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   Superkart News!
(If you have any 250 Superkart news to share with the world, email it to me!)

USKGP Race At VIR Cancelled
Due to a high number of cancellations, presumably due to the economy, race promoter Bernie Adamson has been forced to cancel the race for 2008 with hopes of running it in 2009.

USSK Final Season Results
The USSK presented awards to series champions at the Saturday night banquet at Road Atlanta after a great season of racing.
Awards were presented to the following drivers:
F/E 1st Johnny West, 2nd Tris Gour, 3rd Jim Brannon
IC/E  1st Andy Kiker, 2nd Jayce Haghighi, 3rd Michael McAlister
IC/E SS 1st Jeff Metter (unconfirmed, presuming David Lirette finished 2nd)
Sportsman Of The Year, Jim Brannon
Hard Knocks Award, Mark Croslyn

USSK Sunday Road Atlanta Results
Sunday saw the beginning of the USSK's 2009 season unfortunately with a red flag. Saturday's race saw racer Butch Verrado suffer a broken ankle and hip and on Sunday Michael McCalister was taken to the hospital for observation after he and Tris Gour got together and Michael's kart did a series of kart wheels leaving him unconscious for a period of time. Wishing speedy recoveries to both.

As for the racing, Johnny West came back and re-took the top spot in F/E on Sunday followed by Saturday's winner, Mark Croslyn who was followed by Anthony Williams in third.

No surprise in IC/E as Andy Kiker won again with Jayce Highighi second and Jim Ingram taking third.

The IC/E SS class had David Lirette as as the winner, Brad Cain in second and Jeff Metter third.

The new USSK class for 2009, Formula 125, saw Dennis Bernier taking the win with Joey West finishing second.

Croslyn, Kiker, Lirette Take Road Atlanta Wins
In the USSK's final event of the season at Road Atlanta, Saturday's racing, the final race of the 2008 season, saw Mark Croslyn end Johnny West's winning streak crossing the finish line in first in F/E. He was followed by West in second and Bobby Butler in third.
Andy Kiker continued his winning ways in IC/E and was followed by Scott Fiesler in second and Michael McAlister in third.
In the IC/E SS class, it was David Lirette in the top spot with JIm Anthony and Jeff Metter in second and third.
Sunday's race will start a new year as this will be considered the first race of the 2009 season.

Assen Weekend Update
(Brit Paul Kennings sent the following Assen report)

- It was a round of International Superkart Series (Dutch / German series) AND a round of British Superkart (we return the favour for them coming to Cadwell for the British GP)

- It was the final round for both series

- Elkmann and Kruse were tied on points going into the final round. Both drivers had a gentleman's agreement that they would only compete in the same number of rounds (Kruse couldn't make it to Cadwell where Elkmann won both so sat out Oschersleben to re-dress the balance - very sporting)

- In British Superkart it was between me, Dave Harvey and Carl Hulme for the win with outside mathematical chances for Carl Kinsey and Trevor Roberts

- Kruse and Elkmann qualified 1 & 2 with Riley, Maasman & Harpham behind. Of the British contenders it was pretty bad! Harvey was OK in 6th but I was 20th after a lap 3 engine seizure and Carl Hulme was 37th after a similar problem.

- Race 1 was won (by some margin) by Harpham from Kruse, Riley and Albertsson. Harpham was penalised 30sec for overtaking on yellows so the podium was Kruse, Riley and Albertsson (very pleased for Bengt as he has some rough luck!)

- Elkmann couldn't get going in race 1 due to a battery failure so the title race was looking pretty good for Kruse who now only needed to finish race 2 to claim the title.

- Race 1 for the British series turned on it's head. The result was Carl Hulme, me and Dave Harvey (8th, 13th & 14th overall respectively). We all had our problems, CH and I had gearbox problems and Dave Harvey had finished well but also penalised for overtaking on yellows!!

- Race 2 was soaking wet and we saw a flying Elkmann going for it in the absence of Kruse (he couldn't get his engine going - disaster!!). Elkmann spun off at the grandstand chicane and was down to 7th handing Roberts the lead before Riley took over. Elkmann could only recover to 2nd which meant that Kruse was the champion on the Italian DEA motor and the Anderson chassis.

- In the British race I caught Dave Harvey up and got alongside but chose the wrong side of a back marker and ate astroturf. Dave chose the correct side and with Carl Hulme only managing 15th place in all the spray from 37th place, Dave Harvey was the British Champion (on the Anderson with FPE power) by only 2 points in 192! Dave and I were classified 4th and 5th after the Czech Bartak was penalised for overtaking on the yellows.

- Final classifications were;
International Superkart:
1. Peter Kruse (D), 2. Peter Elkmann (D), 3. Rob Chilcott (GB), 4.Olaf Dau (D), 5 Marcel Maasmann (NL), 6.Jurgen Reinke (D), 7. Michal Bartak (CZ), 8. Dave Harvey (GB), 9. Jorg Bernard (D), 10. Bengt Albertsson (S).

British Superkart:
1. Dave Harvey, 2. Carl Hulme, 3. Paul Kennings, 4. Carl Kinsey, 5. Steve Briggs, 6. Simon Holloway, 7. Trevor Roberts, 8. Neil Bagley, 9. Mark Owens, 10. Steve McAdam.

- All pretty exciting stuff really. Another full grid of 60 Superkarts made for some more spectacular racing. There are lots of manufacturers involved in Europe now with FPE, DEA, PVP, VM, BRC, RCS (cylinders for Rotax) and Yamaha on the engine side and Anderson, PVP, MS Kart, Stockman, APG, Raider, Scherman, ADE, EMA and USP chassis all represented.

Riley Takes The Win, Kruse Wins Championship
Great Britain's John Riley did a 2/1 finish at the Netherlands' Assen circuit to win the final round of the German International Superracekart Series.
I'm not really sure who finished 2nd and 3rd.....
Germans Peter Kruse and Peter Elkmann were up and down. Kruse won the first race ahead of Riley but was off the boards in Race 2. Elkmann finished 2nd in Race 2 but was off the boards in Race 1.
I 'think' looking at the results that Sweden's Bengt Albertsson finished 2nd overall and GB's Paul Kennings was in 3rd. (he will let me know this week, I may have to re-do this...)

From these results, with Kruse getting a win and Elkmann only a 2nd, Peter Kruse will be declared winner of the 2008 International Superracekart Series.

Lawson Loves Laguna!
And he showed it again on Sunday by beating Sam 'The Awesome Aussie' Zavaglia by 2.3 seconds to the finish line. Sam posted the fastest lap of the race, 1:23.6 to Lawson's 1:24.0 but, unfortunately, it wasn't until the last lap which wasn't good enough for the Aussie to catch Fast Eddie.
Sam's mate and country-mate, Mike Wayne, rounded out the podium in F/E. Reggie Brown and Larry Kurpiewski were 4th and 5th.

IC/E saw Anthony Williams coming home first but it must have been a good race as well as Paul Band was only 3.3 seconds back after the 25 minute race. Eric Johnson rounded out the IC/E podium with Kyle Rice and Michael Beamer taking 4th and 5th.

Fast Eddie Is First In Qualifying
The Laguna Seca gods did not rise to the occasion on Saturday morning (they most likely stayed at the party too late :-) as the mountain air prevailed producing the typical Laguna early morning foggy conditions coupled with a cold track for the Superkart qualifying session.
Eddie "Mr. Laguna" Lawson and Sam "the awesome Aussie" Zavaglia have been trading fast times back and forth during practice sessions and it was Sam who led the 20-minute qualifying session.....until the last lap when Eddie edged him out for the pole position. These two are going to put on quite a show during Sunday's race. Long Beach, CA driver Jay Lewis rounded out the top three in the F/E class.
Washington driver John Rounds grabbed the pole in the IC/E field ahead of Eric Johnson, also from WA, and CA driver Anthony Williams in third.

It's Peter Kruse!
Although he was only the fifth fastest qualifyer, German Peter Kruse (Anderson, DEA) showed the competition the way and won both rounds of the International Superracekart Series at the Oschersleben circuit the weekend of October 11-12.
He was followed in Race 1 by Olaf Dau (PVP, BRC) and Guido Kleinemeyer (Stockman, BRC) and in Race 2 by Dan Hentschel (PVP, DEA) with Kleinemener in third.

2009 USSK Rules
The USSK has published rules for the upcoming 2009 season. They can be viewed on the USSK web site or on the 250 Superkarts forum on the EKartingNews site.

EC Round 3, Race 2 -  Assen
Great Britain's Lee Harpham sitting outside pole jumped into the lead on lap one over pole-sitter Peter Elkmann and held a one second lead. The USA's Andy Kiker jumped into 9th place on the first lap, up from his 18th place start but dropped to 12th in lap two and to 13th in lap 6 as Harpham pulled out a 3 second plus lead over second place Elkmann finishing with a fast lap of 1:39.367. Kiker gets passed my some more guys and drops to 20th in lap 9.moving back to 19th at the finish turning a very respectable fastest lap of 1:41.062
Elkmann finishes 5.6 seconds back of the winner followed two seconds back by third place finisher Carl Hulme of Great Britain. GB's Steve White finished 4th with France's Damien Payart in 5th.

EC Round 3, Race 1 -  Assen
Peter Elkmann stayed true to form and won the drag race to the finish line in Race 1 by just .679 seconds over second place finisher Gavin Bennett. GB's John Riley came in third 4 seconds back. Outside pole sitter Lee Harpham only made 9 laps of the 11 lap race.and finished in 45th.
Andy Kiker not only finished all 11 laps but moved up a couple spots from 18th to 16th.
The final race will be coming up shortly.

EC Round 3, Qualifying - Assen
Former German Formula 3 racer Peter Elkmann once again proves he is the man to contend with as he put his MS Kart/Yamaha on the pole (1:39.1) for the final round of the European Superkart Championships during the Rizla Racing Days weekend at Assen. He was followed by the UK's Lee Harpham, 1:40.282, (Anderson/Rotax) and Gavin Bennett, 1:40.290,  (Anderson/FPE) in third spot.

The USA's Andy Kiker (Anderson/FPE) qualified in 18th spot (1:41.7) out of the 60 karts which is quite an accomplishment for his first run in Europe and at Assen. We will be looking for him to move up during the first race on Sunday.

BRC Takes The Duffy
Riley Will, aboard his BRC250/FE powered Superkart, took home the coveted IKF Duffy Trophy, named after IKF founder Duffy Livingston. The five day event was held at Portland International Raceway. Will said the best part was having his wife and children present to be a part of it.

Photos From The British Superkart GP
British photographer Pete Roberts has put up some nice pictures from the British GP weekend. They can be seen here. These pictures may also be downloaded for wallpaper purposes.

