Making a very strong appearance at the 2017 Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) SuperNationals, Kart Republic USA recently completed the opening round of the new SKUSA Winter Series with impressive results. Entering five talented drivers across two racing divisions, the up and coming brand stood atop the podium in the talent-laden X30 Senior division to kick off their 2018 campaign. Kart Republic is also pleased to announce that Performance Kartsport as the importer for the growing product line.
“Kart Republic is proud to announce a partnership with Performance Kartsport as an importer for our product,” explained Dino Chiesa. “We have a longstanding relationship with Gordon and Carri, prior to the launch of our new Kart Republic chassis, and we are very happy to have Performance Kartsport as a partner moving forward.”
“We are extremely honored and humbled by being chosen as an importer for the Kart Republic line,” explained Performance Kartsport’s Gordon Dauphinais. “We have a been working with Dino for many years and are looking forward to the new challenges of introducing the new product line to the USA.”
On track at the SKUSA Winter Series, Italian pilot Lorenzo Travisanutto was one of the top contenders throughout the weekend at the AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex in Homestead, Florida as he quickly put the Kart Republic brand to the top of the time charts in Saturday morning’s qualifying session. Taking the X30 Senior pole position, Travisanutto went on to claim the prefinal victory before finishing just outside the top-five in the day’s main event. Scoring the fastest lap of the session, Travisanutto would return Sunday with a vengeance.
Disappointed with a sixth place result the previous day, the talented Kart Republic driver stole the show on Sunday. Leading every official lap of every on track session, Travisanutto claimed the pole position, prefinal win and main event victory all while scoring the fastest lap in all sessions. Putting a stamp of authority on the day, Travisanutto and Kart Republic dominated the weekend and are the championship point leaders after the first two rounds of competition.
Kart Republic and Performance Kartsport would also enter Ugo Gazil, Nicholas d’Orlando and Filip Niemkewicz in the X30 Senior category while Leonardo Fornaroli would try his hand in the strong X30 Junior ranks. With racing luck not on their side, the speed of the Kart Republic brand was apparent throughout the event weekend.
Saturday’s X30 Senior carnage would see American driver Nicholas d’Orlando end up on his head with an injured shoulder but he would return on Sunday and flight through the pain for a solid seventh place finish. Ugo Gazil claimed a pair of top-twenty results in the weekend’s main events and ran well inside the top-ten with a seventh place result in Sunday’s prefinal. Leonardo Fornaroli was the Saturday hard charger in the X30 Junior prefinal gaining fifteen positions and would end his weekend with a 23rd place result on Saturday and a 13th place finish on Sunday.
This was not the first event in the United States for Kart Republic as the brand had a very strong showing at the SKUSA SuperNationals this past November. Danny Keirle and Lorenzo Travisanutto would steal the show in one of the biggest and most competitive classes of the weekend as the duo claimed the top-two positions in X30 Senior qualifying. Travisanutto would get the best of the field in the heat races by claiming all three heat race victories by more than two seconds per race, as well as went on to claim the fastest lap in two of the three wheel-to-wheel sessions. Keirle would make it a 1-2 Kart Republic finish in heat race two, but a disappointing DNF from contact in heat three would see him start the main event from 26th while teammate Travisanutto would be on the pole position.
Travisanutto would be the man to beat in the main event as he jumped to the lead on the opening lap and never looked back. Scoring the fastest lap of the final and claiming the checkers by a 2.7 second gap, it was deemed that the talented European jumped the start in a controversial call and was given a three position penalty. When the dust had finally settled and results were made official, Travisanutto would end the weekend with a fourth place finish. Danny Keirle would gain fifteen positions to end his weekend in 11th while Nicholas d’Orlando would be forced to go through the Last Chance Qualifier to make the main event, but would show steady improvement to close his weekend in 24th.
Kart Republic would also like to make honorable mentions to Mikko Laine in X30 Masters, Yohan Souza in KZ and Filip Niemkewicz in X30 Junior for a strong showing and awesome product representation in the biggest karting event that North America has to offer.
Kart Republic USA will be back on track this coming weekend at the opening round of the 2018 Challenge of the Americas. Taking place at the PKRA facility in Phoenix, Arizona, Kart Republic USA and Performance Kartsport will enter the event with goal to continue to build the brand in the United States by achieving the best results possible.
For more information on Performance Kartsport, the Kart Republic USA Race Team, 2018 race team and dealership opportunities or the Kart Republic product line, please contact Gordon Dauphinais at 303.601.3718. For more information via e-mail, please contact Performance Kartsport at Gord@PerformanceKartsport.com. Performance Kartsport can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PerformanceKartsport or visit their website at www.PerformanceKartsport.com.
Photos: Performance Kartsport