TITLE: BIREL ART MAINTAINS SPEED AT WINTER SERIES

LOCATION: Homestead, FL. USA

Date: January 17, 2018

The inaugural SKUSA Winter Series took place in Homestead, FL, just 40 miles south of Miami, where 220 drivers entered to escape the winter and race in the hot humid weather of the most Southern State in America. Birel ART North America, entered with a solid group of drivers, along side partnering teams ready to attack competition on the sub 50 second circuit.

Back to the roots of most kart racers, Briggs & Stratton's purpose built and very affordable LO206 drew a large grid of racers where Canadian's Alex Murphy and Mark Stehl would kick off the team spirit with a P2 and P3 respectively. On Sunday, Alex Murphy qualified P2 with Mark Stehl a close P6. Pre Finals would see Stehl move into P2 while Murphy would complete the session in P4. Finals were a different story, with heated emotions and tense conditions, Stehl and Murphy would DNF on a first corner crash.

X30 Junior, a class loaded with talent and desire to win where Nepveu qualified P6, Palomino P13 and Adrian Cruz P20, but would finish the day overall with Nepveu P4, Palomino P9 but ran in P3 until a technical issue and Cruz P14. Round 2 qualifying effort saw Nepveu (P4), Palomino (P5) and Cruz (P10). The pre-final would show strength Nepveu finish P6, Palomino P7 and Cruz P19. In the final, Nepveu would just finish shy of a podium with P4, while Palomino (DNF) and Cruz (P16) would both experience the unpredictable range of drivers in the Junior ranks, yet still put on a good performance. Also notable, Adrian Cruz would put this event down on his resume as his 2^nd national event ever against 42 of America's best drivers.

 Ryan Norberg, leading the Birel ART team as a driver coach, mechanic and brand ambassador for 2018, put down a P2/P3 in qualifying against a stacked factory supported Senior X30 field. Saturdays X-30 main saw Ryan leading the race until a redflag forced the drivers to restart. During the warmup, Ryan would pick up debris causing a flat/tire and an eventual retirement. After over coming adversity, Norberg struck back with another P2 in the pre-final, but backed it up with P3 in the main event. X30 Masters had Miguel Mier qualified (Sat P14 & Sun P7), but completely changed his mode of attack to take P5 Saturday and P5 Sunday in the main aboard his PSL prepped machine.

 "?an exciting weekend for all, I'm satisfied with the results from all our drivers, despite some on track incidents that were out of our control. I'd like to thank all our partners, drivers, mechanics and most importantly, the families who make this all possible." - Dominic Labrecque

 The team now heads North to West Palm Beach for Round 1 of the Florida Winter ROK World Tour, where a full tent of drivers, including Prime Power, Canto Racing and Ai motorsport will contest for the top spot. For more information about Birel ART chassis and pre-owned equipment, please visit www.pslkarting.com. Follow PSL @pslkartingofficial for an inside look at the team, new products and more.