Brandon Lemke leads both the Leopard and Yamaha Junior championships heading to Shawano (Photo: Kathy Churchill - Energy Racing)

The third season of the United States Pro Kart Series is set to enter the second stage of the championship chase, traveling up north to Shawano, Wisconsin for the third and fourth round of 2015. The US Air Motorsports Raceway is site of the June 19-21 event, presented by Praga North America. A record number of entries opened up the season at the GoPro Motorplex in North Carolina, with a large number of driver looking to make their first trek to the rolling hills of northern Wisconsin.

The multi-configuration facility is among the most technical circuits in North America. It features a number of elevation changes, off-camber and undulating corners, and very fast downhill sections. Originally named ‘USA International Raceway’, the course was built in 2004 off the design by former WKA officer Kenny Venberg. The course layout for the United States Pro Kart Series weekend measures at 1.1 miles, with 16 distinct corners that drivers must negotiate.

eKartingNews.com is scheduled to be in Shawano all weekend long, providing the EKN Trackside Live broadcast. Family, friends and race fans can tune into ekartingnews.com/live all weekend to hear live audio from trackside, along with viewing live timing courtesy of Race-Monitor.com. Daily race reports will be published daily on the site’s home page, updates posted to the Official Discussion Thread, along with breaking news, photos and other links on the EKN Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

With the series championship in the three TaG divisions and four Yamaha categories counting every round and every session, each time drivers hit the track is very crucial to the eight race, no-drop championship chase. The first of our three part preview for the event looked at the title chase contenders in the younger categories on Tuesday. Junior divisions are in the spotlight today with the Pro classes on Thursday.

Lemke notched a perfect score in Leopard Junior at GoPro Motorplex (Photo: EKN)

GT7 Motorsports Leopard Junior

Leaving Mooresville and entering the Shawano event, Brandon Lemke holds a perfect score in the Leopard Junior championship chase. The Franklin Motorsports / Merlin driver was classified first in all sessions at the GoPro Motorplex to secure a 125-point advantage in the point standings going to the second event of the season. Lemke has shined throughout 2015, and last weekend at the US Air Motorsports Raceway the 15-year-old notched two more wins racing in the Senior categories during the Route 66 Sprint Series event.

The lead challenger is defending champion David Malukas (Top Kart). Malukas fell back to fourth in the Saturday Final in the wet, but stayed with Lemke the entire distance on Sunday to place runner-up. His Top Kart teammate Zach Holden is third in the standings after two top-five performances. Canadian Roman DeAngelis (Tony Kart) landed the runner-up spot on Saturday, and placed fifth Sunday to sit fourth in the standings, but recently cancelled his plans to attend Shawano. That moves Lance Fenderson (Tony Kart) up the challenger list after posting a best third-place result Sunday.

Experienced drivers are expected to stand out and battle for the wins on the weekend. Junior rookies Michael d’Orlando (Tony Kart) and last year’s double Cadet champion Dylan Tavella are among the drivers forecasted to challenge on the weekend along with CompKart drivers Braden Eves and David Ilavia. Merlin has the home track advantage, with Gio Bromante and Austin Schaff coming off Leopard Junior victories at the Route 66 Sprint Series event last weekend.

Provisional Leopard Junior Entry List

Gio Bromante is looking to build on his first Junior win (Photo: EKN)

Woltjer Engines Yamaha Junior

Merlin swept the feature races at the opening rounds of the USPKS in Mooresville with drivers Brandon Lemke and Gio Bromante, but neither of the wins came easy. Lemke’s win came Saturday after the checkered flag. He and David Malukas (Top Kart) fought hard in the final, with contact sending Lemke off course. Able to continue, he finished second and officials moved Malukas behind to give Lemke the victory. Malukas came back the following day as the fastest in qualifying, only to Lance Fenderson take the two heat race wins. Malukas suffered in the final heat from contact, but drove his way back up to the front and fought Lemke for the victory. The two made contact in the tight final hairpin, allowing Bromante the chance to slide through for his first victory in his Junior debut weekend.

When the dust settled, Lemke left North Carolina with a 40 point advantage over Malukas, who scored the most points in the opening round on Saturday. Bromante enters this weekend third in the standings ahead of fellow Junior rookies Fenderson and John Paul Southern (Top Kart). Two-time defending champion Zach Holden (Top Kart) had possible his worst weekend in the last two years in Yamaha, and is looking to climb up the order from the sixth position. Merlin driver Ben Varner was among the top drivers during the Route 66 Sprint Series event last weekend, and is among the others looking to improve on their results from the opening USPKS weekend.

Provisional Yamaha Junior Entry List

Share on Facebook

Tweet