PRESS RELEASE - TKART - It was one of those race weekends, full of its share of obstacles, but that did not stop Michael d’Orlando from having a strong showing at the inaugural Rotax US Open series at the Dallas Karting Complex (DKC) in Caddo Mills, Texas.  Between the rain, getting a DQ on Saturday, and being spun out in Sundays final on his way to a top-10 finish, Michael showed his resilience overcoming the weekend’s obstacles and proving why he is one of the top drivers in the field.

He started off the weekend qualifying his No.251 Tony Kart in the 12th spot on a very slick race track, followed up by a strong eighth place finish in Friday’s heat race number one.  The rain soaked conditions would continue into Saturday’s races but Michael would start his day with a strong sixth place result in heat race two, and again hold station in the sixth slot for heat race three. However, an unfortunate penalty was enforced when a bolt fell off Michael’s air box causing him to be disqualified after post-race technical inspections.  His penalty would have him starting heat race four in the 31st position. Despite the penalty, Michael would put on a show as he came from the back of the pack to pass kart after kart slicing and dicing his way through the field, passing a total of 19 karts, to bring his KoeneUSA prepared machine to an impressive 12th place finish.

The weather continued to be a factor on Sunday morning, forcing series officials to delay the start of the day’s events, and to condense warm-up sessions & final races into one.   The track dried up with each session of the other classes which brought the track back to dry conditions for the Junior Max main event. Michael would come into the final looking for a top-five finish. After the points were tallied from the heat race results, he would start in the 13th spot and would waste little time working his through the field to ninth place by lap-seven.  But his goal for that top-five finish would be wiped away when he was making a move to take over eighth position and was spun out from behind. Officially classified in 25th, it was not the finish Michael was looking for but still a successful weekend despite the results.

“For me, all in all, not a bad weekend” said Michael. “I had a good kart and I was able to pass a lot of karts. The results may not reflect it but I felt really good.  The race conditions were not the best with the rain for most of the weekend and we over-came that DQ in Saturday’s heat race as I was able to pass a lot of karts to finish 12th from 31st. It was unfortunate to not finish the final on Sunday, and it is frustrating, because I believe we had the equipment for at least a top-10 or better. That’s racing.  What can you do but learn from it and look forward to the next race.”

Next race for Michael will be the second round of the United States Pro Kart Series on June 19 – 21 at US Air Motorsports in Shawano, WI, where Michael will compete in the Junior Lepoard class.

DRC would like to give special thanks to their supporters and sponsors at Iona Preparatory School, Kool Nerd Clothing, and adidas Motorsport. A special thanks to their race team of KoeneUSA, especially Mike Maurini, Martijn Koene & Jesse Dunham, and DRC’s Adam Johnson, for their continued hard work and support.