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| EKN Trackside: Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SpringNationals - Sunday Report |
| Tuesday, 16 April 2013 09:32 |
 The final day went into the books for the 2013 SpringNationals to kick off this year’s Superkarts! USA Pro Tour. The weather at the Musselman Honda Circuit in Tucson, Arizona was perfect, with just a little bit of strong wind gusts testing the many tents that jam packed the paddock. It was a busy day of action from sun up to sun down with eight categories completing the second round of competition for the weekend. Great racing took place in the many categories, but the day did have some drama and controversy. When the final rulings came out, it was Andrew Zimmer securing his second big victory of the weekend in TaG Senior with Fritz Leesmann evening things out in the S1 category.TaG Senior The TaG Senior group was the last to hit the track and was given the hot pit to make any changes during the 12-minute session. For many, it was hit the track for the quick lap and then start making changes for the opening heat race. The pole position was a dual between defending champion Phil DeLaO (Arrow) and Louie Pagano (Birel). Each took multiple turns over the first four laps with DeLaO posting a 49.884-second lap aboard his KartSport North America entry to secure the position. Pagano was just six thousandths of a second off his time. Saturday winner Andrew Zimmer (ART GP) was third with Alejo Fernandez (Energy) and Dakota Dickerson (FA Kart) completing the fast five. The top six, including Arizona driver Bailey Murphy (Arrow), were within a tenth of each other with the top 13 powered by a Rotax kart. Up front, the opening heat race was uneventful as DeLaO and Zimmer drove away with the top two positions in the 10-lap event. Dickerson held the third spot after the opening circuit with Matt Johnson (Energy) and Pagano trailing. Dickerson fell down the order as the race progressed, finishing ninth. This put Johnson and Pagano up to third and fourth with Jake Craig (Kosmic) into fifth from 11th, but was disqualified for oil on the clutch, moving Jonathan May (FA Kart) into the position. DeLaO was able to drive to the win in heat two unchallenged, crossing the line over one second ahead of Pagano. The Birel America/DPK driver was the early driver on the move, and was up to second quickly. He put a gap on the rest of the pack but Zimmer was able to run him down to put a little pressure on as they completed the 10-lap event. May finished fourth and Johnson dropped back to fifth. The controversy continued to the very end unfortunately in the TaG Senior class, with a decision made by a few competitors we have not seen on the Pro Tour. DeLaO and Zimmer broke away from the field as a great battle settled in for third with a number of drivers. Coming up through the field however was Michael Giessen, driving for Mike Manning Karting with a Motori 7 engine. Running just outside the top-10 all weekend long, he began picking off drivers at random. He worked his way to the fight for third, and knifed through them and started running down the leaders. It was then discovered that Giessen was running non-compliant with the minimum weight rules. He caught the leaders and eventually took over the top spot. Zimmer and DeLaO raced as they, trying to find a way around and taking chances as best as they would in a normal racing situation, however this was not normal. Thankfully, no contact was made as Zimmer came through to score the victory with KartSport North America’s DeLaO in second. It was a great moment for the Washington driver, making his debut with the new ART GP America operation and handing them their first two major victories. Giessen crossed the line third but came across the scales well below the minimum weight and was disqualified. Johnson won the battle for third, but was given a one position penalty for blocking which promoted May to the podium and Johnson back to fourth ahead of Pagano. Joel Jens (Tony Kart) was another driver who crossed the scales below the minimum weight after he original placed inside the top-10. Read Full Story on EkartingNews.com |