Karter Shannon Caisey travelled to the US a rookie and came back a champion.

The Bermudian track ace swept aside all-comers in the 125cc Shifter event at the Batavia International Motorsports Track in New York.

And what is even more impressive was that the victory came in the rain - something that normally causes Islanders to run for cover.

Caisey, who regularly races in Bermuda, made the trek to the US with the help of Stockton Reinsurance to get some experience among a higher class of competition.

He had earlier raced in Wisconsin where he came 15th and 13th in a grand national event but it was in the 20-lap race in New York that he really came good.

"I went out and practised on the Saturday and tried different chassis adjustments and had the car handling really well," he said.

"The race day on Sunday I went out and qualified in pole with a 31-second lap time - which was almost a full second faster than their best driver - so I knew I stood a pretty good chance of taking the overall."

Things didn't start off too well and when the weather took a turn for the worse Caisey said he was wondering whether to call it a day.

"My first heat I had a few car problems but I managed to finish in third place. In the final heat, the main event, the skies opened up and the rain fell down and the track was totally flooded," he said.

"When it rains here we pack up and go home! That was my first inclination. When it started to rain I said to my father 'that's it, let's pack it up'.

"But he was more or less pushing me along saying 'lets get some experience, let's do it.'"

The sudden change in conditions meant a lot of pit lane activity.

"We had to switch the set-up and go for rain tyres. I had never driven in a race in the rain and so that was a new experience for me. That was different, it was a lot of fun," he said.

"The chassis set-up of the car is totally different, you have to loosen up every nut and bolt on the car to give it a little bit more grip and allow the chassis to flex."

Caisey began cautiously, but soon got to grips with the track.

"I started off third on the grid and four or five laps into the race I was behind the leader," he said. "I followed him for a few laps to learn a few lines. He kept making mistakes, taking a wide run into the turns. He did it one too many times, so I said if he does it again I am going to have to try and pull a move on him.

"I tucked underneath him at one of the chicanes and took the inside line away from him and I took over first place.

"We had a little battle going on for a few laps after that. He tried to make a move on me and it didn't work out to his advantage. He put himself sideways and gave me a three to four-second lead on him. From then on I ran away with the race."

Caisey said there was a lot of healthy rivalry among the home racers, but they only let him leave with the trophy on one condition.

"They told me I had to come back next year to face the field again so they can try and take it from me! " he said.