Ten Canadian drivers took part in the opening round of the SKUSA Pro Tour on the weekend held at NOLA Motorsports Park.
With over 200 entries at the event featuring IAME X30 single speed classes and Stock Honda shifter kart categories, there was plenty of action on the track the is famous for hosting the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in 2013.
For the Canadian drivers in attendance, it was a pretty good showing, competing against some of the best drivers the United States has to offer.
In X30 Masters, Blake Choquer secured the victory on Saturday, leading his teammate Mario Barros, of Peru, across the finish line. Choquer followed his win up with a second place finish Sunday with his team, BBR Karting, taking all three of the podium positions.
Competing in the Florida Winter Tour ROK Cup shifter class helped prepared Montreal’s Gianfranco Mazzaferro for his S2 stock moto debut at the Pro Tour and he didn’t disappoint driving home his PSL Karting BirelART to a second place finish on Saturday. He too had a good day on Sunday, finishing fourth, just missing a double-podium weekend. DD2 ace Jeff Kingsley enjoyed two top-ten finishes in his first shifter kart race, competing in S2.
The ever-competitive X30 Senior class featured 43 victory hungry drivers. While the Canadian drivers were kept off the podium, they still delivered some good results. Cedrik Lupien finished eighth on Saturday and one better on Sunday, crossing in seventh. In his Senior debut, Ryan MacDermid finished eighteenth on Saturday, after starting at the rear, and eighth on Sunday, just behind Cedrik while Samuel Lupien ranked eleventh and fourteenth. He started the Sunday Final fifth.
Also in X30 Senior was Kellen Ritter who finished thirteenth and fifteenth, setting the fastest lap of the Sunday Final. Logan Cusson had a weekend to forget, finishing outside the top-20 in both of his finals.
In Mini Swift, Dale Curren managed a pair of top-ten finishes, taking sixth and seventh on the weekend. Coming off his win at the Florida Winter Tour, Justin Arseneau found every bit of trouble he could in New Orleans, failing to finish both Finals. It was also a rocky weekend for Thomas Nepveu in X30 Junior, as he was only able to manage a sixteenth and a twentieth place finish on the weekend.
Big winners on the weekend included Jake French and Hunter Pickett who took home top honours in S1. Jake Craig and Zach Holden topped the X30 Senior Finals while Luca Mars doubled down in Mini Swift with support from Darren White and Energy Kart North America. Tyler Gonzalez and Dylan Tavella were victorious in X30 Junior.
For many of the Canadian drivers in attendance, they will now shift their attention back to the Florida Winter Tour with the final rounds of the tour taking place in Ocala, Florida this weekend and next.
The SKUSA Pro Tour will continue with round two in Sonoma, California on May 5-7.
