Kart360.com: Give us the lowdown on Praga USA. Who's involved and what made you decide to become a distributer of the Praga Kart brand?
JH: When I originally started Team MDD, I decided to take a brand that was well known and use that as a baseline. We used this brand as a baseline and tested many different brands against our baseline product, which we knew won races on a regular basis. Our goal was to find something better, and when we did, we would make the move and support the 'new' product. The Praga test went exceptionally well, I was super impressed and the decision was a no brainer. I have worked with Marco [DiLeo] before, we had a good relationship, so working with him was also an easy decision. Last of all, the main focus of Team MDD is to develop our drivers and prepare them to make the transition to cars. Praga has a very similar platform, so the fit was perfect for me to start Praga USA. Team MDD will be the official Praga team for the USA.
Kart360.com: You have been working with multiple kart brands in the past few years including Arrow, Maranello and Tony Kart. What sets the Praga chassis a part from the other brands?
JH: Praga has all the qualities I desire in a kart, in order of importance:
- Performance on track. It was the fastest kart out of all brands.
- Very easy to tune. It responded to changes in the way we wanted.
- Made very nicely in terms of quality. Arguably the best looking kart on the market.
- The kart comes complete (i.e. includes magnesium wheels, IMAF seat, etc). Many other brands do not come 'race ready', Praga does.
- Last of all, well priced.
Continue reading the full interview at Kart360.com
