Club Season Opens at Albury-Wodonga

by

The Karticle, by Bailey Dixon

DESPITE a tumultuous start to 2021, on January 31st, the Albury-Wodonga Kart Club members united to kick-start the 2021 club championship in style. A beautiful day, a clean track, and some racers fresh from a relaxing off-season and excited to return to racing… It does not get much better than that for the first club day of the year!

While I was incredibly excited to be there and kick off this year of Karticle writing in style – both for the AWKC Club Days and for the Golden Power Series – someone somewhere had other ideas, and I was struck down with a cold (not COVID-19, I had a test) and unfortunately had to miss the first AWKC race of the year.

Still, I managed to keep an eye on the day, and I also organized a photographer. So, get ready, ladies and gentlemen, for the first ever Remote Karticle!

Vic Combined Medium & 4SS Medium line up for a race start

Cadet 9

As usual, the Cadet 9 youngsters were the first out of the gate after practice. Random grid ruled once again, but it had little effect on the actual results. Taylor Taborsky dominated, her experience shining through as she won each heat and the final with the fastest lap every time. Koa Patten finished second overall in what is only his second club day, with Ashleigh Brett and newcomer Merik Nesbitt tying for third place. Welcome Merik, it was great to see a new face turning up and racing competitively!

  1. Taylor Taborsky
  2. Koa Patten
  3. Ashleigh Brett / Merik Nesbitt

Cadet 12

Even with random grid, Noah Dixon clean-swept the day, his lowest winning margin eight seconds in the final to competitor Eli Patten. Eli has improved greatly over the off-season, coming back swinging in the first club race of 2021, so let us hope this trajectory continues and we can have some proper fight-for-the-lead racing soon!

Dylan Wyllie slotted into third place, with Jaxson McKinna, Ryan Taborsky, Benjamin Roberts, and Jai House finishing fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. And to Jai, the new kid on the block, well done on your first race, keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

  1. Noah Dixon
  2. Eli Patten
  3. Dylan Wyllie

KA3 Junior, KA4 Junior Light and KA4 Junior Heavy

All out at the same time, there was the usual time discrepancy between the three Junior classes. Tahnee Blair was out in front in her KA3 kart, with a comfortable lead over Piper Muller, also in a KA3. Close behind Piper in heats one and three, and on par with her in heat two and the final, was KA4 Junior Light winner Anthony Alessi.

The fight for second in KA4 Junior Light was incredibly close, with Blake Tracey, Eddy Cooper and James Brett (who has just moved up from Cadet 12s) only separated by one second across the line in heat three.

In KA4 Junior Heavy, Hayden Macaulay claimed victory, his different engine size leaving him to run his own race.

KA3 Junior


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  1. Tahnee Blair
  2. Piper Muller

KA4 Junior Light

  1. Anthony Alessi
  2. Blake Tracey
  3. Eddy Cooper

KA4 Junior Heavy

  1. Hayden Macaulay

Victorian Combined Medium and 4SS Senior Medium

Another combined class, with the Vic Combined Medium and the 4SS racers on the track together. According to the times, Daniel Taborsky swept away the competition, winning every single race while his competitors scrapped away over the remaining podium positions. Adam Telford, Gerard Hudson, and Stephen Robins formed a battle pack, with a tiny two seconds separating the three of them across the line in heat one. In 4SS, Damien Ryder won over Mark Chaston.

Vic Combined Medium

  1. Daniel Taborsky
  2. Adam Telford
  3. Gerard Hudson

4SS Senior Medium

  1. Damien Ryder
  2. Mark Chaston

Victorian Combined Light

In the last class of the day, Vic Combined Light, it was a battle between experience and young blood. Dylan Muller won the day thanks to his extra time racing in the class, but Flynn Twyford gave him a good challenge having only just moved up from the Junior category.

Flynn set the fastest lap in heat three and the final, while Dylan claimed it in heats one and two, proving just how equal they were. In heat two, the pair were separated by just six tenths, while in heat three it was under two tenths!

Myall Hoffman was just behind these two, collecting enough points consistently to grab second place. Furthermore, the Vic Combined Light class had a new racer in Zac Aldred. Welcome to the club mate!

  1. Dylan Muller
  2. Myall Hoffman
  3. Flynn Twyford

As we conclude a great first club day at AWKC for 2021, there are some exciting events now on the horizon.

The Rochester Kart Club will be hosting the opening round of the Golden Power Series on the 21st – 22nd of February, an event that looks set to draw quite a crowd and feature the regular high standard racing that makes the Golden Power Series so enjoyable.

As well, there is AWKC’s February Club Day to start preparing for, which will be raced on the trickier reverse track and, for the first time in a while, will feature qualifying.

The Karticle Media will be there to cover them all, circumstances permitting.

And remember, do, do not, try, whatever… just get out there and race!


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