Scott Barnes has closed the gap on the Skusa Pro Tour Series leaders after a successful few sessions at the Skusa Pro Tour Spring Nationals in Cincinnati.

Heading into the weekend Barnes was fourth in the series championship but a win on Saturday and a runner-up finish on Sunday propelled him into the top three and puts him within striking distance of his rivals in advance of the final two rounds in July.

The Bermudian driver was pleased with his performance and delighted to still have a chance at series glory.

"It’s great that I still have a shot at the championship,“ Barnes said. ”The drivers in first and second on points both had one bad race at the weekend and we made up some points on those guys with a one-two. I am extremely happy any time I get a double podium at a pro tour event and I am now in striking distance to pick up the series with a couple of wins.“

The weekend could have got even better for Barnes but some set-up tweaks between racing failed to have the desired effect.

“We made some changes on Saturday night but went backwards,” Barnes said.

“We had a good kart on Saturday and we were battling for the win and we made a seat change to try to improve. We tried that out in Sunday qualifying but I wasn’t happy with that, so we tried another seat change for the race and it just didn’t work.

“We have a head guy who does our engine and a chassis guy who gives us input and I have a mechanic with me who gives his input. We all have those conversations and they tell me what they think I should do, but ultimately it’s my decision as the driver as I’m the one feeling the kart.

“The track conditions were different and the kart just got real tight on me and second was all I had, but you can never just leave the kart alone and you are always trying to get faster and better.”

Barnes now faces a long wait as the final two rounds in the series take place at the end of July and his business interests means that he will not compete before then.

“I’ll go into that with a bit more confidence as it’s a track I’m familiar with in Newcastle, Indiana,” Barnes said.

“I’ve done the Stars Series in previous years but their next two rounds are in June and July. That’s my busy two months with my charter fishing and so there will be no seat time between now and then.

I’ll get out there early and should be in better shape and I really need to thank my team as without Carlos Racing Engines and Maranello USA and my sponsors All Rise Bermuda and Butterfield & Vallis I couldn’t do it.