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Supernationals

EKN Trackside: Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 27 – Saturday Report
Wednesday, 20 November 2024 12:05

Senna Van Walstijn seeking his first SuperNationals win in Pro Shifter, starting on the pole position (Photo: EKN)

The Superkarts! USA SuperNationals 27 is one day away from crowning the nine class winners on SuperSunday. Two days of racing were completed on Friday and Saturday outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with all categories contesting the three rounds of heat races and the last chance qualifier for the four divisions big enough to require the downsizing to 40 drivers on the grid. Friday featured a wild weather day from cold to sunshine, downgrading to clouds, rain and strong winds. ‘Situation Saturday’ was a more normal day for weather, as it was the final stint for drivers to position themselves on the grid for SuperSunday.

It has been a near perfect performance for Pro Shifter presented by PSL Karting top qualifier Senna Van Walstijn (Sodi USA). The Dutch driver won all three of his heat races, coming back from third early in the second heat to grab the win after wire-to-wire wins in the first and third. The third was a holeshot win over two-time heat race winner Markus Kajak (NKG / Maranello). Kajak won both his heats on Friday and then ran second to Van Walstijn in their lone battle thus far. They retain their 1-2 positions on the grid for the Final, as does KZ2 world title winner Cristian Bertuca (PSL / Birel ART). Two runner-ups yesterday ended with a P5 in today’s final heat race keeps him in the third slot on the grid for SuperSunday. ‘Super Sub’ Emilien Denner (Sodi USA) arrived to the track Thursday morning, took on 19 minutes of practice and qualified 12th from the slow group. Victory in the final heat of the event along with two top six results promotes him up to the second row for the main event. David Treflov (NKG / Maranello) and Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) – the highest ranked USA driver on the grid – start from row four in the main event. SKUSA Pro Tour champion Matheus Morgatto (PSL / Birel ART) goes from ninth after having his best finish of runner-up in the final heat of the event.

Senior rookie Steven Miller leads the Pro X30 field to the green flag on SuperSunday after two heat race wins (Photo: EKN)

The four heat race winners in X30 Pro presented by Rolison Performance Group fill up the opening two rows. Senior rookie Steven Miller (CDR / Kart Republic) has impressed the paddock with his speed over the three rounds of heat races. Miller ended up winning the opening heat, and won the A vs B heat today to put himself on the pole position for SuperSunday. Six-time SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ryan Norberg (RPG / Kosmic) won two heat races also on Friday, placing fourth behind Miller in their final heat. Kai Hunter (RPG / Kosmic) stayed consistent over the three rounds, placing runner-up twice and winner the final heat of the day to retain the third position on the grid. Top qualifier Ruben Moya (FDM / Pantano) has been right there as well, fourth in his first heat and winning the night race on Friday. A third place result today puts him in the fourth starting spot on SuperSunday. Joe Turney (Trinity / Kart Republic) as three top five results, starting the Final from fifth next to Austin Garrison (SCR / CS55). The Florida driver went fourth, third and eighth to improve from 10th in qualifying to starting sixth on SuperSunday. That spot would have been Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Racing). A provisional winner in the A vs C heat was taken away with a controversial passing under the yellow penalty. It took away a win and dropped him to 17th in that race. Massimino will start back in 16th. Defending winner Donovan Bonilla (RPG / Kosmic) has similar results, with a best result of second on Saturday to go from 12th in the main event. It has been since 2014 that someone came from outside the top seven to win the class at the SuperNationals.

Pauly Massimino seeking a second KA100 Senior victory, starting P1 on SuperSunday (Photo: EKN)

