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Once in a lifetime

THE LAS VEGAS SUPERNATIONALS

TKART Staff
12 November 2017
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It’s a race, an event, a celebration of karting... The annual event that SKUSA organises in Las Vegas has a flavour all its own, where competitiveness, spectacle, sport and entertainment come together in a continuous blend. Experiencing it live, even only as a spectator… is worth a thousand points on the resume of the die-hard karter.
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Las Vegas. Probably one of the best-known cities in the world. Certainly one of the most original and “unique.” Gambling, attractions, lights, music, shows, women... Las Vegas is all that and much, much more.
But, for the last 21 years, Las Vegas is also synonymous with great karting. Because in the month of November, when you arrive in “Sin City,” you know you’re in for the coolest and most entertaining competition in the USA (and not only): the Supernationals!

The track changes practically every year, assembled in the immense spaces between the hotels and casinos: the X-Plex, Rio Hotel, Sam Boyd Stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and, this year, the “Diamond Lot” of the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. An area of 1.25 million m² where the circuit is right next door to the Strip.

10 different categories will be present at the starting line, with an entry list that regularly counts well over 500 drivers, and where, over the years, there has certainly been no lack of famous names. Not only those of the best kart drivers, in what constitutes a unique occasion for seeing the best European and American karters go head to head, but even those of professional drivers, including seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who competed here on more than one occasion.
On one side, the karts...
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...on the other, the “temptations” and excesses of Sin City
On one side, the karts...
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...on the other, the “temptations” and excesses of Sin City
On one side, the karts...
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...on the other, the “temptations” and excesses of Sin City
Michael Schumacher took part in the SuperNationals on more than one occasion, as have other important drivers from Nascar, Indy and Formula 1
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Tom Kutscher. For years he’s been the head honcho at SKUSA, the group that organises the Las Vegas event
The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
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The layout of the SKUSA SuperNationals 21 track
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Certainly, to the eyes of the karters that arrive from Europe, despite the grandiosity of the event, the circuit does always look a bit improvised compared to karting circuits for the CIK-FIA races, but a few minutes are enough to realize that, around here, and in this event in particular, everything is different.
Everything seems bigger: from the drinks, which are half a litre in the “small” cups, to the vehicles in the paddock: the official teams (dealers for all the top brands are generally present: Birel, CRG, Energy, GP Racing, IPK, Sodi Kart and Tony Kart) show off maxi-cabs that are all chrome, lights and flags, while the “private” drivers come in on pick-ups with twin wheels and a fifth wheel (the truck’s coupling device), tugging behind them a trailer cab that’s usually about eight metres long. Inside: counters, repair shop and, why not, a golf cart to move around the paddock. All topped off with huge tents where barbecues, French Fries, candy and any other imaginable sorts of junk reign supreme.
Everywhere you look there are dozens of stands for sponsors, merchandising, instrumentation, agencies that offer test-drives in a Nascar ... The ten competing categories range from the high-performance, “professional” KZ to S1, S2 and S4 with Honda engines, moving on to the categories with the X30 electric-starting engines, and finally Micro (entry-level class for younger drivers) and Mini Swift.
A view from above, taken by Google Maps, of the enormous area of the Las Vegas Convention Center Diamond Lot, in front of the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, where the 21st annual SKUSA SuperNationals will be run
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A nocturnal view of the SuperNationals track. In this case it happens to be the one set up in the parking lot of the Rio Hotel in 2014, before the site was moved to the Las Vegas Convention Center
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Another evocative image from the 2014 competition, with the imposing profile of the Rio Hotel in the background
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There’s always a healthy crowd of spectators following the race from the stands
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The Las Vegas event is always the perfect opportunity for drivers to show off their custom-themed kart graphics, suits and helmets
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