Alex Gardner competed at the final round of the triple crown series at the Cooloola Kart Club over the weekend.
Alex, fresh off a strong win at the Ipswich Kart Enduro in his DPE Kart Superstore backed Arrow, was looking for another strong weekend. Gardner had a great practice in wet conditions, practicing his kart control and was ready to undertake in Sunday’s racing.
Gardner in his Motiv8 Training backed entry hit the track and was immediately in the battle for the top five positions. Alex had a battle on his hands for pole position with Jordan Ensbey, Hayden Sell and Cody Anderson all fighting for the front starting position. The Bob Jane Tmarts sponsored entry set a time fast enough for position two, landing on the outside of the front row for the opening heat.
Alex achieved a great start in heat one, staying in position two off the start and making a move for the lead on lap two in a great start. The Next Level Racing backed entry dropped back to third on the following lap in a three-kart battle at the front with Ensbey and Henry Titman. In a great race with multiple lead changes, Gardner came home in position three in an exciting battle.
Heat two Alex got another clean get away slotting into position three. The Foundations Performance and Rehab backed entry was under a lot of pressure all race long and came home with more strong points in position four, having him out of position three for the third heat.
Alex had his best race of the day in heat three stalking the top two off the start. The Todd Gerhardt Realty backed entry made a move for second position on lap four and the lead on lap six, taking a strong win by over a second in a great display of driving.
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Gardner was off the front row for the final and jumped into position two off the start. In a calm, cool and collected drive the Mr Men’s Barber backed entry was able to take the lead on lap two and lead the early to mid-stages. Alex had pressure throughout the race from Titman, making for great racing. The Entrust Finance sponsored entry was able to hold on and take the win and round in a great result for the team.
Alex’s mother Stella was proud of her son’s young driving while remembering the anniversary of their dog Jessie. “We are super proud of Alex. He loves racing here and this weekend was important to him as it marked the anniversary of losing our Golden Retriever Jessie, and he wanted to race and win for her”.
Alex was happy to share that he was able to cope better under pressure due to his work with Stuart Walter from Athletes Secret Weapon. “It was so good to be able to use some of the techniques I’ve been working on with Stuart in my racing today, especially during the moments I was under pressure on the track”.
Gardner will now look to the next round of the Australian Kart Championship at Eastern Lions Kart Club at the end of July.
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