KA100 Senior presented by Factory Karts saw top qualifier and 2019 winner Pauly Massimino (BJR / LN Racing Kart) win all three of his heat races over the two days. The first was a wire-to-wire win before battling the tough fields in the other two heat races. Race Liberante (MPG / Kart Republic), Nicholas Terlecki (HDD / Tony Kart) and Oliver Calvo (SCR / Redspeed) were the other three winners. Liberante was the second overall qualifier, going on to grab two third-place finishes to remain second, and will go from the outside of row one. The driver on the move through the heat races was Frankie Mossman (SCR / CS55). Qualifying 20th, he drove up to two runner-up results and third in the final heat on Saturday to put himself on the SuperSunday grid in third. Texas Sprint Racing Series champion Jesus Vasquez Jr. (GFC Karting) was ninth overall, also earning two runner-up results and a fourth to put himself on the outside of row two for the Final. Calvo improved from 19th in qualifying with two fourth place results to join his heat win. That was good enough to place him fifth on the grid alongside Peyton Phillips (Hi5 / Tony Kart). British driver Joe Turney (Trinity / Kart Republic) advanced his position on the grid from 18th to start the main in seventh with three top-six results. Terlecki put together a fifth and a 10th place finish in his other races to line up eighth. SKUSA Pro Tour #2 plate Finnegan Bayliff (Trinity / Kart Republic) and California ProKart Challenge champion Keagan Kaminski (FW / GFC) will use their guaranteed SuperSunday starting spot to fill out the grid along with Oliver Hodgson (CompKart) who finished seventh in the LCQ – won by Chase Hand (GFC Karting), winning his spot with the SuperSunday Roll Off.

Defending X30 Junior and KA100 Junior winner Turner Brown starts both main events from the pole position (Photo: EKN)

Defending X30 Junior presented by Speed Concepts Racing winner Turner Brown (RPG / Kosmic) maintains the pole position for the main event. Brown was able to win easily the two heat races on Friday. On Saturday, Ty Fisher (Racelab / TB Kart) put on the challenge and stole the race win to break up the perfect score going for Brown. Fisher went from fourth, to second to the win after qualifying 10th overall. Brown and Fisher will make up the front row with SKUSA Pro Tour champion Diego Ardiles (SCR / CS55) starting third. His results of second, seventh and third moved him up from seventh after qualifying to inside the second row. Alongside him will be Sebastian Garzon (Orsolon / Tony Kart). Three straight fifth place results elevated him from his 13th in qualifying. Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) and Jackson Gibson (Ruthless / Exprit) make up the third row. Vanchev went third, 15th and fourth while Gibson had two 11th place finishes and a sixth.

Five different drivers took wins over the heat races for KA100 Junior presented by Birel ART USA. SKUSA Winter Series champion Sebastian Garzon (Orsolon / Tony Kart) and last year’s winner Turner Brown (RPG / Kosmic) opened up the heat races with wins on Friday before top qualifier John Antonino (MPG / Kart Republic) and Ty Fisher (Racelab / TB Kart) took wins in the second round of races. Garzon came back on Saturday, winning his final heat as the only two-race winner of the week while Isaac Malcuit (PSL / Birel ART) was able to grab a last lap win in the final heat. Three top three finishes for Brown will move him to the pole position for the main event while Garzon had a sixth place result in his other race, missing out on the inside of row one by just one point. Fisher and SKUSA Pro Tour champion Diego Ardiles (SCR / CS55) put together the same amount of points and will start from row two. Fisher posted results of second and sixth. Ardiles qualified eighth overall, but was able to go top three in all of his heat races. Starting from row three for the main event will be Alexander Vanchev (RPG / Kosmic) and Lev Krutoholov (Energy Corse America). Vanchev was top four in his heat results while Krutoholov from Ukraine was second, fourth and fourth. Antonio will start ninth after two other results outside the top five, on the grid behind Chace Gassiot-Lee (Nash / EOS) and Enzo Vidmontiene (Trinity / Kart Republic).

Defending race winner Davide Fore starts from the pole position in Master Shifter (Photo: EKN)

It was a wild three heat races in the Master Shifter presented by freem. Top qualifier Bas Lammers (IM USA / Italkart) and Billy Musgrave (Factory Karts) had a race long battle in the opening heat until contact on the final lap sent Lammers off track while Musgrave took the provisional win. Officials penalized Musgrave five seconds, handing the win to defending winner Davide Fore (IM USA / Italkart) and moving Jordon Musser (PSL / Birel ART) up to second. Lammers was also penalized, entering the track unsafe, which pushed him back to 28th in the final result. Lammers struck back, winning the second heat and the third heat, which was called after five laps due to a red flag. Fore was runner-up to Lammers in the final two heats, earning the pole position for the Final. Musgrave put down three third place finishes to move up to the outside of the front row. Musser added two fourth place results and starts the final in third alongside Thomas Mich (PSL / Birel ART). The French driver making his class debut at the SuperNationals was fifth in all three heat races. Patrik Hajek (RPG / Kosmic) improve in all three heats, placing sixth, seventh and eight to now start from fifth after qualifying 14th. Jonathan Vitolo (GFC Karting) was top 10 in all three heat races and will start from sixth. Lammers ended up eight for the SuperSunday grid, alongside 2022 runner-up Alan Sciuto (GFC Karting).

