Over a week has passed since we signed off season 2019 at one of our favourites, Orange Kart Club.
When planning our calendar, we do our best to plan around the weather and avoid the colder destinations during winter. When we locked in Orange for our final round in November, you would think it’s safe to assume we’d be greeted by warm weather…. Never have we been so wrong. Scorching high temperatures of 13-14° on Friday and Saturday and a low of -2° on Saturday morning were the reality we faced. Ice like winds and even some rain on Friday afternoon made for far from comfortable spectating.
While the weather caught us by surprise, much of the on track results didn’t. In A Grade, Maverick 58 and 59 had all but wrapped up a Championship 1-2 and went about finishing the year in style. In what was a brutal race that saw more mechanical breakdowns than we’ve witnessed in years, both karts ran flawlessly over the 8 hours and put an exclamation mark on their dominant year. Kart 59 lead home 58 for their third 1-2 race finish of the year. Kart 59 also took out the CoreStaff – Sydney Pole Position award.The battle for 3rd in the Championship was more interesting, between Preston Hire 15 and Buildline 27. It looked as though the Buildline boys had it handed them to them after kart 15 despatched of it’s transponder and ran for 30 laps recording zero! Not long afterwards though kart 27 suffered an engine failure, leaving both karts languishing at the bottom of the order. Third place in the race came down to a nail biting finish, with Joker Racing 2 just holding out an impressive Atlas Racing 19 by the smallest of margins. In B grade, Joker Racing 5 finished the year the way they started, signing off their Championship win in victory and 5th place outright. Maverick 56 scored their maiden podium with 2nd and RPG 90 put together a great comeback drive, finishing 3rd in the race and locking up 2nd in the Championship. Preston Hire 81 scored the CoreStaff – Sydney Fastest B Grade Qualifier award and were running strong for most of the day, before a clutch let go late in the race and left them just shy of a 3rd place Championship finish. That place went to Wild Racing 41, despite a troublesome day to finish their year.
Race Results
A Grade
1st – Maverick 59
2nd – Maverick 58
3rd – Joker Racing 2
B Grade
1st – Joker Racing 5
2nd – Maverick 56
3rd – RPG Racing 90
Championship Results
A Grade
1st – Maverick 58
2nd – Maverick 59
3rd – Preston Hire 15
B Grade
1st – Joker Racing 5
2nd – RPG Racing 90
3rd – Wild Racing 41
Following the race we held our end of season presentation, hosted by Orange Kart Club. Thanks so much for the use of your facilities and your great hospitality. Everyone enjoyed the night and discussions are already in place to lock this in again in 2020.
The biggest thanks of all must go to our Officials for a great year of service. It’s not an easy job managing a large group of hot headed motorsport enthusiasts. They continually put their hand up and keep coming back though, for which we are extremely grateful. Without you we don’t race. Thanks to all of our members and competitors for another fantastic season of brilliant racing on track and endless laughs off track. Enjoy the off season and stay tuned for news regarding 2020.
TEKA – out.