Dad's Teachings Help Henry This Weekend
| press release | 9 March 2016 |
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Henry Johnstone (14) from Melbourne will be a strong competitor in the 2016 Victorian Kart Championship, with round one at The Go Kart Club of Victoria, this weekend (11-13 March).
Henry races an FA kart in KA3 Junior and has been competing for nearly four years, starting off in Cadets.
Above: Henry and his sister at Cobden recently
pic - Johnstone
He won the 2015 Oakleigh Go Kart Championship in Junior National Light, and so far this year has won the first round of the Austrans Victorian Country Series, and was very competitive at Junior Top Guns in January, with some of the fastest lap times of the weekend.
Preparing for the Victorian Karting Championship on 28 February, Henry qualified fastest by a good margin and ended up second in the final, after an incident at the start put him nearly last.
"After that result I am confident I can do well”, said Henry. “Although my Dad will not be there on the Saturday as he will be away working, and it is always a bit tougher when he is not with me".
From the moment he sat in a go kart, Henry has been taught how to work on it, set it up and drive it by his father, Mark Johnstone, who engineers racing cars all over the world.
“When Henry is at the track just with his Mum he has to do everything”, said Mark. “He has to work on it, push it around and race it. Most kids could not do this”.
Above: Henry and his dad, Mark
pic - Coopers Photography
Mark added that “Henry now has the ability to progress to any sort of race car, and he will certainly be able to provide valuable feedback to his team".
Henry has opportunities to race in New Zealand this year, as well as in local national rounds, and hopes to develop partnerships that will support his future racing career.