British Superkart GP: Elkmann Is On A Roll!
German Peter Elkmann once again showed the guys, including the Brits,  that he is a force to be reckoned with as he finished atop the podium in all four rounds of the British Superkart Grand Prix the weekend of July 19-20. He had some challengers but no one could match the power of his Yamaha TZ.
Round 1: Elkmann, Mark Owens (GB), Trevor Roberts (GB) Damien Payart (FR) Malcom Crowe (GB)
Round 2: Elkmann, Payart, Roberts, Crowe, Dave Harvey (GB)
Round 3: Elkmann, Owens, Lee Harpham (GB), Roberts, Payart
Final: Elkmann, Harpham, Carl Hulme (GB), Payart, Dave Harvey (GB)

This is certainly going to make for an interesting final at the European Championship at the Assen circuit in two weekend's time. There are certainly going to be a lot of guys going home after last weekend, doing some homework, and trying to figure out what they need to do to catch Elkmann!

USSK Road America Sunday Results
Johnny West (F/E) and Mike Spear, Jr. (IC/E) were both atop the podium for Sunday's final race at Road America. They were followed by (F/E) Alan Rudolph, (ran out of gas on the last lap) Reggie Brown, Jr., Mark Croslyn and Jim Brannon. (nice finish after an on-track mishap on Saturday) IC/E saw Jayce Haghighi, Firouz Haghighi Michael McAlister and Scott Fiesler rounding out the top five with Ron Nigro, Jeff Metter and Craig Rhodes taking the S/S class.

Elkmann Still In Top Form
German Peter Elkmann, a force to be reckoned with of late, brought his TZ250 powered MS Kart home to do the double as he won both races in Germany's Superracekart Series at the Oschersleben track the weekend of July 12-13. He was followed by German Peter Kruse in his Anderson DEA who finished second in both races. Third place was taken by Nils Appel (PVP/PVP) on Saturday and Guido Kleinmeyer (Stockman/BRC) on Sunday.
The next race is next weekend, July 18,19,20, with the British Superkarts at Cadwell Park and should see some really good racing.

Australian Superkart Championships, Round 1
Eastern Creek Raceway saw Victoria's Darren Hossack (Anderson/SAFE Rotax) take the point lead the weekend of July 12-13 for the Australian Superkart Championship by virtue of his two victories and two second place finishes in the four race weekend.
New South Wales' Sam Zavaglia (Stockman/TZ250) finished a strong second in the first two races, won the fourth race but only managed a 15th place in the third. Nonetheless, a strong showing for Zavaglia with his TZ250 and should give him second place points going to the final round.
Warren McIlveen, New South Wales (Stockman/Honda) was the victor of Race 3 but had a DNF in Race 1 and a 7th in Race 2 and a 4th in Race 4. Carlo Chermas (Queensland) and Gary Pegoraro (Victoria) also got some good points for the weekend which should make for an interesting final at Mallala Motorsport Park on November 1st & 2nd.

Rudolph Takes RA Win In Round 1
Former national 125 champion Alan Rudolph easily covered the field and stood atop the podium for the USSK's Race 1 at Road America and set another track record by breaking his record-setting qualifying time to put a new number in the book at 2:14.437.  (a couple of tweaks and he's going to be in the 13s!!)
Johnny West even knocked close to a second and a half off his Q time but it just wasn't enough...although he was able to bring home the #2 points. He was followed by Andy Kiker, with his GasGas single and then Mike Spear, Jr. and Pat Yosikane. (nice to Pat towing in from the Left Coast to make it to this event!)
Well, the scare of the day came from Jim Brannon, who rolled his kart! (If anyone see an old guy with a long white beard looking like Santa Claus in the grass, please pick him up!!)
The good news is that he is OK....but the kart is probably not....hopefully, if he's able, he'll be back for Round 2.
(don't have any details yet, but guessing it happened coming out of the last turn.....always hated that curb and almost did that myself once...)

Road America Sees New Track Record
Alan Rudolph in his PVP / BRC250FE grabbed the pole for this weekend's race at RA and set a new Superkart track record with a time of 2:14.579 around the 4.0 mile track. Now that's haulin' the mail!! Johnny West, Mike Spear, Jr., Andy Kiker and Jayce Haghighi rounded out the top five. Others who could have been up there had problems and will be starting from the back but it should make for an interesting Race 1 on Saturday.

Short Video From Mid-Ohio
I found a short video that was shot from the infield during Friday's USSK Round 1 race. It can be seen here.

New Safety Wire Rules For PVP Chassis
The USSK Steering Committee has announced that drivers, especially PVP chassis owners, need to check their brake and steering components to be in compliance with safety wire rules effective with the upcoming race at Road America July 11th. Please read the e-mail and posted rule regarding this here.

Mid-Ohio Saturday Results
Johnny West (F/E) and Andy Kiker (IC/E) once again took the top spots on the podium for Saturday's Race 2 with both running very strong at the sharp end but in the end it was Andy who was able to hold off Johnny for the overall victory.

The top five in F/E on the podium for the weekend were West, Mike Soh, Tris Gour, Paul Rhodes and Jim Brannon. See podium pic here.
The top five in IC/E  on the podium for the weekend were Kiker, Scott Fiesler, Mike McCallister, Mike Herdzan and Firouz Haghighi. See podium pic here.
The top three podium finishers in the IC/E S/S class were Jim Anthony, Jeff Metter and Chuck Bunnell. (Sincere apologies to these guys, somehow I screwed up and lost their podium pic)
A group photo of 'The Gang' can be seen here.

West And Kiker Take Mid-Ohio Friday Results
Johnny West (F/E) and Andy Kiker (IC/E) took the top spots on the podium for Friday's Race 1 at the Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course.

In Qualifying, Kiker narrowly edged out West by a half second by posting a 126.7 to JW's 127.2 but once again put his GasGas single out front as being the fastest guy. The only other Q results I have are that Jayce Haghighi was 3rd in IC/E and MIke Soh and Jimmy Brannon were 4th and 5th respectively in F/E.

The only results I have for Race 1 are that Andy K (once again) took the overall win while finishing 1st in IC/E while John West finished second overall, 1st in F/E, with Canadian Mike Soh (who hasn't raced for two years due to medical problems) making a strong return to finish 3rd overall and 2nd in F/E.

Will be 'out of the office' tomorrow (surprise  :) so don't look for tomorrow's results until Sunday.

Could Superkarts Return To Mosport?  :)
Only time will tell, (I don't think they've been there since the early / mid 80s) but you can have a day to practice, test, tune and race for FREE and put on (2) Exhibition Races on Sunday June 29th. This will take place on the 1.5 mile Drivers Development Track where they run (or did run) the F/2000 cars. The track is located about 60 miles east of Toronto in Bowmanville, Ontario. (see directions here)

The idea is to ultimately get the Superkarts back on Mosport's famous 2.5 mile track hopefully running with a big event and I wouldn't be surprised if track owner Don Panoz is not on hand to watch this exhibition. (and the Superkarts obliterate all the track records!  :)

There is no cost at all for anyone who wants to participate. There will be two practice sessions, the first starting at 9:00 and the second at 11:00. They will be from 15-30 minutes, depending on the number of total participants entered; fewer cars, more track time for Superkarts!

Following practice, there will be a Qualifying session, Race 1 and Race 2. (race time to be decided upon by the Superkart drivers, 20 to 30 minute races)

If you want, you can arrive on Saturday, pick a spot, unpack, setup, etc. The Superkarts will be pitted together in the newly re-paved area regardless of which day you arrive. Camping is available at the track.

For more info contact Paul Rhodes, 416-678-1610, rhodespc@hotmail.com or Steve Rhodes at 416-994-0173.

Links: To see the 12 Turn track with corners numbered, click here. For onboard video of a lap around the track, click here. See aerial photos of the track here and here. To see the Mosport International Karting Association announcement about the Superkart Demo, click here. Mosport International Raceway's site (the big track) is located here.

Mid-Ohio Weekend June 13-14
United States SuperKarts webmaster Erin Tullis will be providing live updates both Friday and Saturday on the USSK site and also on the E-Karting News site (250 Racing forum) so if you cannot make it to the track, be sure to keep updated by visiting either or both of these sites.
Not only will she be providing both qualifying and Race 1 results from Friday and then Saturday's final race results but also, I believe, some photos and video of the weekend.

European Championship Round 2 Results
Although only finishing third in Sunday's race, Frenchman Benjamin Mahe (FPE) put himself into the lead in the EC points after Round 2 held at the German Lausitz circuit held during the weekend of May 16-18.
Fellow countryman Damien Payart (FPE) holds the second position 12 points behind and German Peter Elkmann, the latest force to be reckoned with with his TZ engine, sits in third 15 points out of first.
Great Britan rounds out the next three with John Riley (Rotax), Mark Owens (DEA) and Trevor Roberts (PVP) but they will need miracles to pull off a podium position in the final results after the final round to be held at the Assen circuit the weekend of August 1-3.
(I think it's great the new DEA and VM engines are in the hunt in their first year in competition and the PVP is showing that it can be a contender too. What if Elkmann had a 'real' TZ and the Honda RS were allowed?? CIK get you head out of your arse and have a 'Real World Championship'!!!, if it doesn't exceed 250cc, it's legal!!!)
UPDATE: Unfortunately, there was a massive shunt at the start of Race 2 that involved some 20+ karts. Fortunately, no one was killed but there were some broken bones to some three or four drivers, three from GB and one from Spain, I think, and obviously the required mending time for all. Wishing them all the best and a speedy return to the 'saddle'!! There is video of the start that can be seen here, here and here.

USSK Eagles Canyon Sunday Results
Johnny West (F/E) and Andy Kiker (IC/E) stood on top of the Sunday podium after the USSK final race at Eagles Canyon. Frank Widmoser and Jimmy Long were second and third in F/E and son beats dad again as Jayce and Firouz Haghighi were second and third in IC/E. David Lirette was the SuperStock winner.
More places and times as I get them.

Widmoser, Kiker Take Saturday Wins
Frank Widmoser (F/E) and Andy Kiker (IC/E) both won their respective classes during Saturday's USSK round two race at Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas.
John West and Tris Gour rounded out the podium in F/E, with Mark Croslyn, Sr. and Bobby Butler 4th and 5th, while the Haghighis, Jayce (son) and Firouz (father), took podium spots in IC/E with George Saldana and David Lirette rounding out the top five.
Once again Andy Kiker's GasGas came in with the fastest time during the race at a 1:48.01, three and a half seconds faster than his closest competitor and two and a half seconds(+) faster than the fastest F/E time.

Pictures From EC Nogaro
Some pictures form last weekend's European Championship race at Nogaro can be seen here. Another 86 photos from the weekend can be seen here.  (click on the "Diaporma" link)
Eric Severe also has a race report on his Mediasuperkart site here.

