SuperNationals XVII: Incredible Victory for Ben Cooper in Rotax DD2 Final!

The rain finally halted on Sunday morning in Las Vegas, USA and for the first time since Wednesday, the sun was shining on the SKUSA SuperNationals at the RIO Hotel & Casino. It was SuperSunday as 11 classes hit the track all seeking SuperNationals glory.

It has been a trying week and the change of weather was a nice way to close things out in Las Vegas.

In Rotax DD2, the two-speed class continued to display some of the best racing of the week and the Final was a true show for everyone on hand.

Pole-sitter Paulo de Conto (KMS/Birel) grabbed the early lead as Robert Wickens (Prime/Maranello) moved from fourth to second exiting the first corner. Ben Cooper (KMS/Birel) slotted into third while Bas Lammers (Intrepid) was fourth.

Cooper quickly disposed of Wickens on lap two, setting his sights on his teammate de Conto, while Lammers also moved by Wickens the next time by.

Halfway through Cooper made his move to the lead as Lammers began to catch the Birel teammates. Making it a three horse race, Lammers quickly overtook de Conto and then Cooper, setting up a thrill set of closing laps.

Stuart Clark scored the victory in DD2 Masters, securing his ticket to the 2014 Rotax Grand Finals
(Photo by: Cody Schindel/CKN)

Cooper returned to the lead with a huge lunge into the first corner, but Lammers countered it and he brought de Conto with him. But corner three saw de Conto and Lammers tough with Cooper retaking the top spot.

It was a great battle right to the end with Lammers doing everything he could to over power the Birel teammates, but it wasn’t enough and Cooper scored the victory, with Lammers on his heels. A late charge by Daniel Formal allowed him to catch and pass de Conto on the final lap to finish third while Wickens completed the top-five.

With the victory, Cooper confirms his ticket to the 2014 Rotax Grand Finals, as he will seek his fourth Grand Finals title.

In the Masters division, a great early drive by Stuart Clark saw him knocking on the door of the top-five, but ultimately he fell to ninth at the line. But ninth was good enough to win the category and earn his ticket to the 2014 Rotax Grand Finals.

For the remaining Canadians it was a tough final. Fred Woodley ended up 21st, Dominic LeGrand was 24th, Scott Campbell was a DNF in 37th as was Brendon Bain in 39th.