Kartsport SA’s Two-Dayer at Mt Gambier

from Ian Williams

It was a first-for-everything kind of weekend for KartsportSA, as the organisation had its first ever race meeting away from The Barossa; a two-day event down in Mt Gambier.

The 2-day meet ran from Saturday Nov 31st to Sunday 1st Dec, with practice on Saturday giving some competitors a chance to come to grips with a new track and some a chance to renew their love for it, as for some it had been seven long years since they last raced it.

With a strong entry list of 55 karters, it was the biggest meeting held at Mt Gambier for 2019.

The two DD2 drivers Brandon Stillwell (90) and James Boden (97) (pic – Dunn Photographics)

After prior forecast of a wet weekend, Saturday practice day dawned fine and sunny, not a drop of rain. The decision was made early on to run 2 heats on the Saturday, whilst leaving 3 heats to be raced Sunday. Sunday didn’t quite look the same in the morning as Saturday did, but with only a few light mists of rain during the first few races, it was dry racing for most.

It all started off with our young ones, with a combined field of MiniROK restricted/open and Rookie drivers. The battle was strong between all drivers.

Cadet racing action (pic – Dunn Photographics)

This weekend saw the running of the Gearbox class with a combination of DD2, KZ2 and Twin Clubmans battling it out with some real close and exciting racing between Brandon Stillwell and James Boden (master and his apprentice). We even had an F100 in the field.

The biggest field was the Statesman 125 Variable Restrictor. With a grid of 15, it was sure to put on a show and it did not disappoint. This class allows various weights to run very competitively together, ranging from 160kg to 200kg. Mark ‘Gadget’ Lunn took the win.

The IWT team were there from Adelaide, with their mascot Doni (pic – Dunn Photographics)

There was a strong field for 125 Open Light, great battles between all drivers. There was not much between them, but Shane Moreland was just too good to catch in the end.

Daniel Boorman proved too good in the Restricted 125 Heavy class, with a clean sweep winning all 5 heats to take out the No 1 spot.

There was a small but strong field for our KT classes, the younger Troy Moreland this time proved too strong for the rest but young Erin McCarthy didn’t make it easy for him.

Our lonely yet charismatic 4SS driver Kevin Harvey, joined our KT drivers, having a great battle with Jayden Catalano (KT Heavy).

Tag Restricted Heavy winner Daniel Boorman (pic – Dunn Photographics)

125 Open Heavy saw the return of Mac Weidenhofer, who hadn’t raced the Mt since Juniors and he hadn’t lost his touch, dominated the field winning all 5 heats but Wayne Freeman and Jamie Kavanagh kept him on his toes!

KasrtsportSA want to thank the Mount Gambier Go Kart Cub for hiring out their track, for helping officiate the meeting and running the canteen.

One of the local cadet drivers on the grid (pic – Dunn Photographics)

The track, as always, was pristine. Thank you for letting us be a part of your club’s presentation dinner Saturday night. Great food and great friends, it was good to get back the social side of Karting, it’s been missing for too long.

The committee of KartsportSA will be getting together over the Christmas break to work out the 2020 calendar – keep an eye out on our website and Facebook page. Thank you one and all who helped make 2019 as successful it was.