A Tie At The Top Of The European Championship
The April 6 running of the first round of the European Championship at France's Nagaro circuit saw a swap of wins between France's Damien Payart and polesitter Benjamin Mahe leaving both tied in points going into Round 2 at Germany's Lausitzring circuit May 16-18.
Payart took the win in Race 1 followed by Mahe, Great Britian's John Riley and Trevor Roberts and France's Alexander Sebastia.
Race 2 saw Mahe on top of the podium followed by Payart, Germany's Peter Elkmann and GB's Riley and Roberts which will give Riley a slight lead for third place points over his fellow countryman.

CIK Approves Homologations
The CIK recently completed its annual homologation procedure and as expected, the Italian engine DEA and Czech engine VM were approved.
Of special note were the "Variants Approval" for BRC Engineering's BRC250FE which included new cylinders, the much needed alternate transmission ratios and an internal water pump tandem gear cover.

USSK Results From MSR-Cresson
Round 1 of the USSK season got under way the weekend of March 28-30 at the Texas venue Motorsports Ranch in Cresson, Texas. Following are the results of the Saturday and Sunday races.
Saturday:
IC/E - 1. Andy Kiker, 2. Jayce Haghighi, 3. Dan Davis, 4. David Lirette, 5. Frank Calhoun
F/E  -  1.Jimmy Long, 2. Jim Brannon, 3. John West, 4. Cory Simpson, 5. Bobby Butler
Sunday:
IC/E -  1. Andy Kiker, 2.David Lirette, 3. Mike McAlister, 4. Frank Calhoun, 5. Arnold Bodenheimer
F/E  -  1. John West, 2. Cory Simpson, 3. Jimmy Long, 4. Jim Brannon, 5. Bobby Butler
Aandy Kiker set fast time for the weekend at 2:07.8; 3+ seconds faster than the fastest F/E kart.
A group picture of the drivers can be seen here.

European Championship - Round 1
Round 1 of the EC will take place the weekend of April 4-6 at the Nagaro circuit in France. Had there not been a limit of 60, there would have easily been 80 karts in the field and there is a large list of reserve drivers waiting to take the place of anyone who drops out.
10 nationalities will be represented: UK, 23; Germany, 11; France, 10; Netherlands, 5; Sweden, 4; Spain, 2; Czech Republic, 2; Austria, 1; Denmark, 1 and Switzerland 1.
Drivers will compete on nine different chassis models and seven different engine makes. A full entry list for the race can be found at www.cikfia.com

The Swedish SuperVkart
Swede Lennart Landstrom, maker of the DuoKart, is now marketing what is called the SuperVkart as an entry level class to Superkarting. (much like the Swift Cup concept) The chassis will be the Czech MSKart Superkart with a Hirth (Germany) 625cc twin cylinder, carb inductioin, 2-stroke air-cooled engine with a variator transmission (continuously variable ratio transmission) producing 65 HP with a top speed of around 120mph. As I understand it, the engine will be sealed and cost will be around $19,000.

From the Hirth site, "The 3203 V is an air cooled, reed valve controlled 2-cylinder-inline-2-stroke engine with 2 slide carburetors and Nikasil coated cylinders. It has one of the highest power to weight ratio available on the 65 HP engine market. Factory recommended TBO (To Be Overhauled) is rated at 1000 hours at 75 % power. The warranty of the crank shaft is 3 years." Those numbers apply to an aviation application so they would surely be different for Superkarting but even at 25% that would be 250 hours. That is an awful lot of track time!

More info can be found on the SuperVkart site. Make sure you watch the videos of the guy doing donuts and drag racing a Camaro.

Two New Twins Up For Homologation
It is possible we may see a couple of new twins competing this year, at least in Europe, if they pass FIA/CIK homologation rules by the first of April.
The VM twin (Czech Republic) and the DEA twin (Italy) are both reportedly going to try and be eligible for the 2008 season by passing homologation rules by April 1st.
The VM twin, which I reported on before, is a product of the Czech Republic and is being developed by MS Kart and being produced by VM (Verner Motors) who also make cylinders for both GasGas and PVP. The engine, which is a side-by-side, has a balance shaft, reed valves, casette gear box,  Dell'Orto carbs and should produce in the neighborhood of 92hp. It is expected to sell for Euro 8,000.
The DEA twin is a product of DEA Engineering located in Crevalcore, Italy and is an inline twin. It is expected to be comparable in price to the FPE. Unfortunately, no other details available at this time.
Pictures of the VM are here and DEA here.

Laguna Seca Entry Form
Bernie Adamson has asked me to post the entry form for the Superstars of Superkarts race at Laguna Seca on the weekend of October 17,18,19.  The form is here.  (This is a .pdf file. If you want to download it, right click on the link and choose Save As / Save Target As. Otherwise, just print it from the linked page)

USKGP Final Results
Still working on this for all the results
All I have so far is the top 3 for F/E and Gavin Bennett took the money!!
1.  Gavin Bennett (GB)
2.  Sam Zavaglia (AUS)
3.  J.R. Osborne (US)

Andy Kiker continues his dominance and won the IC/E class and the money! (he finished 3rd overall) Second was Mike Spear, Jr. and third, Michael Beamer.

Full Results for Sunday's race:

Superkarts F/E

Gavin Bennett
Sam Zavaglia
J.R. Osborne
Johnny West
Mark Croslyn
Jim Brannon
Jurgen Reinke
Kenneth Anderson
George Sunderland
Trevor Roberts
Ryan Kurpiewski
Larry Kurpiewski

Superkart IC/E

Andy Kiker
Mike Spear, Jr
Michael Beamer
Mark Jauregui
Chuck Bunnell
Brian Fisher
Martin Reuck
Dan Davis
Jim Anthony
Scott Lowenstine
Jeff Metter
Adam Romito

Photos of the event can be seen here, here, here and here.

A good article on the race on EkartingNews can be seen here.

Lap times for the 250s can be seen on MyLaps here. (click on Race 9 and Race 14)

USKGP Pre-final Results

1. Trevor Roberts FE - PVP
2. Gavin Bennett FE - FPE
3. Sam Zavaglia FE - RS
4. Andy Kiker ICE - First lap Crash w/J. Reinke.
5. JR Osborne FE - BRC - Broke Frt. Pipe..
6. Mark. Jueregui - FE - ??
7. Ken Anderson - FE - 256
8. Ryan Kierpewski - FE - FPE
9. Adam Romito - ICE -
10. John West - FE - RS -
11. Larry Kierpewski - FE - BRC
12. Dan Davis - ICE - CR
13. Jeff Metter - ICE - CR
14. Martin Reuck - ICE - GasGas
15. Juergen Reinke - FE First Lap Spin and crash with Andy Kiker
16. Sam Andrewson - ??
17. Mike Spear Jr. - GasGas - Spin
18. Jim Brannon DNS
19. C. Buhner DNS
20. Mark Croslyn DNS
21. Brian Fisher DNS

There were several others that did not start the race..
Simpson, Lowenstein, Beamer, Total of 28 Karts in the field..

First Lap: Juergen Reinke spun and was hit hard on the right side by Andy Kiker.. Dan Davis spun, Mike Spear Jr. spun

Bennett & Kiker Grab USKGP Poles
2007 European Superkart Champion  Brit Gavin Bennett and American USSK IC/E Champion Andy Kiker each grabbed the pole in their respective F/E and IC/E classes at the 2007 United States Kart Grand Prix at Virginia Internataional Raceway during Friday's qualifying session which was held in the sun at about 60 degrees.
The order and times for both classes are:

F/E
1. Gavin Bennett (GB)  2:34.3
2. Jurgen Reinke (GER)  2:37.5
3.  Sam Zavaglia (AUS)  2:39.8
4.  J.R. Osborn (US)  2:41.2
5.  John West (US)  2:47.4

IC/E
1.  Andy Kiker (US)  2:38.2
2.  Martin Rueck (GER)  2:38.8
3.  Adam Romito (US)  2:43.9
4.  Mike Spear, Jr. (US)  2:46.7
5.  Dan Davis (US)  2:53.4

British BSA Superkart Champion Trevor Roberts was running up front but was five pounds light at the scales and will be making up ground from the back of the pack.

2008 Laguna Date Changed
Julie Kuntze has announced that the Superkarts will race at Laguna Seca the weekend of October 17-19 in conjunction with the American Le Mans Series. It was originally thought the race would be in September during the Superbike weekend but running with the ALMS will allow more track time for the Superkarts than would have been available with the Superbikes.

USKGP Pre-Race Press Release
The 2007 United States Kart Grand Prix is almost upon us again and it is turning out to be quite a gathering. The venue is the fabulous 4.2 miles long Virginia International Raceway which is without a doubt the longest road race event in the United States. Combine that with the USKGP inviting the world's top Superkart drivers and manufacturers to the United States to race and then add on a purse!! In fact, the total purse will be a whopping $27,000 with a substantial dollar amount going to each class winner and the balance going to other top finishers.

A number of the top European, Australian and American Superkart drivers have committed to this event and their karts are already here in the US. Trevor Roberts from Northern Ireland who was the last CIK-FIA World Champion in Formula/E, England's Gavin Bennett, who is this years European Superkart Champion, Germans Martin Reuck and Jurgen Reinke and to cap it all off Sam Zavaglia from Australia who is a huge threat to any of the world's best drivers, to mention just a few. Reigning "US" plate holders in both Formula/E and InterContinental/E, Johnny West and Andy Kiker, are also committed to racing as well as J.R. Osborne who will be traveling to VIR from his home in Colorado. Riley Will from BRC Engineering in Calgary, Alberta will be flying in to make this an event one not to be missed.

Possibly three of the best known pilots from the West Coast, Scott Holmboe, and Chris and Ryan Hegar have also confirmed that they will all be running in both the Stock Honda and CIK 125 Class and are looking forward to a large class participation given the prize monies that are stake. Owen Wharton, Clayton Prater and Josh Lane will be flying the flag for P.G. Racing while Virginia drivers Brian Fisher, Bobby Ellis and Byron Rothenhoefer will have something to say about the outcome in several of the classes.

Former World Champion and NASCAR driver Lake Speed will also be on hand to give the "whipper snappers" a run for the money, racing in the TAG Class and has promised to bring along some of his "friends." The renewed rivalry between East and West Coast with pilots Phillip Arscott and Donny Warren in the Spec 125 Class plans to hotten up again this year but with an added twist. This year both Warren and Arscott will be on Swiss Hutless chassis, Warren on Parilla Leopard power and Arscott on Rotax power.

Gates will open up at 3pm on Thursday December 13th for this not to be missed event. The USKGP Grid girls will be in attendance all weekend and local band “Point of Honor” will be playing live on Saturday evening. A barbecue is also planned for Saturday as well as a raffle with some great prizes to be won.

