Sophomore season of US Open kicks off in New Orleans

Building off a strong debut season a year ago, series organizers from the MaxSpeed Group are amped up for year two of their championship that features nine categories mixed between Rotax Max and Honda Stock Moto shifter categories.

The first of three rounds takes place at NOLA Motorsports Park, a 1-mile first class karting facility that hosted the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in 2013, the only time the event has been happened in the USA.

Two drivers return to the US Open seeking the defence of their respective championships. Rotax Senior champion Oliver Askew is back in the single speed category after claiming the Rotax DD2 title at the Florida Winter Tour this past winter while Diego LaRoque aims to defend the Rotax Micro-Max category.

For drivers in the Rotax Max categories, invitations to represent their home country at the the 2016 Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, held this year in Italy, are up for grabs to the individual points leaders following the second round in Utah. The class champions in Junior, Senior, DD2 and DD2 Masters following the final round in Las Vegas will kick start their 2017 season with an invitations to the Rotax Grand Finals the following year. The championship winner in Rotax Max Senior will also get the chance to take part the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 Scholarship Shootout.

It will be a busy weekend for all of the racers with Qualifying kicking off on Friday following by four rounds of progressive heat races, leading up to the Final races on Sunday.

Racing can be live streamed on Motorsport.com beginning Friday afternoon.

Reporting by Cody Schindel