Kiwis Do It Tough In America
| press release | 26 July 2016 |
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Kiwi karters Daniel Bray and Joshua Bethune did it tough at the latest double-header round of this year's SuperKarts USA Pro Tour at New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana over the weekend.
Auckland-based international Bray, who this year is driving for the Guadalajara, Mexico-based VCI/GP Karts team, failed to finish the Final on the first day and had to fight his way back up to fourth place in the Final on the second.
Above: Joshua Bethune competing in Indiana on the weekend
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Fast Company/Todd McCall
Young Dunedin driver Bethune also failed to finish his class (X30 Junior) Final on the first day and finished 27th in the Final on the second.
It was a far cry from the opening double header round of the Pro Tour in Arizona in April where Bray won the second day of competition.
In Indiana he found himself behind the eight ball even before the start when his team's transporter was delayed at the Mexico/USA border.
That saw the Kiwi and his fellow team members forced to borrow karts from the local (US) GP Karts importer and hire engines from US engine builders.
The 28-year-old still claimed pole position for the Saturday round and won the first S1 class heat. But that was as good as his weekend got, as a tyre delaminated in the second heat, sending him limping back through the field to cross the finish line in ninth place.
Contact from another kart then saw Bray crash out of the Main Event (Final) as he was working his way back up through the field.
Sunday was better, though Bray says he lacked the ultimate speed of dual round winner AJ Meyers and runner-up Danny Formal.
That was born out where he qualified, sixth, and finished the two heats (sixth and fifth respectively) and the Main Event (fourth) on Sunday.
"It was a trying weekend, that's for sure," Bray said from the track on Sunday evening. "It started well enough but when the tyre delaminated I was like, 'what else can go wrong?' Then on Sunday the front three were killer fast and I had to drive my butt off just to get to fourth."
Above: Daniel Bray at the second double-header round of the 2016 SKUSA Pro Tour series
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Fast Company/Todd McCall
Joshua Bethune, the 2015 South Island Rotax Max Junior class champion, qualified 36th on Saturday and 34th on Sunday. Driving an FA Kart for the Kartsport North America squad he worked his way forward in both Saturday heats (to 27th and 29th respectively) but failed to finish the Saturday Final.
On Sunday he finished an event-high 25th in the first heat, had a dnf in the second, but came back to cross the finish line in 27th place in the Final.
The SummerNationals meeting at New Castle Motorsports Park (east of Indianapolis) attracted over 240 entries across nine classes. The double-header round was the second of three on the SKUSA calendar this year with the third and final the 20th annual SuperNationals meeting in Las Vegas between November 16 and 20.
2016 Superkarts USA Pro Tour
CALENDAR
Rnds 1 & 2 April 29-May 01 SpringNationals Glendale Arizona
Rnds 3 & 4 July 22-24 SummerNationals New Castle Motorsports Park New Castle Indiana
Rnds 5 & 6 Nov 16-20 SuperNationals Las Vegas Convention Centre Las Vegas Nevada