2008 Australian Championship
For anyone contemplating having a go at the Aussies next year, they have announced their schedule for 2008 Championship as Race 1, Eastern Creek, July 12-13 and Race 2 at Mallala November 1-2

Payart Grabs French Crown
Despite having some problems, Damien Payart came out on top in the French Championship for 2007. Alexandre Sebastia finsihed second and Mane Vignjevic, by winning one race and finishing second in the other, took the third spot on the podium.

USSK Crowns Series Champs for 2007 at Road Atlanta
Announce 2008 Season Schedule

Road Atlanta served as the backdrop for the USSK season ending awards banquet where Andy Kiker was named 2007 USSK ICE Champion and Johnny West was named 2007 USSK FE Champion.

While the ICE championship was well in hand for Kiker starting the weekend, he wasn’t given much of a chance to relax with Mike Spear, Jr. nipping at his heels. Even when Spear, Jr. suffered engine problems that sidelined him, Kiker had to hold his position with Martin Reuck, Jayce Haghighi, and Firuoz Haghighi coming quickly.

Just like the races Friday and Saturday, the season standings ended much the same way with Kiker named as 2007 USSK ICE Champion, Jayce Haghighi 2nd Place, Firuoz Haghighi 3rd Place, Mike Spear Jr. 4th Place, and Erik Penz finishing in 5th Place.

The FE class was a much closer battle however with Mark Croslyn, Sr. and Johnny West tied for first place as the engines were fired up Friday afternoon. After West won Friday’s Pre-Feature, it looked like he would certainly take the title, but engine problems in the Feature Saturday left everyone on the edge of their seat and West on the sidelines as Croslyn finished a solid 5th place.

In the end though, West’s win on Friday gave him just enough points to secure the championship and the title of 2007 USSK FE Champion. Mark Croslyn, Sr. finished a very close second for the season and his son, Mark Croslyn Jr. finished 3rd Place. Jimmy Brannon (4th Place), and Bobby Butler (5th Place) rounded out the top 5 in this class for the 2007 season.

All of the USSK champions and competitors were celebrated in a dinner at the Braselton Stover House Saturday night.

The USSK announced their schedule for the upcoming 2008 season. There will be 7 race weekends for a total of 14 events. Members will be allowed 2 drops at the end of the year. Drops will consist of the 2 lowest points.

March 28-30, 2008 MSR, Cresson, TX. (SWRA/MARRS event)

May 8-10, 2008 Autobahn Country Club, Chicago, IL (USSK)

June 13-15, 2008 Mid Ohio (WKA National)

July 18-20, 2008 Barber Motorsports Park / w/Rolex /BSS

September 12-14, 2008 Heartland Park, Topeka, KS

September 26-28, 2008 Laguna Seca **(NO USSK points awarded)

October 30-Nov 1, 2008 Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA. (BSS/WKA)

December 12-14, 2008 VIR United States Kart Grandprix (USKGP/USSK)

USSK at Talladega
The re-scheduled fourth round of the USSK at Talladega run Saturday, Sept. 15 saw Cory Simpson and Andy Kiker grab the top spots in the final race in F/E and IC/E.
The top five in F/E were 1. Simpson, 2. John West, 3. Mark Croslyn, Jr., 4. Bobby Butler, 5. Mark Croslyn, Sr.
Top five in IC/E were 1. Kiker, 2.Jayce Haghighi, 3. Frank Calhoun, 4. Firouz Haghighi, 5. Eric Penz
The fifth and final round of the USSK will be at Road Atlanta November 2,3,4.

Points going into the final for the top five are as follows:
F/E Mark Croslyn,Sr., 130, John West, 130, Jim Brannon, 125, Mark Croslyn, Jr.,123, Bobby Butler, 91
IC/E Andy Kiker, 150, Jayce Haghighi, 129, Firouz Haghighi, Mike Spear, 98, Frank Calhoun, 92

Tired of the NASCAR Channel, (oops, I mean SPEED) then participate in the survey for The Racer's Network!
It used to be that you could turn on SpeedVision and watch some kind of racing at any hour of the day. Then it all changed and we now have SPEED.
Well, the old days may be returning.

The following is AutoWeek writer Dutch Mandel's take on this new (hopefully) network: Be sure to go to the site and vote!

By DUTCH MANDEL

By many measures it has been a good week. Why: I am still perpendicular to the earth and I got a call from a guy backing a new road-racing television network.

He wants to know if a dedicated television channel with 1000 hours of live or same-day road racing would be a good thing. Is there interest among the car-racing community for such a channel?

You should know that Jim Liberatore is the former head of Speed network. He was there when The Ultimate Car Guy Channel showed fans everything from Australian channel boat racing to rally cross and everything in between. The new deal, appropriately called The Racers Network, will have all sorts of racing … and racing that doesn't just turn left.

Don't get me wrong. NASCAR is good. But its presence by my standards is oversaturated. I have seen just about enough reality TV shows on fourth-tier Busch series drivers, about celebrity driver searches, about the Wives South of the Smith & Wesson line. I want road racing.

And rally racing. And sports car racing. And karting, vintage, endurance, motorcycles in all their permutations, Porsche Cup and hill climbs. I even want stuff that focuses on marque-specific car clubs.

In a nutshell, I want it all.

I'm not getting it now. But Liberatore wants me—and you—to be sated. He's apparently got some interest from Those Who Can Make Our Dream happen, but still he needs help: He must have enthusiasts sound off in sufficient numbers to show the powers that be such a network would have a regular following.

If you're like me and you want your road-racing Jones to be satisfied, let me suggest something. Go to our site and click on the link to our Fast Poll question that will be live as of Monday, Aug. 6 at noon (EDT). Answer it honestly. Then tell your bench racing buddies to do likewise. Then go to Liberatore's site, www.theracingnetwork.com and answer one question. And then tell your garage mates and car collector friends and other car-centric pals to do likewise.

I hope that by letting you know of this opportunity, your day—and week and summer racing season and television viewing time—just got a little bit better. Mine has.

Brits Dominate EC Final Round
It looked as though home-country driver Peter Elkmann, the driver with the only prior experience on Germany's Sachsenring, might be the victor in Race 2 of the European Championship as he led the first seven laps and then dropped down in the field as well as did Malcolm Crowe who was running 4th. From then on it was all the Brits as they finished in the top five places with John Riley taking the top spot followed by the 2007 EC Champion Gavin Bennett and then Phil Featherstone in third. Lee Harpham and David Harvey rounded out the top five.
Six through ten were: 6. Benjamin Mahle (F), 7. Michael Warn (S), 8. Paul Kennings (GB), 9. Stefan Malm (S), 10. Poul Petersen (DK)

Crowe Won The Race, But It's Bennett's Championship!
Although Gavin Bennett had a comfortable lead going into this weekend's  final round of the European Championship, the outcome of this weekend certainly wasn't a 'given' by any means as one never knows what might happen in this sport of Superkart racing and second place Malcolm Crowe knew that. Two good finishes by him and two poor finishes or DNFs by Bennett would put him in the forefront.
Well, he certainly prepared to fight as he won Saturday's race and picked up 25 points...only problem is that Gavin also ran strong and finished third picking up enough points that even with a DNF on Sunday he has secured the EC for 2007. Congratulations to Gavin on a great season. (after the party tonight he may be a DNS tomorrow!!  :)
Top five for today were: 1. Crowe (GB), 2. Elkmann (Ger), 3. Bennett (GB), 4. Featherstone (GB) 5. Ogeborn (S)

Damien Payart, third place point holder, withdrew from this race for personal reasons and with Michael Warn finishing in 6th the final championship results appear to be 1. Gavin Bennett (GB), 2. Malcolm Crowe (GB), 3 Michael Warn (S).

EC Final Round Next Weekend
The European Champion will be crowned next weekend as the final round of the EC is held at Germany's Sachsenring circuit. Following is the CIK's press release.

The CIK-FIA European Superkart Championship drivers will be treated to a rather exceptional final on 15 and 16 September 2007: they will compete on a circuit which has never seen 250 cc karts. Drivers and Superkarts will therefore be on an equal footing for this event on the German Sachsenring circuit. Although not many meetings can be held there (only four per year) it is nonetheless well known for hosting the German Motorcycle GP. The hilly 3.6 km long Sachsenring, which comprises a technical first part and a rapid second half, will bring to the fore the drivers’ ability to adapt to a new course and to set up their little racing vehicles accordingly.
Only one driver out of the 55 entries has a real advantage: the German Peter Elkmann knows the Sachsenring because he raced – and won – there two years ago in Formula 3. His sporting career is rather atypical: after having learnt the ropes in the traditional Karting categories (with a European ICC/125 cc vice-champion title at the end of the day), he had a taste of Superkart before stepping into the cockpit of a Formula 3 and proved to be brilliant straightaway: in 2005, he won the German series “F3 Recaro Cup” and in 2006, he competed in the very high-level “F3 Euroseries”, distinguishing himself with a win at Brands Hatch. Without a contract in F3 in 2007 through lack of a budget, he made a comeback in Superkart this summer and just missed the podium at Assen.
The Sachsenring event, third and final stage of the European tour, will reveal the name of the 2007 Champion. With two wins and two second places under his belt, the Briton Gavin Bennett will enter the event as the firm favourite with the extra advantage of still disposing of a joker, unlike his main rival, Malcolm Crowe. In the final classification of the championship, only the five best results (out of six possible ones) are taken into account. His joker, Crowe used it at Magny-Cours when he spun. To be crowned champion, he will have to prevail in both races at the Sachsenring, with Bennett failing to be on the podium.
In the absence of the Frenchman Damien Payart (who has withdrawn for personal reasons), the other candidates for a good result in Germany will be the Swedes Michaël Wärn and Stefan Malm, the German Martin Knauder and Britain’s John Riley (2005 European Champion), Mark Owens and Lee Harpham.
Saturday 15 September will be dedicated to qualifying practice and Race 1, whereas Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday 16 September. Information and live classifications can be found on www.cikfia.com or www.mediasuperkart.com

Warn Grabs Swedish Title
Michael Warn won both weekend races and was crowned the Swedish Superkart Champion the weekend of Sept. 1-2 at the Knutstorp circuit. Rounding out the top five in the championship were Thomas Johansson, Stefan Malm, Monica Strath and Tommie Elisson.

USSK To Re-Run At Talladega
Since the Eagle Canyon race was cancelled, the USSK will be running its 4th race at Talladega on September 15. This will be a one day event with the pre-feature running in the morning with a final in the afternoon.

USA Karting To Debut
USKGP promoter Bernie Adamson has announced that 2008 will see the birth of a new nationwide RoadRacing series called USA Karting.

USA Karting intends to be the premier RoadRacing promotion organization in the United States and is currently in negotiations with several sponsors to put RoadRacing back in the forefront in this country.

