I watched most of the weekend. Stand-out for me was the drive from Mossman in KA Senior to take the title. He was on it. Smart, efficient, and brutally fast.
Also loved watching Turney work. Norberg was almost as quick but Turney makes it look so effortless and you could tell Ryan was driving his heart out to keep up. He noted in multiple interviews as well, how you CANNOT let Turney get away. Even just one lap of battling to give him a 0.5-1.0 lead and that’s enough.
I don’t know man. KZ feels so tedious to watch for me, at least events like this. The field spread is too big, defending looks too easy, and there just seems to be drama after every event… At least at SuperNats, there are incredible names out there to watch, lots more karts, factory efforts. And still Matheus drives over a curb and a kart for the lead there That’s not to take away from the talent of the KZ guys, I just don’t find the racing as entertaining as the single-speed classes.
I’m pretty excited to see what the future brings for US karting. Getting drivers like Morgatto, Turney, and several other of the top level Europeans here to driver not just SuperNats but the series is a big deal and seems like it should raise everyone’s level.
See your point about KZ, but it’s still a lot fun to watch for me, though sometimes I do wish there was a ladder system of expected progression from top single speed drivers to shifter (I get the reasons why, which mostly come down to money). More than in many motorsports, in karting it’s hard to know for sure which class is displaying the top driving talent on any given weekend.
Yeah totally. Over the past 4-5 years we’ve seen this happening at national races. Lots more Europeans coming over and raising the game for everyone. Always fun to see our US drivers stacking up well to the Europeans who were considered superior drivers for so long.
It was reported his ribs were hurting him pretty bad and he didn’t want to aggravate the injury any further so he sat out to rest up for the big season ahead.
I am going to try this again…last night didn’t work so well. Video clip is something my son put together from the weekend for a TikTok I think. Its short, but highlights the very low visibility conditions from Heat 2 and 3.
Haha, that’s a young mens’ endeavor right there. I used to ride and race (two wheel) in those kind of conditions, but I’m well past all of that now. (don’t mind the surface being wet, but as far as hard and active precipitation goes, I’ll pass thanks!)
But for sure, racing in those conditions is a great training ground - builds grit and character, and if a driver can keep their head and focus together through those kind of conditions, anything less will feel easy.
Such tough driving conditions. It’s honestly terrifying when you pull into the tram lines and the green flies and you simply cannot see anything, but you need to keep the foot to the floor or you get run over.
The deep puddles were nuts too. Nothing you can do when you drive through those and hydroplane. In a short wheelbase kart, that’s basically an instant spin. I’ve driven in some torrential rain like this before and while it can be fun when you can see, it’s scary when you are mired in the pack.
You can definitely hear the difference in how the engine is running between the two videos. Were atmospheric conditions catch you off guard, or just didn’t pick the right carb setup?
Carb setup was off. The settings needed for early morning practice are different from afternoon. To get the most from these engines you need to get it exactly right. There are many racers that tune better than me!
Some hot laps from OKC today. Working on late braking, and getting back to the throttle as early as I can without losing the rear. Track has some rubber left from all the recent pro races, the lap times were pretty quick for well used tires.
For Dom. Norberg in an electric kart on indoor track. Lots of squeaking and squealing. He frequently had to work pretty hard to pass the normies given lack of skill-differentiating power and the narrow track.
I saw this and was greatly pleased as I have been there!
I have not had the time to really watch it carefully. Also, I’m assuming he’s having a laff and isn’t being sweaty, so probs not much to take away from it, in terms of learnings. However, I am curious as to how he approached the slippery bottom section (if it’s still glass).
Poor Ryan, so many yellow flags. . I wonder if any of the patrons were aware that they were on track with a 7 time National champ?
I’m guessing not in a lot of cases, and even if they were aware I’m guessing they might get some misplaced confidence about their own performance relative to him. The equipment and the track lend themselves to keep things relatively close together no matter the skill level to a large degree, at least compared to what would happen if you put everyone in an X30 and made the track 1.5x’s wider (which would certainly be worth some LOL’s, but some decent injuries). All in all, looks like a fun track and good momentum/creative-passing training.
That’s not to take away from the talent of the KZ guys, I just don’t find the racing as entertaining as the single-speed classes.
. I wonder if any of the patrons were aware that they were on track with a 7 time National champ?