SWAN Hill has been treated to a weekend of mouth-watering motorsport at Swan Hill Kart Club’s annual Sun Centre Titles meet.
With three orange plates up for grabs after the addition of the 4SS State Titles, kart racers from across Australia made the trip to Swan Hill for the weekend.
Swan Hill Kart Club president Paul Forster said spectators were positive across the two days.
“The event went really well – we were blessed with some good weather all weekend,” Forster said.
“We got a bit of fog on Saturday morning, which meant we started a little bit later because visibility can be a bit of an issue.
“We received a reasonable number of entrants, with a large contingent coming up from Oakleigh in Melbourne.
“Because we’re so regional, it’s a new track for most of the competitors – they haven’t made the effort to come this far out in the past.
“The praise wasn’t kept to just the track and our facility.
“People had some good things to say about Swan Hill as a town.
“The success here in Swan Hill is a credit to the past members of the club.
“We might not scream it enough but we really do have a top-notch facility.”
A local young-gun triumphed in the Cadet 12 category – a driver Forster said had “come a long way”: his 11-year-old son Jobe.
“He hasn’t been competing for a huge amount of time; he’s probably only been in the sport for two and a half years,” he said.
“As a father, it’s really great to see him do so well.
“I think the home-track advantage helped a little bit but he raced really well.
“He’s done a lot of laps on his own here at our track, and he really just dominated over the weekend.
“I heard more than a few people describe his weekend as flawless: he won every heat and had a clean sweep all weekend.
“It really comes down to his persistence.
“This is a sport that teaches you so much, like resilience and being able to deal with setbacks.”
The travelling Oakleigh racers had a strong showing in the 4SS competitions, claiming a clean sweep of orange plates across the three 4SS events.
Nathan Daley took the honours ahead of clubmates Andrew Hall and Jake Holland in the Heavy category.
William Burfitt went back-to-back in the Light events, finishing ahead of Oakleigh pair Brayden Slama (second) and Marcellus Strangis (third).
Slama went one better in the Medium 4SS category, winning the final over clubmate Jonnie Hutchins and Mildura’s Luke Smith after completing a clean sweep of the competition’s heats.
Forster said the 4SS competition made for a great spectacle, with “guys regularly swapping places throughout a lap”.
“We had some great racing over the weekend, particularly in the four-stroke stuff,” he said.
“They were just amazing.
“I hadn’t seen a lot of it in the past and didn’t know what to expect, but the racing was awesome.
“There were a few guys who suffered a couple of DNFs but the medical crew didn’t have anything to do all weekend.”
The KA3 Junior Light final was won by Eastern Lions driver Christian Sasso, ahead of Rochester’s Jack Jenkins and Christian Bua Giancarro.
Rochester’s Ben Bloomfield was victorious in the KA3 Junior Heavy final ahead of Eastern Lions’ Angus Fletcher and Bendigo’s Kobie Wilson.
The TaG125 Restricted Light final was won by Albury-Wodonga’s Danny Wright, ahead of Bendigo’s Jkobee Smith and Goulburn Valley’s Natasha Sutton.
Wright was also victorious in the Victorian Combined Masters event, claiming the final ahead of Mildura’s Ashley Mitchell and Oakleigh’s Andrew Bowie.
Forster said he hoped the success of the weekend’s meet would encourage more residents to make the most of Swan Hill Kart Club and give the sport a go.
“We’re planning a couple of social come-and-try days later this year so we’d love for local people to come try karting,” he said.
“A lot of work goes into making a meet like this successful and a lot of businesses do a lot to support us.
“We heard a lot of positive comments from stewards and those within the Karting Victoria ranks over the weekend about how the event was run.
“Those people aren’t able to make any promises, but they are certainly aware of our potential here – we’d love to secure an even bigger event for the town in the future.”
