NEWS
OTK PRODUCTS CLAIMS 10 VICTORIES AT USPKS HEARTLAND GRAND PRIX
A phenomenal weekend of racing took place for the second stop of the 2021 United States Pro Kart Series program with several OTK USA competitors and teams in contention all weekend at the New Castle Motorsports Park. Rounds Three and Four of this year's championship series were contested at the New Castle, Indiana facility, completing the Heartland Grand Prix weekend. A large majority of the 270 entries in the seven categories competing were on OTK product, securing a total of 43 top-five results, 29 podium finishes and 10 victories.
OTK chassis brands doubled up in four of the categories on the weekend. Ryan Norberg (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) and Connor Zilisch (Team Nitro Kart / Redspeed) took the top step of the podium each day in the X30 Pro headline division. Norberg held off Hannah Greenemeier (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) and Zilisch on Saturday while on Sunday, it was Zilisch with the victory over Norberg and Greenemeier. Pauly Massimino (Mike Doty Racing / Kosmic) recorded a fourth-place finish in both main events. Norberg took home the weekend prize of $5,000 with Zilisch a $2,500 payday and $1,250 to Greenemeier with OTK sweeping the money podium.
JC Karting's Sebastian Wheldon landed on top of the KA100 Junior podium in Round Three (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
The KA100 Junior class was a complete sweep of the top-five on the weekend. Saturday was led by Sebastian Wheldon (JC Karting / Kosmic), earning his first series victory. Jack Jeffers (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed) and Helio Meza (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart) joined him on the podium. Cooper Shipman (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart) and Noah Baker (Supertune USA / Tony Kart) completed the top-five. On Sunday, Chase Hand (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) stood out among the 43-driver field to also earn his first series victory. Baker improved to second with Wheldon finishing third. Jeremy Fletcher (Felon / EOS) was fourth while Parker DeLong (Ryan Perry Motorsport / Tony Kart) ended up fifth.
Two different drivers on OTK chassis won in the X30 Masters division. Scott Roberts (Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed) escaped a wild finish to record his first victory of the 2021 season. Mario Barrios (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) was second with Derek Wang (Crosslink Competition / Exprit) in third for his series debut. Miguel Mier (Crosslink Competition / Exprit) completed the top-five on Saturday. Renato Jader David (Orsolon Racing / Tony Kart) became the fourth different winner on the season as he managed to secure a last lap victory on Sunday. Barrios was runner-up once again as was Wang in third. Mier added a second fifth-place finish to close out the weekend.
Rolison Performance Group driver Augustus Toniolo dominated the weekend in the Micro Swift with a complete sweep of the two rounds (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
Augustus Toniolo (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) put in a dominant performance on the weekend, securing a weekend sweep of the Micro Swift division. Toniolo never relinquished the top spot through the qualifying, Prefinal and Final sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. The two main event victories were his first in the series, establishing him as the championship leader at the halfway point.
Another driver earned his first USPKS victory on OTK product on the weekend Ayden Ingratta. A wild last lap saw Ingratta go from seventh to third in the final corner, with penalties moving him up to the top step of the podium. Speed Concepts Racing / Redspeed teammate Jack Jeffers ended up third with Jeremy Fletcher (Felon / Tony Kart) in fourth. Hard charger of the main event on Sunday went to Rowan Gill (Mike Doty Racing / Kosmic), who advanced 17 spots from 20th to third, finishing as the highest OTK driver. Jeffers fought back to fourth after falling back early while Christian Miles (Mike Doty Racing / Kosmic) competed the top-five.
Ayden Ingratta of Speed Concepts Racing came away with his first USPKS victory in X30 Junior (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
Completing the winning drivers on the weekend is Connor Zilisch (Team Nitro Kart / Tony Kart) in the KA100 Senior category. Zilisch was able to out-run the 60-driver field in Saturday's main event for a second win on the season. Hayden Jones (Team Nitro Kart / Redspeed) joined him on the podium in third with Nolan Allison (Rolison Performance Group / Kosmic) completing the top-five. Three drivers drove to top-five results on Sunday with Zilisch placing runner-up in the main event. Thomas Annunziata (Mike Doty Racing / Tony Kart) grabbed his first podium of the season in third with Allison improving to fourth.
Rounding out the success of OTK at New Castle for the USPKS event is two drivers in the Mini Swift class. Oliver Wheldon (JC Karting / Kosmic) was in contention all weekend long, placing runner-up on Saturday and followed it up with a fifth place on Sunday. Jack Iliffe (Iron Rock Motorsports / Tony Kart) the 2020 USPKS Micro Swift champion earned his first podium in his rookie Mini season, ending up third in Round Four at New Castle.
Orsolon Racing's Renato Jader David added to his CV with his first USPKS victory in X30 Masters (Photo: eKartingNews.com)
The United States Pro Kart Series begins the second half of the 2021 program with a trip north to the CTECH Manufacturing Motorplex at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on July 9-11.
Drivers looking to compete with the most popular kart brand in the world or purchase OTK karts and components can contact their local OTK USA dealer. Head to www.otkusa.com for a complete list of dealers and details on the entire brand roster.
