Bailey Collins was one of the drivers to beat in TaG Light going into the third round of the Golden Power Series over the weekend. Collins took out round one in emphatic style and was on the pace at the second round at the Goulburn Valley Kart Club. Racing against multiple interstate visitors out of the Tyler Greenbury Racing stable and some fast local drivers, Collins had his work cut out for him around the Eastern Lions Kart Club circuit.
Saturday morning practice Collins was right on the pace and in the top five leading into qualifying. In what was to be a hot paced battle the DPE Arrow Karts backed driver was looking forward to the session. Collins hit the track and along with the interstate drivers showing strong pace, he had local drivers Will Harper and Declan Somers as well as round two winner Liam Ford to contend with. In a hot session, with fast times the CC Racing powered driver got as high as second with a few minutes to go. In a hectic final few minutes Bailey ended up in position three, only six hundredths of a second of pole position in a tight finish.
Heat one came around and being off the inside of the front row Collins was able to capitalize and jump up to position two off the start. In the open few laps Harper led, with Collins and Ford right behind, trying to challenge the leader. Collins dropped back to position three and was right on the front two all-race long showing great pace and excellent race craft. Position three was the finishing spot in heat one and Bailey looked to heat two.
Collins didn’t get the start he was after in heat two, dropping back to position six off the start. Collins made his way back into the top five on lap two and position four on lap four. The 2WO 7EVEN Custom Graphics backed entry was shuffled back in the middle stages to position six. Bailey wasn’t able to improve and finished just outside the top five in position six with the mindset looking onto better things on Sunday.
Sunday Heat three come around and Collins’s heat took a turn for the worse, having his race end on lap one. The DPE Arrow Karts backed driver was pushed off the circuit at the opening turn resulting in a DNF and having Bailey out of position seven for the final.
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Collins got a lighting start in the final jumping from position seven to four on the opening lap with the eyes forward. The CC Racing powered and backed driver made his way into third position on lap three, looking to go after the top two drivers. Bailey was in a battle for third, fourth and fifth in the final stages in a hot paced affair. The 2WO 7EVEN Custom Graphics backed entry came away with position five in the final in a strong result and grabbing strong points for his championship.
Bailey spoke of the ups and downs of the weekend at the end of the weekend. “Qualifying went well and was happy to start 3rd. Was disappointed with my speed on Saturday but we looked at it overnight and made significant changes. 3rd Heat got rough off the start and was pushed off at Turn 1 so it didn’t get any feedback whether we went in the right direction. Had pace in the final and had my chances. Definitely deserved better than the result. Was great to mix it up with some National competitors and some of our regular guys had good speed and raced well”.
Chris, Bailey’s father noted it had been a busy few weeks with karting and formula ford commitments. “It has been a big few weeks with Bailey testing the Formula Ford. I don’t think he maximised his speed and certainly wasn’t himself all weekend. Was great to see Will Harper and his team get the win. He raced well all weekend and has obviously been putting in the time. We definitely need to get some testing done to compete with these fast guys. Was a strong field with the National Teams involved and some good hard racing over the weekend.”
Collins will look to his next race meeting and to be competitive once again.
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