Jac Preston Returns to Karts This Weekend

Gold Coaster Jac Preston will return to his karting roots this weekend for the Queensland State Karting Championship in Emerald.

He will be competing in the KZ2 class in a BirelART Chassis prepared by Tyler Greenbury Racing. The kart was formerly raced in Australia by 2019 World Champion from the Netherlands, Marijn Kremers, so Preston enters knowing the equipment has pedigree.

Preston made a move from karting at the beginning of the year into the national Formula Ford Championship with Sonic Motor Racing Services, however with COVID cancellations he has not raced since May.

The 18-year-old performed solidly in his first Formula Ford Australia National event at Wakefield Park, country New South Wales coming away with a top 10 finish.

One of his Formula Ford sponsors, SMW Drilling Services has a base in Emerald and the team will be on hand throughout the weekend to watch Preston chase victory.

The KZ2 category will be one of 12 categories looking to crown new State Champions. Over 300 competitors are due to make the trip to Central Queensland. With limited racing throughout the year, the KZ2 category has strong entry numbers with many national title regular drivers taking part. 

The karts, which have a six-speed gearbox attached to their engines, are the fastest form of kart racing in Australia and are a spectacular sight with their full standing starts.

Another element to make the weekend more interesting is the circuit will be run in a clockwise direction. Typically, when Preston’s class has raced the Australian Kart Championship in Emerald, it has operated anti-clockwise.

“It’ll be great to get back racing again, it has been a long time since May when I last competed in Formula Ford and it has been nearly 12 months since I raced a KZ2 kart” Preston said.

“We recently did a test in the kart and set competitive times so we decided that we’d enter this weekend. The chassis has race winning form in Australia and was last raced here by Marijn Kremers who went on to win the World Championship that year.

“It is equipment I am familiar with and I can’t wait to get back out there. Formula Ford is fantastic to race but nothing compares to KZ2 for the intensity and physical challenge.

“The kart club at Emerald always does an awesome job and with so many entries coming to the event it will be great for the city.

“From our perspective, having sponsors in town that can come to the event and watch is fantastic for us. We’re able to give back to them for their support and hopefully come Sunday afternoon that will mean success and a Queensland #1 trophy!”