Photo: EKN) A third straight win and path to a second series championship was the end result on the day for Joe Turney (JHDD / Kart Republic) in the Rolison Performance Group Pro X30. Six-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) was able to lay down fast time in qualifying and led the majority of the Prefinal before Turney slipped by for the win late in the run. It was Norberg and fellow Orlando native Austin Garrison (SCR / CS55) who went on the attack early in the 18-lap Final, working past the two-time race winner on lap two. Turney settled into third as the top two fought to keep the lead pack larger with a host of other trailing. Lap five, Norberg and Garrison crisscrossed and went into the sweeper side by side. Norberg’s kart went through some dirt in the previous corner and did not turn as expected into the sweeper. He pushed wide making contact with Garrison and the two escaped hitting the wall and continued on after losing positions. This put Turney into the lead with Caden McQueen (Energy Corse Americas) in second. McQueen challenged for the lead, showing the way for one lap before he returned back to the point. By then, Jakub Kolar (Vice / Kart Republic) was up into the mix fighting for the second spot on McQueen. This gave Turney the real estate he needed to drive away, leading the remaining nine laps to a 4.2-second margin of victory. A half pushback bumper penalty would have dropped the margin to just over one-second, however, that penalty was overturned after a protest. McQueen won the battle for second with Norberg coming back up to third, however, a penalty for contact with Garrison dropped him down to ninth, promoting Garrison up to third, Kolar fourth and Collin Lloyd (SCR / CS55) to fifth.
Alexander Vanchev was named winner after a red flag shortened the X30 Junior main event (Photo: EKN) New names were at the front of the field to start off Round Three in AKT Racing Team KA100 Senior division. Jensen Burnett (REM / Gillard) was able to lay down fast time in qualifying and after a wild Prefinal, Caden McQueen (Energy Corse Americas) was the provisional winner before a six-second pushback bumper penalty dropped him to ninth in the order. That handed the win and pole position over to Blake Nash (Nash / EOS). Donovan Bonilla (RPG / Kosmic) and Santiago Fernandez (SCR / CS55) were able to break away early from the field in the 18-lap Final. The driver on the move however was Sebastian Garzon (Orsolon / Tony Kart), who started back in 10th and was up to third by lap seven. He ran down the top two, demoting Fernandez first and then pushed Bonilla to get away from the field. With two laps remaining is when Garzon pulled the trigger to battle for the top spot. Coming to the white flag, they were side by side entering turn one. The two made contact prior to the apex, sending both off the track. This moved the fight for third into the battle for the top spot, featuring Anthony Rivera (TFR / Kart Republic) and Nash. Rivera was able to pull the over under on Nash through the final corner, reaching the line first by 64 thousandths for his first SKUSA victory, including fast lap honors. Nash settled for second with Burnett crossing the line third, only to be issued a three-second penalty for tram line violation to drop him to fifth in the order. That promoted Fernandez up to the podium in third ahead of two-time race winner Frankie Mossman (JHDD / Kart Republic).
A second victory on the year for Alexander Vanchev in KA100 Junior (Photo: EKN) The Speed Concepts Racing X30 Junior division welcomed its third different winner over the series. Fion Shi (RPG / Kosmic) came from the slow group in qualifying after getting wrecked in pitlane for Happy Hour on Friday to set fast time for Round Three. It was a battle for the Prefinal win as Jose Schirmer (SCR / CS55) came away with the win. A wild opening lap allowed Alessandro Truchot (Parolin Motorsport USA) to lead the opening lap before Schirmer took control. Jaxon Porter (RPG / Kosmic) slid up into second and stayed on his bumper to break away. Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) was the driver on the move, getting up to third by lap six and began running down the leaders. Lap 10, he passed Porter for second and the following circuit, took control of the lead. The next lap, a red flag came out for an incident in turn 13. This stopped the race early, with officials calling it and awarding Vanchev the victory. Schirmer was classified second with Porter in third, both earning their first career podium results in the category. Ashton Woon (SCR / CS55) was fourth in his first X30 start with Truchot ending up fifth.
