Scott Barnes started the new year in much the same way as he finished the last by winning both finals of the Skuza Winter Series.

Competing in the Masters Shifter Class, Barnes won the opening two rounds of this year’s competition but his victories were achieved in vastly different fashions with a pillar-to-post success in race one followed by a storming last-to-first effort in race two, which left him thrilled.

“I’m very happy with the weekend,” Barnes said.

“Saturday went perfect for us. We got the pole in qualifying, won the heat race and got bonus points for the fastest lap in the final, so it was a perfect points day for us and a good way to start off the series.

“Sunday didn’t go quite as well. I woke up in a weird mood and got a bad feeling right off the jump. I qualified in third, went into the heat race and was hoping to find some speed but on lap two my motor blew and I had to retire.

We were last place on points in the heat race, which means we started the final in second-last. We knew we had to push really hard in the final to get as many points back as we could and we got it done.

“We pushed hard, raced hard and got the win in the final. We had a little bit of luck with the competition, one of them didn’t finish the race which helped us, and we also got the fastest lap, which was another ten bonus points. We ended up getting most points on the Sunday as well, which was pretty good.

Barnes had high expectations going into the weekend after winning the series last year and is now in pole position to defend his crown.

“We were 2022 Winter Series champion, so we were definitely looking to defend that,” Barnes said.

“Last year we were able to win three of the four finals and we are looking to at least do that again. Confidence is very high and ee leave the weekend with a points lead so we are in a good position.

“The final two rounds are on February 10 to 12 and we are definitely going there to wrap up the championship.”

Barnes also has high hopes for the rest of the year with two of his favourite races already on his agenda but his schedule is dependent on finance with a drive to raise funds well under way.

“I definitely do two races every year - the Rock Island Grand Prix on Labor Day weekend. That’s a race I love to go to, it’s probably my favourite one of the year, and then the Skuza Super Nationals in November, which is like the Super Bowl of Kart racing in the US, that’s always on the calendar.

“I would like to do another full series, but I’m not sure which one it is going to be, as I’m trying to raise some sponsorship funds at the moment. I’m starting a Gofundme-type thing to see if I can raise some additional funds. What I will do is dependent on how much money I can raise.”