Aussies On Vegas Podium
A general race report is on ekartingnews HERE
David Sera and Kip Foster both finished their finals on the podium at the 14th annual Las Vegas Supernats overnight. Sera almost won the Senior TaG feature and Foster dominated the TaG Masters final.
Sera's charge in the 25-lap final was remarkable, especially considering the confines of the barrier-lined circuit. The Victorian was forced to start from 29th in the 40-kart grid for the main event due to a retaining clamp coming off his airbox in the opening heat resulting in a disqualification.
With a handful of laps remaining Sera had found his way past former Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon and onto the back of the leading pack. As the leader came onto the main straight for the final time Sera pulled out of the slipstream only to be blocked by the leader causing the pair to collide.
As a result of the impact, Sera crossed the line 0.001 seconds behind the race winner - the closest finish in SuperNationals history. ekartingnews said Sera's drive in the final "will surely go down in history as one of the best drives at the event".
“If you told me last night that I was going to finish second I would have been happy with that, but to come so close it a bit disappointing,” Sera told karting.net.au.
“By mid race I was thinking that a top five was a realistic goal and then I kept catching the leaders and it made me determined to chase them down to take the win.
“When we came onto the main straight for the final time, the leader went left so I went right – then he came across on me and we came together and crossed the line on top of each other.
“It was real Days of Thunder style.”
West Australian Foster also put in a blinding final, leading from the start to take a commanding win in the TaG Masters class (drivers aged over 30 years old using 125cc engines).
Unfortunately for Kip he was later excluded due to a technical infringement on an engine supplied to him at the event by his team (it was not one of his own KartForce motors).
For the first time Australia had two representatives in the main event with CIK Stars of Karting Champion Matthew Wall and runner-up Kel Treseder lining up alongside the likes of World Karting Champions Marco Ardigo and Alessandro Piccini, IndyCar driver Raphael Matos and recently crowned World Series Karting Masters Series Champion, female hot shot Biestke Visser.
Wall encountered a couple of issues during his heat races while Treseder had a trouble free run to see the pair line up on 29th and 11th respectively for the 25-lap main event.
The pair held their own against the world’s best during their debut in the prestigious event before Treseder claimed 14th spot and Wall 20th – a very creditable effort in what is undoubtedly the toughest category in world karting.
“This weekend has been a real eye-opener, it has just been an amazing experience,” Tresder told karting.net.au.
“It has undoubtedly been the highlight of my career so far, to line up alongside the factory drivers from Europe, all of whom are professional karting racers, is something most karters can only dream of.
“I had to pinch myself a few times over the weekend to make sure it was real and then to finish inside the top half of the field is something that I’m very proud of.”
Like Treseder, Wall was honoured to be competing at the event.
“To be here is a real honour and I’d like to thank the Australian Karting Association, F1 Management, Schimick Racing and the J3 Motorsport team for the opportunity,” said Wall.
“The racing here has been amazing, while the results are a bit further down than what we are used to when you look at the quality of the field it is a good result.”
In the junior ranks at the American event Joseph Mawson was the best of the Australian finishers in fifth spot. The current Australian champion led on several occasions during the final, only to have a misfire hamper his performance late in the race.
Victorian Adrian Lazzaro showed impressive speed during his overseas debut, only to be crashed out after charging his way forward during the final.