Franco Crivelli won a third straight in KA100 Master (Photo: EKN) The Orsolon Racing KA100 Junior class welcomed a two-time winner with Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) earning his first win of the day as well. He set fast time in qualifying but came up short in his Prefinal A race as Alessandro Truchot (Parolin Motorsport USA) took the win while Max Cristea (JHDD / Kart Republic) scored the other Prefinal to land on the front row for the Final. Battling early on allowed Canadian Edward Kennedy (Energy Corse Americas) to take over the lead on lap four. Fighting behind him allowed for a sizable lead until Vanchev and Theo Salomao (Orsolon / Tony Kart) worked together to run down Kennedy. Lap 16, Vanchev grabbed the top spot and was able to get away to his second victory in the class over three rounds. Cristea was able to move up to the second spot late, with Kennedy holding on to third. Edgar Rodriguez (Tony Kart) was fourth with Salomao crossing the line in fifth. Officials issued Salomao a disqualification for ‘driving down dangerous’ and lost all points for the round. That promoted Truchot up to fifth.
Skitchy Barnes won a third straight in Master Shifter (Photo: EKN) It was a two-driver fight in the AM Racing Team KA100 Master class. Charlie Fonseca (RPG / Redspeed) was quickest in qualifying before two-time race winner Franco Crivelli (Inter MS / Tony Kart) stole the Prefinal win. The two were able to break away from the field with Fonseca at the point for the majority of the race. Crivelli made his move on lap 15, and held on for the final three circuits to beat out Fonseca at the line by nine thousandths of a second. A great fight for third ended with Paul Elefonte (RRC / OTK) earning his first SKUSA podium result ahead of TSRS champion Miguel Mier (Orsolon / Tony Kart) and Nico Rivas (RPG / Kosmic). The Velocity Racing by Sodi USA Master Shifter class saw two-time winner Skitchy Barnes (Maranello USA) come back from a flat tire in the Prefinal to win the Final. Barnes jumped from third to first over the opening corner at the back of the Pro field, leading all 18 laps in the Master class for a third straight victory. Top qualifier and Prefinal winner Rene Martinelli (TB Kart) fell back to third and eventually out of the race, allowing Tyler Guilbeault (DRT / DR Kart) to end up second.
Sweeping performance for Enzo DiGennaro in MIni Swift (Photo: EKN) It was a sweeping performance for Enzo DiGennaro (Parolin Motorsport USA) to claim his first SKUSA Winter Series victory in Team Benik Mini Swift division. DiGennaro set fast time in qualifying and got away for the Prefinal win. He was able to break away from the field by the halfway point with William Vetor (JHDD / Kart Republic). While Vetor kept on the pressure, DiGennaro led the final nine laps to claim the victory, reaching the line first by 13 thousandths. Maxwell Macha (Velocity / Sodi Kart) joined them on the podium in third, winning that battle ahead of Aston Wyatt (RPM / Nitro Kart) and Round One winner Benja Fernandez (SLA / Kart Republic).
Dominating day for Marcelo Flores to a second Micro Swift victory (Photo: EKN) Both Cadet divisions were a sweep on the day as Marcelo Flores (JHDD / Kart Republic) earned a second victory in the Energy Corse Americas Micro Swift class. Flores set fast time in qualifying and won the Prefinal comfortably. The Final was a wire-to-wire performance, running unchallenged to a five-second advantage for the victory. Hudson Howard and Leo Simone ran second and third, giving JHDD and Kart Republic a sweep of the podium. Aidan Go (Parolin Motorsport USA) was fourth with Alvaro Medeiros (Orsolon / Tony Kart) in fifth.Round Four will take place on Sunday at the Orlando Kart Center to wrap up the 2025 SKUSA Winter Series. |
