It was a trip to the Orlando Kart Center and the final round of the 2023 ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour for Canadian Nathan Dupuis. Joining the Speed Concepts Racing program, Dupuis battled 30 other competitors in the talent filled ROK Junior class driving from 27th to 14th in the main event and was one of the event’s biggest movers.
Hitting the track mid-week for practice, Friday would be the first official day of the event weekend as the afternoon brought qualifying and the first wheel-to-wheel action in Orlando. An impressive top-ten effort in qualifying netted the Canadian an inside row five starting spot for the heat races where he scored 11th, 16th, and a difficult 31st place result after contact forced him to retire from the third and final heat race.
With the heat race results setting the grid for Saturday afternoon’s prefinal, Nathan Dupuis started 18th with the goal of moving forward, however, his prefinal was short-lived. A multi-kart pileup on the exit of corner two forced Dupuis to the sidelines, out of the race, and a P27 starting spot for Sunday’s main event.
“It was not the way I was hoping the prefinal would go after showing a lot of speed earlier in the week,” explained the just-turned-12-year-old Nathan Dupuis. “I think our qualifying result is a representation of where we should be, and I will work hard in Sunday’s final to make sure that I am back there.”
Starting deep in the field on the inside of row 14, Dupuis had a great start and instantly started to work his way forward. With 20 laps in front of him, Dupuis gained just under one position per lap to advance forward 13 positions and finish 14th. One of the biggest movers in the race, it was a sign of momentum for Dupuis as he moves forward to the next event.
Dupuis added, “Good way to end the weekend. While I was really hoping for a top-ten, to stay out of trouble, show speed, advance forward, and complete the full race distance was a goal of mine and we accomplished that.”
Next up for Nathan Dupuis will be a trip back to the Orlando Kart Center in less than two weeks’ time for the opening round of the Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) Pro Tour.
Stay tuned to the Nathan Dupuis social media pages for news, information, photos, and results from the event weekend.
For more information on Nathan Dupuis Motorsports, please contact Melissa Dupuis via email to Melissa@WorkSmartSafety.com or by phone to 519.819.9887. To learn more about Nathan Dupuis Motorsports, please visit him online via his new social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching “Nathan Dupuis Motorsports”.
