Two wins and four podiums to kick off 2020 SKUSA Pro Tour for Supertune
Burke wins while Rubi-Luengo podiums.
John Burke led the way for Supertune during the opening rounds of the Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) Pro Tour claiming two wins, three podiums and four top-five results this past weekend at New Castle Motorsports Park. With the first three rounds of the national series in the books, Supertune will return to the same facility, but different layout, this coming weekend to finalize the 2020 Pro Tour.
"It has been a crazy year but the SKUSA staff did what they could to get all six rounds in during back-to-back weekends," explained Ben Cruttenden. "It is not the ideal situation, but their efforts have allowed us to race. While the wins and podiums highlight our team's results, the consistency across all drivers to claim thirteen top-ten results is a great accomplishment."
With the three Supertune Junior drivers competing in a pair of classes each, John Burke led the way in KA100 Junior. Claiming Friday and Sunday's main event victories, he book-ended the weekend with wins while finishing third on Saturday. Mateo Rubio-Luengo added three of the thirteen top-ten results from his KA performances finishing sixth, eighth and fourth to have three strong results. Not to be outdone, Texan Noah Baker finished fifth on Friday and improved one position on Saturday to finish fourth before running into trouble Sunday and eventually was classified in the 13th position.
Rubio-Luengo scored the Indianapolis based team's best result in the X30 Junior class as he avoided the last lap melee in Sunday's main event to put Supertune and Tony Kart on the second step of the podium. Rebounding from his 28th place finish the day before, Rubio-Luengo had a big improvement from his 14th place result on Friday in the field of more than forty. Burke scored another trio of top-ten finishes coming home ninth, fifth and ninth over the three-race weekend while Baker had a top-ten finish on Saturday with a ninth-place effort after finishing 13th and 15th on Friday and Sunday.
Fernando Luque was back behind the wheel of a Supertune prepped Tony Kart as he continued to gain experience in the ultra-competitive Mini Swift category. Remaining consistent throughout the weekend, Luque logged laps learning with each time on track.
With only a few days off, Supertune drivers will hit the track again Thursday for official practice before three full race days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Stay tuned to the Supertune social media pages for news, photos, results and information from the event.
Cruttenden added, "Our Junior program is continuing to run strong, and we are working hard on finding the perfect Mini driver that will fit well with the team. We have a few highlight races that we are aiming to win in 2020 and will work hard to ensure that we are there."
For more information on Supertune, race team opportunities in 2020, OTK product sales, or engine and dyno services, please contact Ben Cruttenden at 317.900.3141 or via email to [email protected].
