Dominic Mercuri went to the final round of the Australian Kart Championship with one thing and one thing only on his radar, to win.
Young Mercuri has had a break out season in the Cadet 9 class recently resulting in a South Australian state championship. Racing on the same track over the weekend that Dominic won his state championship at, the young Omega kart pilot was confident of a strong result. Friday was a great day for young Dom, he was able to set the fastest time in final practice, giving him confidence going into Saturday morning qualifying.
Saturday morning was upon Mercuri and the young driver was chasing a strong start to his weekend. The MG Engines powered driver hit the track and was immediately in the top five and pushing hard to be in the battle for pole position. With Omega kart in tune and showing lighting pace, Mercuri set the third fastest time of the session to be starting of the second row of the grid.
Heat one was upon Dominic and he was looking for a strong start to his racing weekend. The True Steel Frames backed entry slotted straight into second spot on the opening lap, right behind championship leader Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi. Mercuri threw everything he had at the race leader but had to settle for an excellent second position in a great start to his racing weekend.
Heat two and Mercuri didn’t get the same lighting start as heat one. The Omega Racing Karts Australia backed entry dropped down to sixth position at the end of the opening lap. Dominic dropped down to seventh in the early stages but fought his way back into the top five in the back end of the race with strong pace. Mercuri crossed the line in fifth spot, only two tenths off a podium finish in a nice recovery from a rough start.
Heat three was a big turn around for Dominic jumping into second spot on the opening lap and once again having his sights set on the race lead. The KCM Joinery sponsored entry threw everything he had at the race leader but had to settle for another second position to round out his Saturday racing.
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Sunday morning come around and Dominic was determined to get on the top step of the podium by the end of the day. The Universal Memorabilia backed entry slotted into second spot and tried to go with champion elect Eskandari-Marandi. Mercuri had his Omega Kart in a strong window and came home with another strong second place setting himself up for a strong position in the final.
Dominic was able to get a clean get away and take the lead at the end of the opening lap. With the pressure on, what was seen next was a drive of maturity and greatness. The Omega Racing Karts Australia package was on rails and Mercuri was able to take the win by nearly five seconds in a dominate display!
Dominic’s father couldn’t have been more proud of his young son’s Australian Kart Championship round victory. “All year we knew Dom had a podium chance at the national level and luck just didn’t go our way. Coming into this round after winning the state championships at Monarto we were feeling confident and to come out on the top step is just the perfect end to his cadet 9 career and something we all have worked so hard for”.
Young Dominic was beaming with joy and loved his podium celebration. “It was the best race of my life, I did it and I finally got to spray the champagne and got to do a shoey too”.
With a breath taking end to his 2021 season, Mercuri will certaintly be one to watch in the 2022 season!
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