In 2008, USA Karting will be promoting a five National Championship race series that will also include a Grand Prix race meeting. All of the current gearbox kart classes will be provided for at these meetings. USA Karting has also decided to introduce the F250 National class (stock Honda) as seen in European circles, in addition to the I/CE and F/E Superkarts. A list of those classes will be made available in the near future but it is expected to be organized in the same fashion as the USKGP. Negotiations are also underway to include the Midwest and West of the country in what Adamson hopes to be a true National Series

Contracts have been secured for five tracks and negotiations with a sixth facility are continuing. USA Karting has assembled a traveling Tech Team whose responsibility will be to ensure that everybody has an equal opportunity and that fair play is adhered to.

2008 races scheduled to date are:

May 8 – 10  Autobahn Country Club, Joliet, IL
July 4 – 6  Thunderbolt Raceway, Millville, NJ
September 26 - 28  BeaverRun,Wampum, PA
October 24 – 26  Thunderbolt Raceway, Millville, NJ
December 12 – 14  Virginia International Raceway, Danville, VA

The aim of USA Karting will be to provide high quality events for drivers across a wide variety of circuits, primarily on the Eastern half of the country although plans are also underway to include the Midwest and West.

USA Karting is also planning to give back to the members in terms of financial rewards for year-end Championships through cash payouts at the end of the season.

A domain name has been purchased that will fit in with this group and a web site is currently under construction. A photo gallery and a video section will be available for members to upload pictures, videos, projects and race reports. In addition, a Points Section will also be included on the site which will be updated as soon as possible after each of the race weekends.

Adamson added, "The United States Kart Grand Prix was held at VIR last December and a second date will again be upon us this December 14 - 16. The USKGP is doing everything possible to run this prestigious event in a way that is best for the karter and we will be working with all parties to bring this event to the forefront of U.S. karting with all the glory that this event deserves. If there is anything that you feel we are missing, please feel free to advise us on how we can best help you."

Bennett & Crowe, Crowe & Bennett At Assen
Polesitter Malcolm Crowe had to settle for second place on the podium in Saturday's Race 1 of the European Championship as he was beaten by fellow Brit Gavin Bennett but Race 2 saw the reverse happen where it was Crowe in the top spot and Bennett in #2. John Riley (GB), Mark Owens (GB) and Damien Payart (F) rounded out the top five in Race1 while Lee Harpham (GB), Peter Elkmann (D) and Michael Warn (S) rounded out the top five in Race 2.
Bennett now has a commanding 36 point lead in the championship over second place, Crowe (54) with Payart at 46, Warn, 34 and Paul Kennings (GB) at 33.
The third and final EC round will be held at the Sachsenring (Germany) Sept. 15-16.

Malcolm Crowe Grabs The Pole
Malcolm Crowe, fresh off his Magny Cour victory in the French Cup, set the fastest time and will start in P1 for Saturday's Race 1 of the European Championship at the Assen TT circuit joined by fellow Brit Lee Harpham in P2. This should be a good one!
The top 10 qualifiers were:
Crowe, Harpham, Knauder, Bennett, Warn, Malm, Riley, Payart, Mahe, Johansson

USSK Eagle Canyon Race Cancelled
Due to the fact that paving at the track will not be finished in time, USSK Race Director Robby Harper has announced that the Eagle Canyon race has been cancelled for this year. A date and location as a replacement race for this event will be announced later this weekl

Assen Set To Grid 60 Drivers
As with Round 1 of the European Championship at Magny Cours in May, once again a full field of 60 drivers will compete at the Dutch TT circuit Assen the weekend of August 10-12. The CIK's press release of the event can be seen here. (and it doesn't say how many additional drivers were turned away from the event)

New 250 Twin
A new 250 Twin engine ('somewhat' resembling the Yamaha air-cooled side-by-side) is being developed by MS Kart and being produced by Verner Motors, both located in the Czech Republic. It reportedly should produce around 92hp in stock configuration and will sell for E8,000 (approx. $11,000 US) It is planned for testing during a round of the Swedish Superkart Championship later this summer. Eric Severe's article and a pic of the engine can be seen here. (click on the arrows underneath the yellow kart)

SCC Magazine Article
Be on the lookout for the August issue of Sport Compact Car magazine! It seems another car mag has picked up on "the world's best kept racing secret" and has published an 18 page article on g-force cornering. I received this tip from Canadian karter Floyd James. Thanks Floyd!! His e-mail message:

"Sport Compact Car Magazine has an 18 page article in their August edition called g-Masters. The comparison test, which is also the cover story, compares 14 cars from street rods to Touring cars to a 1983 GP winning F1 car against each other to see which can pull the highest cornering g's. Included in the list was a PVP 250 Superkart. Guess who topped the list...  Kudos to SCC for a bold article.
This is a collectors item for any Superkarter or Superkart fan."

McIlveen Wins His 6th Aussie Championship
Eastern Creek Raceway hosted the final round of the Australian Superkart Championship the weekend of July 14-15 and it was Warren McIlveen who had the field covered in the end to win the 2007 250 International Championship Title, his 6th in his long career. See the entire report from Round 2 here.

Butler And Kiker Take USSK At Talladega
Bobby Butler (F/E) and Andy Kiker (IC/E) were the victors at the USSK race held July 14-15 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Kiker also set the fast time for the weekend.
Saturday Results:
F/E  1. Brannon, 2. Butler, 3. Croslyn, Jr., 4. West, 5. Taylor, 6. Croslyn, Sr.
IC/E 1. Kiker, 2. Spear, 3. Calhoun, 4. Goad, 5. Engebretsen, 6. Lirette, 7. F. Haghighi
Sunday Results:
F/E  1. Butler, 2. Croslyn, Sr., 3. West, 4. Croslyn, Jr., 5. Brannon
IC/E 1. Kiker, 2. J. Haghighi, 3. F. Haghighi, 4. Goad, 5. Cain, 6. Engebretsen, 7. Calhoun, 8. Lirette

2007 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals

Eddie Lawson ran away with the Unlimited (F/E) class, and Ryen Miller struggled in the 2nd heat with a broken chain to barely hang on for the win in IC/E taking his second Grand National title in a row at  the IKF Road Race Grand Nationals held last weekend, July 5th-7th, at Reno-Fernley Raceway.

The Unlimited race on Saturday was very consistent with the top 3 finishers maintaining the same positions in both heats. Lawson, Ryan Kurpiewski, and Kyle Rice maintaining very consistent times. Ron Shaw took fourth with consistent 5th place finishes to beat out Ryen Miller. Miller ran 4th in the first heat and then had a gear box problem in the second heat that forced him to retire from 4th and finish 6th in the heat for 5th overall.

The IC/E race was a war of attrition for both heat 1 and 2. Those that did well in Heat 1 were unable to match their performance in Heat 2. Those that had problems in Heat 1, were able to recover and do well in Heat 2. When all the points were tallied up, Ryen Miller came out on top, just edging out Ron Shaw and Ray Corral, who tied for 2nd, and it was Ron's 2nd place finish in the 2nd heat that gave him the 2nd place finish overall. Ray Corral ran a consistent 3rd in both heats, placing 3rd overall, with Chris Horsley and John Stafford rounding out the top 5.

Malcolm Crowe Wins At Magny Cours F/1 Race
The French Cup Superkarts were a support race last weekend at the French GP at Magny Cours, and although Swede Stefan Malm grabbed the pole in Friday qualifying, it was Brit Malcolm Crowe who won the races on both days with fellow Brit Mark Owens getting a podium spot on both days. Qualifying results are here. Race 1 results are here. Race 2 results are here. See Eric Severe's site at www.mediasuperkart.com for the race report.

Kelgate Update
For those around the globe looking for Kelgate products, Sales Director Steve Howlett from R3 Technology sent me the following information about their dealership contacts. He also said that if you are from an area that is not represented to contact him for info. His address is sales@r3racingl.co.uk

UK - JPD Motorsport - Jason Dredge - jdredge@jpdmotorsport.co.uk
USA - West Repair Services - Johnny West - johnwestracing@aol.com
France - EMA - Dan Michaux - emaracing@wanadoo.fr
Germany - Frinken racing - Stefan/Felix Frinken - info@frinken-racing.de
Spain - Premier Motorsport - Bill Gibson - gibson580@hotmail.com
South Africa - Tony Farah - pharaohs@netactive.co.za
Australia - Art Motorsport - Anton Stevens - antons@bigpond.net.au
Sweden - Quintech - Anders Öberg - anders.oberg@imatrakilsta.com

Kiker Takes USSK Win At Road America
Andy Kiker's GasGas powered IC/E kart bested the F/E twins to take the overall victory in Round 2 of the USSK Series June 9-10 at Road America. Kiker won the IC/E class races both days while Chris Taylor won the F/E class races both days with Pat Yoshikane finishing 2nd on both days. Johnny West had problems throughout the weekend while sorting out new parts but did post the fastest lap time of the weekend on Saturday with a 2:17.796. Chris Taylor had the second best time at 2:18.495. I'll post a full listing of the finishing positions for both days when I get them.

Autocar Report on Superkarts
I haven't had a chance to download this to add it to the video list, but in the meantime, you have to check this out!
Autocar, a UK car mag (equivilent of Car and Driver or Road & Track over here) sent long-time reporter Chris Harris to check out the Superkarts. The ride was provided by 2006 National GP plate holder Ian Harrison.
This is another example of a 'car guy' who has no idea of what Superkarts are all about!! He would really **** his pants if he were in a real race and had to deal with traffic!!  :)  Fortunately, all press for the sport is good and maybe this will bring some new recruits into the ranks!  (he calls it a 6-speed...it's not, it's a 5-speed)
Link to the video is here.
 

European Championship - Round 1
The CIK/FIA press release for the first round of the European Championship May 4, 5 and 6 at Magny Cours with the driver entry list can be seen here.

Stars and Stripes Over Nurburgring!
Old Glory was waving on the podium Sunday as Colorado native J.R. Osborne stood atop the podium after winning Race2 in the opening round of the AvD Superkart Series at the Nurburgring in Germany on a BRC powered PVP prepared by BRC teammate Michael Sadurski. J.R. also set the fastest lap in that race.  

There were two rounds of timed practice/qualifying on Friday of which J.R. was the 4th fastest of the 19 karts entered running a 2:01.9 with the fastest being a 1:59.7.

Saturday's race saw Martin Knauder (Ger.), Bengt Albertson (Swe) and Jurgen Reinke (Ger.) in the top three finishing positions with Olaf Dau in 4th and J.R. in 5th. (3, 4 and 5 were all BRC powered)

Sunday's race had J.R. getting the checkered first followed by Albertson and Reinke. I have a feeling he dominated this race as his fast lap was a 2:01.3 and the next quickest was a 2:02.4.

Big congrats J.R.!! Now you'll have to stay over there and go for the championship!!

Pitpass.com Article
 Pitpass.com has a nice article on its site about Superkarts being a support race for the French GP race at Magny Cours this year. Based in the UK, this is a very popular site over there (I get their newsletter) so the Superkarts should get a lot of exposure from this. Hopefully, this will first of many years they will be invited and maybe spread to other venues as well. The article can be seen here.

