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| November 15, 2011 News |
| EKN Exclusive: SKUSA SuperNationals XV Preview Series - The Event |
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If you’re a fan of karting, a relative of a driver, or just a motorsports enthusiast, there is no getting past this week without hearing the mention of the Superkarts! SuperNationals XV. The 15th edition of the organization’s season finale will take place on November 16-20 outside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in the venue’s large parking lot that overlooks the Las Vegas Strip. Exceeding last year’s entries, the 2011 event will see a record number of drivers take part as over 500 pilots have entered in 11 categories.
In addition to a record number of drivers competing, the prize purse for the 2011 event will eclipse the $120,000 mark (http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=19414), nearly doubling the amount that was awarded one year ago. The ‘Pro’ categories - S1, KZ2, and TaG Senior - will take up a bulk of that amount. A total of $20,000 will be dished out to the KZ2 class with $10,000 going to the winner. Up to $19,000 in cash and prizes will be handed to drivers in the S1 division, with nearly $22,000 up for grabs in money, prizes and contingency awards. Each category will see cash, prizes or special awards dolled out during the post-race ceremonies Sunday evening.
To have a chance at taking home anything, let alone a victory, drivers will have to master a new course (http://www.superkartsusa.com/national/skusa-supernationals/track-and-venue-info.html). Since returning to the Rio in 2008, the course has seen a similar construction with some minor variation in each of the following two years. For 2011, the course is a near re-design, set at 0.7 miles, with the exception of the long straight at the west-end of the course. This year’s layout has 10 turns and utilizes more real estate of the parking lot. The general consensus is that the track will not be as quick as previous years, putting more emphasis on a full combination to score the victory - driver, chassis and engine.
The schedule is five days long, full of action from sun up and beyond sun down (http://www.superkartsusa.com/national/skusa-supernationals/event-format-and-schedule.html). The 11 classes will be split into two groups, five in the morning and six in the afternoon. Practice will take place Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm. Each group will receive four seven-minute sessions each day to come to grips with the track. Qualifying and the first round of Heat races will take place Friday. The second and third rounds of Heats, in addition to the Last Chance Qualifiers for S2, S4, TaG Senior, TaG Junior and TaG Cadet, fill out the schedule for a busy Saturday. This sets things up the main event grids for the 11 classes on SuperSunday, with opening ceremonies beginning at 9:30 am and races to follow. Below is the split for the categories with Group 1 running the morning sessions and Group 2 in the afternoon sessions.
 | | 2011 SKUSA SuperNationals Track Layout |
Group 1:
TaG Junior, KF2, S2, TaG Cadet, KZ2
Group 2:
S4, TaG Senior, S5, G1, TaG Master, S1
For the third straight year, eKartingNews.com will be providing live audio broadcasts of the action from the SKUSA SuperNationals. The program will begin on Friday with qualifying, and from there, EKN will be live for nearly 24 hours over two days as the categories work through the three rounds of heat races and Last Chance Qualifiers to set the grid for the final day of competition. The three-day broadcast continues on SuperSunday with the opening ceremonies and into the 11 main events to crown this year’s SuperNationals champions. EKN’s Rob Howden will be joined by Colorado’s Tony LaPorta for the race call this year.
In addition to the live audio, website viewers can watch the live timing feed, provided by Superkarts! USA and Race-Monitor.com. All can be viewed, including the Official Discussion Thread in the EKN Forums, at http://www.ekartingnews.com/live . An added bonus for 2011, EKN will provide live video/audio feed of the podium celebrations inside the Rio following the last main event, once the official results are confirmed.
Those unable to sit in front of the computer all three days will now be able to listen in via their mobile devices. The following link (http://mobile.livestream.com/ekartingnewslive) will give karting fans a chance to listen in on the live broadcast and view a portion of the live timing, all at the same time. Also, be sure to follow the EKN Twitter page and EKN Facebook page for result updates and other breaking news as it happens. |
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