A brilliant start by Jamaican representative Alex Powell , moving from 7th to 3rd within the first two corners was thwarted by a red flag before the end of the first lap in the Mini Swift Final of Superkarts! USA SuperNationals.
After waiting more then ten minutes in the Las Vegas sun, the race was restarted with a reset grid: all karters back to their original starting positions, moving Alex back to 7th.
Once again brilliant at the start, Alex repeated his dramatic move from 7th to 3rd within the first two corners, briefly forming a three kart train with the leaders. It became apparent that Alex’s kart couldn’t quite match the straight-line speed of his competitors and he dropped to 4th on the second lap, then to 5th on lap seven.
Adjusting his carburetor every chance he got on the front straight, Alex maintained 5th for the next ten laps while the four in front of him battled and swapped positions, sometimes over a second ahead. With a lap and a half left in the race Alex saw his chance and overtook two karts at once, moving into 3rd.
On the last lap, Alex briefly moved into 2nd but was forced wide when the leader bounced over a curb into his path. Forced to let off the gas, Alex dropped back to 3rd and maintained the position to the checkered flag.
“That was a tough race” said John Powell “Now on to the last round of the WSK Series next weekend.”
The JMMC congratulates Alex on a hard fought 3rd place finish.
Pictured: Top row: Alex in kart 117. On the podium with Brent Crews (1st) and Nikita johnson (2nd). With Simone his mechanic. Bottom row: Alex’s Energy Course team with two members of the SCR team. Alex with Beckham Toupikov who now lives in, and races for, Jamaica. Alex with Nick Panigada, owner of Energy Course Racing Kart and Nikita Johnson (2nd place).