Barber Update
Well, the hole closed up and there was no racing on Saturday and with the race less than an hour away to grid time, with the rain still coming down, it looks like a washout for the weekend. Results for Saturday's race will be based upon qualifying positions.

USSK Barber Qualifying Results
As of now, it's pouring down rain in Birmingham and no racing is taking place. The good news is that USSK is the last race of the day and the radar map shows a hole in the front so with any luck, they may get it in, wet but not raining.

Friday's qualifying is as follows:
F/E
John West                    1:28.429
Chris Taylor                  1:28.493
Jim Brannon                 1:33.052
Bobby Butler                 1:34.529
Mark Croslyn, Sr.         1:36.321
Mark Croslyn, II             1:36.671
Jay Galligher                 1:39.436
Cory Simpson               1:43.980
Doug Woods                 1:50.851
Mike Curtiss                   NT

IC/E
Andy Kiker                     1:26.571
Mike Spear                    1:28.244
Jayce Haghighi              1:31.49
Randy Domikis               1:32.666
Frank Calhoun                1:33.010
Firouz Haghighi              1:33.841
Jason Slahor                   1:35.095
Griff Goad                        1:36.285
David Lirette                    1:36.793
Brad Cain                        1:40.767
Jeff Metter                        1:40.808
Arnold Bordenheimer      NT
Eric Penz                          NT
Gary Slahor                      NT

Notes: Kiker's Anderson with his new GasGas is blindingly fast!! Chris Taylor is suffering brake problems, John West is fighting handling issues (but hasn't blown anything up) and Cory Simpson has carb gremlins.

250s Get Press in South Africa
All the press the sport gets helps and it's spreading!!
Fellow friend and South African Superkarter Pierre Martins sent me an article from the South African publication Speed & Sound that did an article on him and his kart.
It's a ZA car mag and was written by a car guy that had NO clue about Superkarts, or karts in general for that matter! Well, he does now after it dusted his (or someone's) race-prepped BMW M3!! (That's kart with a "K"!!...you'll understand after you read it...and he screwed up some other stuff as well...)
Nontheless, this writer was impressed, to say the least, and hopefully it will increase the Superkart participation in ZA. (certainly some are spending twice the money and going 30 secs. a lap slower!!....same as over here......need to start a blog on this subject to increase participation!!!)
Read the article here. (I split it into three pages as it was rather large even after reducing the scans)

USKGP Update
Bernie Adamson has informed me that Debbie Kuntze has been brought on board to be the Race Director for the weekend! For those who don't know her, she's the one that is the behind-the-scenes in making the Laguna Seca race happen.
Also, Brit Ken Walker has agreed to be the Announcer for the weekend. For those that don't know Ken, he is the official announcer for about every race in Europe, including all the Superkart races, as well as traveling around the world to announce races, including last year's race at Las Vegas. This race will definitely get a lot of press as a result of Ken's participation. (He's doing the World Superbikes this weekend for BBC Radio)

Osborne to race WSS at the Nurburgring
J.R. Osborne announced that he will be competing in the inaugural World Superkart Series event at the famous Nurburgring in Germany April 21-22.  This new series is headed by Werner Aichinger and
promises to open the doors to world competition due to its limited regulations compared to the CIK.  He will competing with a WiWa Racing prepared BRC 250 and would like to give a special thanks to Pat Yoshikane of P-1 Prototypes for providing 4 sets of tires for the event.  Manfred Wittenborn of WiWa Racing has been extremely supportive of his efforts and has done everything possible to make the logistics work.
"I am excited to help support and promote a new European Series that will more easily allow racers to compete from around the world.  The CIK has a great series, but it excludes a lot of competitors due to it's stringent, and I feel antiquated, rules.  This series will fill that void,"  Osborne said.
Hopefully, many more Americans will follow Osborne's lead with a presence in Europe.
(I know Johnny W. is interested in going to the Magny Cours event!)

F/E to support F/1!!!
After much behind the scenes work, Div. 1 Superkarts (F/E) have been invited to be a support race during the F/1 weekend at Magny Cours, France June 30 and July 1. Eric Severe of Mediasuperkarts is the race promoter and the FFSA is the organizing organization. From what I have learned so far, there will be a practice session on Friday and two race heats on Saturday.
This weekend is during an off period on all the European schedules (here too) and even though it will be considered an exhibition race, the crowds will be huge. My source asked, "Do you think that any of the American boys would want to give it a go?"  If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll get you pointed in the right direction. It is probably limited to 60 karts on the grid and I'm sure the Euro regulars are chomping at the bit!

Update to the article below..
Just learned that out of that $27k prize money, the breakdown for the Superkarts will be, 1st, $2500, 2nd, $1500 and third, $1000 for BOTH the F/E and IC/E classes!! :)   (money talks, karters travel  :)
The 'across the ponders', east or west, are figuring they can pay for their trip by winning....let's keep that money and the victory in both classes here!!  :)

2007 USKGP Press Release
United States Kart Grand Prix organizer Bernie Adamson sent me a press release for this year's event on the full course at VIR in December. Sounds like the Superkart community will be well represented and what really stood out is the fact there will be a total purse for the race of $27,0000 to be divided by the winners and top finishers. Read the press release here. (and pray for weather like they had this year!!)

BRC Products Unveiled
Riley Will sent me some photos of two of BRC's new products, their brake rotors and radiator duct. Pictures of these items can be seen here. For more information, contact Riley at rwill@brceng.com or visit the BRC web site at www.brceng.com

World Superkart Series To Begin
2007 will see launch of the World Superkart Series in Europe ( www.world-superkart-series.com  -English version in currently UC) that is being sponsored by AvD (Automobilclub von Deutschland) and KÖnig Motorsports, GMBH. (manufacturers of aftermarket wheels, shocks, springs, exhausts, etc.) This series will be for both Div. 1 AND Div. 2 Superkarts, which the CIK dumped at the end of 2005. They will crown the top three in each division and there will be a monetary reward as well.

From what I understand, this series was formed because of CIK discrimination against engines and, to a lesser extent, chassis parts. A lot of the racers in Northern Europe run the Honda RS as is run in the U.S. and Australia but the CIK does not allow them, only the 2001 Yamaha TZ. As a result, these guys are not legal to run in the EM (European Championship) and elsewhere. The CIK also discriminates against engine manufacturers such as BRC and FPE. For example, both of those engines were homologated with one set of transmission gears while the Rotax 256 has 84 options. Even though the Rotax gears could be used in either one of these engines, the CIK does not allow them in anything but the 256. The TZ has optional ratios that did not have to get approved but were just adopted with the engine and are legal. Go figure... BRC can use an electronic power valve and power jet like is raced in the U.S. but the CIK does not allow it yet they allow the electronics be run on the TZ. Also, aftermarket (better) chassis parts such as calipers and rotors are not legal.

The WSS will also be changing the minimum driver age to 16 (for Div. 2 I believe) to allow the younger drivers to get their feet wet in Superkarting  and will also be securing TV coverage for many of the events.

Sounds like the guys over there are on to something good and they certainly have a couple of 'big guns' supporting them! The CIK needs to be treated for their case of optical rectimitus!

(The World Superkart Series race schedule is included under the 2007 World Schedule link)

Brits Extend An Invitation
 I received an e-mail from my mate Ken Walker in the U.K., who is a journalist, does commentaries, TV presentations and announces kart races around the world, with an invitation for U.S. Superkarters to take on the multi-country field at this year's MSA British Superkart GP, July 21,22,23, at the Cadwell Park Circuit.
An excerpt from Ken's comments:

"Last year we had over 5,000 spectators, the biggest British
crowd at al all-kart (kart or Superkart) meeting for very many years. If
anybody would like to follow J.R.'s lead and come and race with us they
would be made mightily welcome!

They wouldn't just be racing Brits on their own track. From memory, we had
about 10 different countries represented at last year's GP. The circuit
owner has a GREAT publicity machine and any Americans coming over would
be guaranteed great publicity both at the track and in Euro publications."

I realize that is the Barber weekend, but for anyone who knows the history of Superkart racing, winning the GP plate is equal to winning 100 races against your buddies!

(in deference to Sam and Pierre, I'm sure this applies to you guys too! I'll tell Ken to send you a personal invite!)

Read 'Em and Weep...
No Laguna Seca for 2007! According to an e-mail I received from Larry Dobbs, via Debbie Kuntze, there is no space available for the Superkarts at any of the Laguna events. Certainly a sad state of affairs seeing that this was the biggest showcasing event for Superkarts and had come a long way from the first event. Nothing like being billed with MotoGP in '05, ALS in '06 and then relegated to the Outhouse in '07!
Sure hope I get to retract this story!

Aussie Invitation
For anyone, worldwide, that has ever wanted to 'have a go' at the Aussies, Sam Zavaglia is making an invite to anyone that is interested; and will store competitor's karts for the events. (Sam, there wasn't anything included about 'storing the drivers'!! :)
His invitation letter can be seen here. Definitely two awesome tracks!!

A 'Stock' 250 Class?
There has been an interesting thread on EKN regarding running a 'Stock CR 250'. I thought it might be interesting to those in the U.S. , and elsewhere, to see what has happened, and is happening, in the UK with regards to this. There are obviously U.S. karters that would like to join the 250 ranks but can't afford to start out with the costs associated with F/E (Div. 1) or IC/E (Div. 2) but may move up after 'getting their feet wet'.

I received some information from Viper Racing's Ian Harrison, along with some pics, and am also including a paragraph from the BSA (British Superkart Association) web site regarding this new class.

It is called 250 SuperStock and has the designation, SS.

Rules, regulations and pictures can be seen here.

If in two, three or five years it doubles the entries into the top classes, it may be something to consider.....

Australian Championship
The final race of the season at Eastern Creek decided the 2006 Australian Superkart Championship and it was Warren McIlveen who came out on top in a close battle with Sam Savaglia.
Result from this weekend's race were: 1, Sam Zavaglia, Stockman/Honda, 2, Warren McIlveen, Stockman/Honda, 3, Robert Oakley, Stockman/Honda.
Final standings for the Australian Superkart Championship were: 1, Warren McIlveen, Stockman/Honda, 2, Sam Zavaglia, Stockman/Honda, 3, Robert Oakley, Stockman/Honda

USSC - East Final Point Standings
The 2006 USSC - East final points have been tallied in the two divisions. Earning the #1  plate in F/E is Derek Eastty and Andy Kiker in IC/E. US Champion Reggie Brown and Chris Taylor finished 2nd and 3rd in F/E and James Ingram and Jason Slahor in IC/E. All East results can be seen here.

