Las Vegas SKUSA Supernationals XIII
This year EKS trekked to Las Vegas to experience the thrill of the most important North American race. Gianpaolo Masotto, heart and soul of the EKS chassis brand decided it was time to be part of the competition and arranged for couple of driver to participate. Michael Politis, from Brooklin New York was selected to be a challenger on the super competitive TAG Senior Class, and Nicola Melotto was selected for the European KF2 class.
The logistical assistance and service was arranged by North California structure, Cambrian Go Karts. Donald Durbin Jr. did a very good job and his crew delivered an excellent service. Jeremy Owens from Action Karting, New Jersey racing shop, was the leading mechaning and tuner adjuster for Michael Politis entry. Jeremy did a very fine job, working closely to the manufacturer and learning key adjustaments and information on the EKS product.
Michael Politis, was also assisted by race car driver and karting specialist Jay Howard, who prepared the flawless and very fast Leopard engines for Michael. EKS boss Masotto was very pleased with Michael driving ability and improvement as the race week end moved forward. His times were consistently quick in practice, qualifying and through the heat races Michael moved to a start on the final as 8th on the grid, on a total field of 80 competitive racers. A good result. Michael qualified 17th (on 80) and his heat races brought home a 6th, 2th, 9th place overall.
The final saw Michael up to 5th in the first turn, despite starting on the outside, but unfortunately got obstructed when an accident beside him slowed him down. So, he finished 11th overall at the end of the 25 laps. The positive note being that he has been all along in contention for a great result and demonstrated great speed as a driver as well as the potential of the equipment.
Nicola Melotto, the 15 year old Italian had a big task in front of him. He had to face a field of highly rated international drivers, being at his first experience on a race of this level. Despite the initial reverence, and the struggle to come to terms with a track and style quite foreign to him, he managed to recover the initial trouble.
His qualifying time was not up to speed good and he had to start the heat races far back on the grid. Despite that he eventually managed to catch up some of the lost time and ended up on a 15th overall final grid position. His times improved as the week moved along, and he gained quite a lot of experience. The final saw him starting quite well, but an accident in the middle of the field caused him to spin out – and despite getting back on track and pushing hard he could only demonstrate good speed and quick times – but it was too late for a good final result.
Both drivers utilized a Condor 010 version and were very happy about the performance of the equipment. Michael Politis opted for the IAME Leopard power plant on TAG Senior, while Nicola Melotto had IAME KF2 Villa engines for his race.
This year SKUSA Supernationals was made very special by the presence of the best current karting champions, but also by some very special drivers like Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Buemi, Nelson Piquet Jr, Buddy Rice, Dan Wheldon, Michael Valiante, and many more…so the experience became quite unique.
EKS has been working steadily toward the establishment of a solid business base for North America and is committed to the needs of this very important market. An East Coast presence is getting finalized to have driver, team and structure dedicated to the success of EKS and EKS USA.
To the next race !
Marketing Office EKS
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