Two-time SuperNationals winner Ben Cooper starts from the pole position in KA100 Master (Photo: EKN)

Three wins in three heat races keeps Ben Cooper (RPG / Kosmic) on the pole position for KA100 Master presented by Orsolon Racing. After two wire-to-wire wins on Friday, Cooper was challenge on Saturday by four-time SuperNationals winner Kip Foster (BJR / Arrow). Cooper – a two-time winner at the SuperNationals – was able to fend Foster off to claim a third heat race win. Foster recorded his third runner-up result to move up to the front row for the main event. Niki Coello (FMS / Merlin) was third, fourth and seventh to maintain the third starting spot for SuperSunday. Sportscar driver Bruno Spengler (Sodi USA) will start from the fourth position. Two sixth place results and fourth in today’s heat race advanced him two positions from his qualifying effort. Second place qualifier William Isaias (Inter MS / Tony Kart) drops to fifth with results of ninth, third, and fifth. Defending race winner Matthew Waters (RPG / Kosmic) starts alongside, improving from an opening heat race result of 12th to finish fifth and third.

Parker Ives keeps the pole position in Mini Swift with a Heat Three win (Photo: EKN)

Top qualifier Parker Ives (RPM / Nitro Kart) in Mini Swift presented by JNM Racing maintains the starting spot for SuperSunday. Finishes of third, fourth and a win in today’s heat keeps the Mini rookie leading the field to the green flag. SKUSA Pro Tour champion Ashton Woon (Supertune USA / Parolin) was one of three race winners, taking the top spot at the end of Friday. Two sixth place results advanced him from seventh in qualifying to starting on the outside of the front row. Benja Fernandez (Trinity / Kart Republic) won the opening heat race, adding results of fifth and ninth to earn the third starting spot for the main event. Josh Bergman (Trinity / Kart Republic) starts fourth after ninth and two third place finishes over the last two days. Lourenzo Varela (PSL / Birel ART) and Maxwell Macha (SLA / Kart Republic) make up row three. Varela has a best result of fourth, as does Macha over the three heat races. Defending race winner Royce Vega (Team Benik) finished second, eight and a DNF to drop down to 18th on the grid. Troy Ferguson (Team Benik) and Liam Nachawati (Parolin USA) each had a runner-up in the heat races, starting seventh and 19th respectively.

Three heat wins keeps Zayne Burgess on the pole position in Micro Swift (Photo: EKN)

Zayne Burgess (Sodi USA) went three for three in the heat races to grab the pole position for the main event in Micro Swift presented by Benik Kart. After qualifying third overall, the SKUSA Pro Tour champion drove up to the race win in all three heats. Aidan Go (Parolin USA) followed through, going from fourth to second in all three heat races to join Burgess on the front for the Final. Leo Simone (Triniy / Kart Republic) qualified 10th and now starts third for the main event after finishes of third, 11th and fifth in the heat races. Hudson Howard (Trinity / Alonso Kart) also improved. Two fourth place results moves him up to fourth on the grid. Mauro Nario (Orsolon / Parolin) and Iver Spence (Parolin USA) make up row three for SuperSunday. Nario had a best finish of third in Heat #2 while Spence was sixth in the third heat. Top qualifier Alvaro Medeiros (Orsolon / Tony Kart) slipped back in all three heats, earning a best finish of sixth in Friday morning’s second heat. He starts eighth on SuperSunday alongside Wynn Godschalk (Team Benik) who place third on Saturday for a best finish over the three heats.

The grids are set, and all that is left now are the final laps on SuperSunday to decide the SKUSA SuperNationals 27 winners.