USSC - West Final Point Standings
The 2006 USSC - West final points have been tallied in the two divisions. Earning the #1  plate in F/E is Chris Hegar and Ryen Miller in IC/E. Ryan Kurpiewski and Ryan Hegar finished 2nd and 3rd in F/E and Anthony Williams and John Stafford in IC/E. The total listing for all participants can be seen here. (Excel spreadsheet)

Tragedy At Silverstone
The final race of the British Superkart Grand Prix was marred by a fatality last weekend at the Silverstone circuit. Richard Weavers, 56, who had been a long time 125 driver, switched to Division 1 Superkarts three years ago and was killed in an incident at the Luffield corner. "As he approached Luffield, he was dicing with another kart as they came upon a slower driver who possibly missed a gear. They each went around him on
either side but as they came back together in front, they touched. Richard got into a spin and left the circuit and hit the tyre barrier very violently. He was thrown out of the kart and on to the track. There he was clipped by a following kart."
Said the BSA's Ian Rushforth, "Every sport has its characters, and Richard was certainly one of them. We all see each other nearly every weekend. It's quite a close-knit family and Richard was the sort of guy everyone in the paddock knew, always willing to share a joke and the centre of the party. He will be sorely missed without a doubt."
A memorial trophy will be created in Richard's honor. Our condolences to his family and friends.

Road Atlanta Update
Good race report from J.R. Osborne of the weekend can be seen here.

USSC - Road Atlanta
The final round of the USSC Eastern Championship was held last weekend at Road Atlanta. Results are very sketchy but from what I can gather, German Jurgen Reinke (PVP/WIWA-BRC) topped the F/E field and James Ingram (PVP/Rotax) came from the back of the field to take the IC/E win. Chris Taylor (Turfrey/Yamaha) and Jerry Echols (Anderson/Yamaha) rounded out the F/E podium while Andy Kiker (Anderson/Honda) and one of the German drivers were 2nd and 3rd in IC/E.

Derek Eastty (Nemesis/BRC) won Saturday's F/E pre-final and was leading Sunday's race after six laps when his stator went south.

With his second place finish, Andy Kiker once again takes the IC/E title (as well as the National Championship) and Derek Eastty  the F/E Eastern Champion.

Reggie Brown, Jr is the National F/E Champion.

Two sites have photos from the weekend.  Site 1, Site 2

BRC To Mount International Effort
2007 will see BRC Engineering doing some world traveling as they plan to compete with the BRC250F/E in both Europe and Australia as a factory team. Team karts will be prepared and will be piloted by North American drivers. Venues and dates will be announced as the 2007 schedules unfold.

Laguna Race Report
Race report from the USSC Laguna Seca weekend can be seen here.

USSC - Laguna Seca...Sunday
Results are here.

USSC - Laguna Seca...Saturday
Results are here.

Update: Trailer with the bikes has been found. Van still missing.
Theft Alert...
Jerry Echols alerted me to the fact that a friend of his, Bruce Lind, who races 250 bikes in AMA recently had his van, trailer and six 250cc bikes stolen. I think it happened in Las Vegas, but am awaiting confirmation on that.
These bikes were all running Yamaha TZ250 motors which may be parted out by the thieves; either as total motors or individual parts.
The URL Jerry gave me to check it out was http://www.geocities.com/rewardforbikes/
The 'tiny URL' on the page didn't work for me, trying to get a direct one.
There is a $10.000 reward for the return of this equipment!

USSC Championship Sunday Results
IC/E
Andy Kiker, once again(!) retains his crown for the United States Champion in the IC/E class as he finished first, who would have imagined that?!! Congrats to Andy, you are 'da man'!!
Second and third go to Ryen Miller and Mark Brown who have had a very good year!
F/E...
Well, Kyle Martin won the race.....but, according to sources, he hasn't participated in enough F/E races prior to this to be crowned the champion.....(I haven't done any research...that's J.R.'s problem...)
Anyway, Reggie Brown, Jr. finished 2nd and Frank Widmoser 3rd.
(I was told that Ingram, one of the Hegar bros. and Anthony Williams got taken out in a first lap incident)
F/E Champion to be announced??!!
More news as it unfolds....
Final Sundy results and lap times can be seen here. Final Saturday results and lap times are here.

USSC Championship Saturday Results
The weather at Miller Motorsports Park was beautiful (and so is the scenery...so I was told) as Saturday's pre-lim round got under way. But, as it goes in this sport, Derek Eastty, who had the pole for today's race, ended up finishing (if he did, not sure about that) in 19th for tomorrow's crowning of the U.S. Superkart Champion.
The winners for today were:
F/E 1. Kyle Martin, 2. Reggie Brown, Jr., 3. Ryan Kurpewski, 4. Jim Brannon (I was told 'Santa Claus' had an 'off' and got a bunch of dirt in the motor because he didn't have any air cleaners on and had to rebuild the whole motor before the race) 5. Larry Kurpewski
IC/E Andy Kiker, 2. J.R. Osborne, 3. Ryen Miller, 4. Anthony Williams, 5. Mike McCallister
Top 15 runners and fast lap times can be see here.
(Sunday's final results as soon as I get them!)

Barker Prevails, UK Keeps the Crown
In what had to be a real nail-biter for two particular drivers going into Sunday's race of the European Superkart Championship at Assen in the Netherlands, it was the UK's Graham Barker who stood atop the podium and takes the title back to the UK for the second year in a row following in John Riley's footsteps from '05.
Barker trailed France's Damien Payart by 11 points going into the weekend.
Barker had to be feeling pretty good Friday night though as he grabbed the pole in Friday's qualifying session with Payart in 4th.
But, as Superkarters know, things don't always go as planned.....and the showdown was set up......
I'm not going to spoil it. Read it for yourselves. I found two articles, one from the Malm/FPE team site which can be seen here (translated from French) and another from Willi Pfieffer's site that is here. (translated from German)
Qualifying results can be seen here, Race 1 results here and Race 2 results here. (.pdf files)
A few pics can be seen here.

USSC Miller MMP Entry Form
The USSC national championship race (and Western Division points race) at Miller Motorsports Park is just around the corner, August 18,19 and 20. The entry form for the event can be found here. (MS .doc format)

USSC Barber Race Report
(Lots of good photos of the weekend can be seen here.)
By David Cole, SuperKart Illustrated
Over 100 karts took to the 2.4-mile Barber Motorsports Park circuit as the warm-up event for the Grand American Rolex Series Porsche 250 when the Big South Road Racing Series hosted the Pro Kart Invitational presented by Dunlop Tires this pasr weekend. Nemesis Superkarts pilot Derek Eastty took home the big victory of the day as he dominated the United States Superkart Championship Formula E division, bagging the overall victory in the process.

Early morning Qualifying was cancelled after a hard rainfall went across the area, finishing up during the Grand Am warm-up. During the hour lunch break and quiet time, the track was able to dry up as the sunshine and humidity returned to the Birmingham, Ala facility.

With Qualifying being cancelled, the drivers lined up according to how they registered. At the drop of the green, the field of 28 USSC 250cc shifter karts went four wide heading into the downhill turn one. Fortunately, all the drivers made it through and began dicing around for the entire opening lap. As they came by to cross the line for the first time, reigning FE champ Johnny West (MSR/Honda RS) led the field down the frontstretch. The next time by, Eastty was at the point and he never looked back.

After three laps, West’s transmission failed and left him on the side of the track for the remainder of the race. This left a great battle for second between Reggie Brown Jr. (P-1/BRC250FE) and Chris Taylor (Turfrey/Yamaha TZ). Though Brown’s engine was not running as he hoped, he was able to hold off Taylor for the runner-up spot with Taylor rounding out the podium.

ICE pilots Andy Kiker and Jim Ingram put on a great show again with Kiker coming out in P1 (Photo: Dennis Lathem - photobama.com)
ICE pilots Andy Kiker and Jim Ingram put on a great show again with Kiker coming out in P1.

In Intercontinental E, Andy Kiker (Anderson/Honda CR) again took the win, extending his streak to seven straight Final victories, dating back to Road America of 2005. It was, however, a battle as Jim Ingram (PVP/GasGas) was again attached to Kiker’s rear bumper, as he has been all season. The two mixed in with the Brown/Taylor fight until Brown put a gap on the rest of them, leaving Taylor and Kiker fighting for the third overall spot. Ingram was there for most of the 18 laps but traffic killed his momentum a few times, dropping him back a few seconds. Kiker settled in for the fourth overall spot as the checkered flag fell, claiming the ICE victory. Ingram cruised to second while USSC rookie Jason Slahor (Colbalt/Yamaha YFZ) earned his second straight podium finish.

British Superkart GP

Robin Haworth's recap of the weekend can be seen here.
Pictures from the weekend can be seen here! Some more pics can be seen here.
Update....It seems this was a four race weekend, presumably two on Saturday and two on Sunday. The results I received were for Sunday only. The results for both days are here. Although I hope a full race report will be forthcoming, BSA's Ken Walker was pretty excited about the weekend. His comments can be seen here. Also, I don't know what they use for timing/scoring, but if you look at this, they have numbers for about everything!

The FPE team of Damien Payart and Stefan Malm took the top spots in Division I (F/E) in last weekends joint race of the British Superkart GP and the German Superracekart Series. German Guido Kleinmeyer was the winner in Division II. (IC/E)
Results: Div. 1
1. Damien Payart, France, PVP/FPE
2. Stefan Malm, Sweden, PVP/FPE
3. Carl Hulme, UK, Anderson/Rotax
Results: Div. II
1. Guido Kleinmeyer, Germany, PVP/GasGas
2. Erik Gjersten, Norway, PVP/Honda
3. Martin Reuck, Germany, PVP/GasGas
Of note: Graham Barker was a non-starter and John Riley and Steve Edwards both DNFd in Div. I
Thanks to Ian Rushforth for sending this info. Race report if I get one.

IKF Grand National Results
Roger Miller sent me the results of the IKF Grand Nationals. Thanks Roger! Congratulations to the podium finishers!
F/E (Unlimited) 1. Larry Kurpieski 2. John Stafford 3.Paul Band
IC/E 1. Ryen Miller 2. Bill Busacca 3. John Stafford

Photos from Most
UK photographer Robin Haworth sent me some photos he took at Round 2 of the European Championship at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic which include our own J.R. Osborne. They can be seen here.

