The opening round of the 2018 SuperKarts! USA Pro Tour kicked off this past weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. A small number of Canadian drivers were in attendance, securing a trio of podium results.
SKUSA also broke big news on Sunday, announcing that round two of the Pro Tour, the SpringNationals, initially scheduled to be held in Sonoma, California, has been moved to PKRA in Phoenix, Arizona. The race will still be held on the May 4-6 weekend.
On Saturday, Thomas Nepveu and his PSL Karting BirelART machine led parts of the X30 Junior Final but had to settle for third at the finish line, earning the first podium of the weekend. Justin Arseneau started the Saturday Final from the pole position but fell behind early before battling back to finish fifth. The X30 Junior class was the largest on track during the weekend, with 50 drivers in the class.
Also on Saturday, Samuel Lupien fifth in the X30 Senior race. But returning on Sunday, Lupien bettered his result and drove his RPG-Kosmic to a second place finish in the Final. Also in the race, Ryan MacDermid finished fourteenth.
Sunday’s action in Junior was another great one for Canadians as Arseneau once again led the field to green in the Final. This time he kept all four wheels on track and raced with the leaders all race long, coming home second at the finish line behind his Speed Concepts Racing teammate, Tyler Gonzalez. Nepveu had the drive of the day, after a DNF in the Prefinal, he advanced up 38 positions in the Final to finish sixth. One spot behind Nepveu was Mackenzie Clark, who posted his best result of 2018 so far, finishing seventh.
