Scott Barnes is aiming to build on his early divisional lead as he returns to Skusa National Pro Tour Series action at the Utah Motorsports Campus track.

The 36-year-old got off to an impressive start in the first two rounds of the campaign in the highly competitive Masters Shifter class at the NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans last month, claiming successive podium places.

Barnes kicked off proceedings finishing second in the opening round, before going one better in the second round a day later, taking the chequered flag to lay down an early marker in the six-round series.

“I’m heading into the weekend with a small points lead but I know my main rivals will be coming in strong again and so it is going to be hard racing for sure,” said Barnes, who is aiming to build on the momentum of the previous two rounds.

“It’s going to another tough weekend against some very tough competition but I have the same goal as I did in New Orleans; to go out and get some podium finishes and hopefully win some more races.

“I’m just really looking forward to getting back on the track and competing.”

While he finds himself in a strong position in the standings, Barnes conceded he has plenty of work to do ahead of the net two rounds, with the Utah track remaining unknown territory.

Having never driven the track, the Bermuda Karting Club president is well aware of the disadvantage he is under as he aims to get up to speed with his rivals throughout today’s practice sessions before racing resumes tomorrow.

“This is a track that I’ve never raced before and so the main goal today is to learn the track as fast as possible in the practice sessions,” he added.

“Hopefully I can learn what I need to quickly because a lot of the competition have raced here before so I’m a bit of a disadvantage in that sense.

“I’ll see what I can do in practice today and then see where we can go from there over the race weekend.”