Soh On Top at Mid-Ohio
Canadian Michael Soh, who hasn't raced in two years, literally shook things up at the USSC-East race at Mid-Ohio last weekend. Soh, who is also a pilot, has been on a two year hiatus while building his new plane, a Lanceair. He got his kart out, MSR/WestRacingHondaRS, and brought it to Mid-Ohio and showed he's still a pretty good kart 'pilote' too!
Soh started last in Saturday's race and finished in P2 behind Reggie Brown, Jr. (don't have the rest of the results yet)
On Sunday, starting outside pole, Soh advanced to P1 after a back and forth battle with Reggie Brown and Derek Eastty and went on to win the race. Johnny West, I think, finished second with Derek Eastty in third. (these may be reversed, don't have final results yet)
Nice comeback Mike!
UPDATE--
Saturday final results:
F/E 1. Reggie Brown, 2. Mike Soh, 3. Pat Yoshikane, 4. Frank Widmoser, 5. Chris Taylor, 6. Jerry Echols
IC/E 1. Jim Ingram, 2. Jason Slahor, 3. Scott Fiesler, 4. Scott Lowenstine, 5. Jon Anderson
Sunday final results:
F/E 1. Mike Soh, 2. Derek Eastty, 3. Johnny West, 4. Frank Widmoser, 5. Pat Yoshikane
6. Jerry Echols (fast lap, Mike Soh, 1:27.208)
IC/E 1. Andy Kiker, 2. Jason Slahor, 3. Scott Lowenstine, 4. Michael McAlister, 5. Jim Ingram (fast lap, Andy Kiker, 1:27.342)
Also, someone had a shunt. Don't know who or have any details but apparently there were no injuries which is good. The 'battle' for the lead on Sunday wasn't so much a battle...it was between Brown and Soh but Eastty apparently had the field covered, set a Mid-Ohio track record for 250s (1:26:06), but had a powervalve problem, was backpedaling, and Soh was able to make a pass at the end of the race to take the win. Six karts were running 27s.

Payart Tops EC Round 2 at Most
UPDATE #2--J.R. got bumped in Race 1 in the first corner and lost the battery lead. Sunday it was a fouled plug that put him out. Peter Kruse was docked one minute for rough driving. Olaf Dau was DQd because his tranny was not up to CIK specs. Michael Sadurski, the fourth driver running a BRC, was leading when his rear motor mount broke. Payart goes into Assen with an 11 point lead over Graham Barker.
UPDATE--I wrote the report below from results I got from Sam Zaviglia because I was having trouble with the CIK-FIA site. Well, the results have changed. For some reason, still unknown, Olaf Dau has been totally elimintated from the results and Peter Kruse was given a one minute penalty; Sam thinks for maybe jumping the start but not sure. That moved John Riley into P3. Martin Knauder (Germany) and Carl Hulme (Great Britain) rounded out the top five.
Also, it appears that J.R. did start the race but did not complete a lap.

Great Britain's Graham Barker came home the race winner in Race 2 of the European Championship at Most in the Czech Republic but it was France's Damien Payart who was the big winner. Payart finished a strong second and with his P3 on Saturday, this consistency will certainly give the FPE driver a comfortable point lead over the rest of the field going into the final race at Assen in The Netherlands in August.
Riley Will and BRC Engineering had a great weekend with their first win by finishing 1-2 in Saturday's race and picking up P3 and P4 on Sunday with German drivers Olaf Dau and Peter Kruse having a good run. Great Britain's John Riley rounded out the top five.
USA driver J.R. Osborne was sadly a DNS on Sunday. Obviously, whatever happened in Saturday's race could not be fixed. Speculation is there may have been a first lap accident in that race which left the kart beyond repair. More news as it comes in.

J.R. Qualified 8th! - BRC Takes 1-2 in Race 1!
Germans Peter Kruse and Olaf Dau, both powered by BRC engines, finished 1-2 in Saturday's Race 1 of the European Championship at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic. France's Damien Payart rounded out the podium by picking up the third place postition.
America's J.R. Osborne, also running a BRC, started on the fourth row by qualifying in the 8th position in Saturday morning's qualifying session, moving him up eight spots from Friday's qualifying position of 16th.
Unfortunately, and I don't know what happened yet, he went out of the race on the first lap and finished in 41st.
Hopefully, whatever happened can be fixed and Sunday will be a better race for him, although he will definitely be starting from the back of the grid with a long way to go in 12 laps. With a P8 start on Saturday, at least they know he's there and a force to be reckoned with!
Other notables, such as current champion John Riley, Michael Sadurski and Graham Barker also went out of the race early.

Results: USSC-West at Reno-Fernley
I am sure event organizer Roger Miller would like to see the entries pick up, but the boys did get together May 13-14 at Reno-Fernley Raceway to do some racing. Roger's race report and point standings can be seen here.

EC Hockenheim Pics
UK photographer extroidinaire Robin Haworth sent me some pics of the first round of the EC race at Hockenheim. They can be seen here. (20 new pics added 5-16)

EC Tied Going to Round 2
The April 21-22 Round1 of the European Championship at Hockenheim will see Damien Payart, (France, PVP/FPE) and Graham Barker, (GB, Anderson/Rotax) each carrying 45 points into Round 2 at Most in the Czech Republic, June 11-12, as the two leaders swapped the top spots on the podium in both Race 1 and Race 2 of the weekend. Payart was the top qualifyer with Barker in the No. 2 position. Race 1 finished with Barker in P1 and Payart as the runner-up. Race 2 was just the reverse of this with Payart taking P1.
John Riley (GB, Anderson/Rotax), Gavin Bennett (GB, Anderson/Rotax), Per-Olov Ogeborn (Sweden, PVP/Rotax), and Olaf Dau (Germany, PVP/BRC) rounded out the top six point winners going to Round 2.

Osborne To Contend EC
J.R. Osborne will be taking the Stars and Stripes to Europe to compete in the final two rounds of the European Championship at Most in the Czech Republic June 10-11 and the final round at Assen in the Netherlands August 12-13. The BRC Engineering factory supported driver will be driving his Stockman chassis with BRC power. Manfred Wittenborn, builder of the Gas Gas 250, will be making some necessary changes to the engine and pipes to run the mandated unleaded fuel. J.R. doesn't plan on bringing the kart back until he wins an event! Good luck J.R.!

Zip Eagle III
Word has it that the Zip Eagle III is under development. More news as it progresses.

The Big 60!
It's hard to believe it was 30 years ago when I was reading about him in Kart and Superkart and he was 30. Birthday wishes go out to Zip's Martin "Mr. Superkart" Hines who celebrates his 60th birthday April 22nd.

USSC-West Thunderhill Results
Ryan Kurpiewski and Trevor Johnson were atop the podium in the F/E, IC/E classes at last weekend's USSC-West opener at Thunderhill Raceway. Roger Miller's complete recap of the racing action can be seen here.

USSC Announces Changes
Series organizer J.R. Osborne announced the following changes within the USSC Eastern Series were agreed upon by members during the weekend of the Barber race:
1) Race Length - has been returned to the 30-minute format. Due to inconsistencies of the timing/flagmen, we divided 30 minutes by an average lap time to get a specific number of laps. It worked just fine and it allowed us to get a white flag before the checkered.
2) Round #3 - has been moved from Topeka, KS back to Barber Motorsports Park (this is the same weekend)
3) $300 Entry - there were some questions of the need for the USSC entry fee. The fee goes to pay for all the trophies, website, champagne, Superkart Illustrated coverage, etc. Without the money, we will not have any of the perks that make our series special.

Barber Round Two Results
Sunday's USSC-East round two results were: F/E, J.R. Osborne, Reggie Brown, Frank Widmoser, Johnny West, Jerry Echols. I/CE, Andy Kiker, James Ingram, Tim Richardson, Jason Slahor, Rob Morris. Read David Cole's full race report here.

Barber Round One Results
Saturday's USSC-East round one results were: F/E, J.R. Osborne, Reggie Brown, Frank Widmoser, Jerry Echols, Johnny West. I/CE, Andy Kiker, James Ingram, Tim Richardson, Jason Slahor, Michael McAlister. Read David Cole's full race report here.

USSC-East Friday Qualifying at Barber
The first weekend of USSC-East competition got under way Friday at Barber Motorsports Park which included qualifying for Saturday's race. The top three in each class were: F/E, J.R. Osborne, Johnny West, Frank Widmoser; I/CE, Andy Kiker, James Ingram, Tim Richardson. Dennis Latham of photobama.com has some pics from Friday here.

Events Added to USSC-West Schedule
Roger Miller, USSC-West coordinator, has announced the two additional events for their 2006 schedule that will allow for a four race series with one drop. The third race added to the schedule will a points race during the USSC National Championship race at Miller Motorsports Park August 18,19,20. The fourth race will be a points race for USSC-West competitors during the Superstars of Superkarts event at Laguna Seca the weekend of October 20,21,22.
(Of utmost importance, Laguna entries are limited. USSC-West drivers should get their entry form and money in ASAP in order to compete for the points championship during this event. Entry form and details can be found here. Roger's e-mail with all the event details and memembership requirements can be found here.)

PVP Gets CIK Approval
Poul Petersen's new engine will be legal for competition in the 2006 European Championship, and elsewhere, as it recently passed the CIK's engine homologation program. A translated report from Eric Severe and a couple of pics can be seen here.

2006 Laguna Seca Scheduled
The Southern California Karters will be the host club for the 2006 running of the Superstars of Superkarts event at Laguna Seca in conjunction with the American LeMans Series the weekend of October 20,21,22. Entry forms for the event can be found here.

U.S. Kelgate Importer
R3 Racing has named West Racing as the U.S. importer and dealer for the line of Kelgate brake products. Contact Johnny West at 847.208.7077 or WestRacing@aol.com

New Sim Video
One of the guys working on the 250Superkart sim put together a new video showing what the racing is like and it is really cool. They were having trouble syncing the audio so no engine sounds yet. Hopefully, the next one will. It can be seen here. (if you haven't read the sim article, see it below)
Here's another video from Laguna Seca with engine sounds.

New Videos Added
See link in the navbar

Barber Entry Form
The USSC-East will be racing at Barber Motorsports Park on the weekend of March 31, April 1,2. J.R. Osborne has announced that the entry form for the event can be found here. This is a WKA event. You must be a member of WKA and have a valid license to run this event. (you used to be able to sign up for a 'one race membership' at the track for a reduced rate and not have to receive 12 months of a magazine that you threw in the trash.....that may or not apply.....there was no mention about this.....if this is not the case, you will have to apply to the WKA, prove your experience in the class, and be approved, which can take some time......so get your WKA application in ASAP!)(or contact J.R or Robby Harper for verification about this)
Eastern competitors will need to send their membership fee to J.R. or bring it to the track.

250 Superkart Sim
My article on this is here. It's worth checking out!

New Mid-Ohio Configuration
A couple of pics of the new configuration at Mid-Ohio can be seen here.

New Chassis from Sweden
Bo Scherman of Sweden is constructing a new 250 Superkart chassis. Pics that are available so far can be seen here.

USSC West Series Schedule
Roger Miller, USSC West coordinator, has announced a partial schedule with the last two races to be finalized in the near future. The first race will take place at Thunderhill Raceway on April 14 and 15 and race number two will be at Reno-Fernley Raceway on May 12 and 13. All competitors, both East and West should see the USSC web site for recent rule changes and entry forms.

USSC Eastern Series Schedule Finalized
J.R. Osborne