Benjamin Classon returned to the Golden Power Series over the weekend for round four of the championship. Classon has shown excellent pace across the championship resulting in a round win at the second round of the series in Bendigo, along with some other strong results.
Classon was back on his home track of the Eastern Lions Kart Club for the fourth round of the series. Benjamin was up against twenty-five of the state’s best and was looking to put his best foot forward!
Classon hit the race track for Saturday morning qualifying against twenty-five other skilled drivers. Benjamin was immediately on the pace and inside the top ten before quickly putting himself into the top two with championship leader Grace Riddell. Classon and Riddell had a ring dong battle for pole position both having time at the top of the time sheets. Classon put in a stellar final lap settling for second position on the front row and only five hundredths of a second from pole position!
Benjamin was excited for heat one and looking to take victory. Classon got a great start and slotted into second spot right behind race leader Riddell. In an awesome eight laps of racing, both of the drivers had turns at the front of the field with multiple passing moves. Riddell made a critical move at the back end of the race taking the lead back and shuffling the Benjamin backed to third spot. Classon was able to finish heat one in a superb third spot and was looking to heat two!
Heat two was late on Saturday afternoon and Classon was looking to finish the day on a high. Classon got another superb get away from outside the front row slotting into second spot. Benjamin took the lead on lap three but was once again in a dice at the front of the field with Riddell. The two drivers put on another stellar race for spectators and other drivers were able to close in on the front two. In another close finish, Classon was able to cross the line in third spot putting himself out of position three for the third heat.
Sunday was a new day and Classon was looking to try and turn the tables on his rivals at the front of the field. Benjamin got a great start and was immediately into second spot right behind his championship rival Riddell. Both drivers had stints at the front of the field once again, with Riddell starting the last lap just in front of the Kosmic karter. Classon threw everything at the race leader coming away with second positions only a small five hundredths of a second off victory!
Classon had moved to the front row of the grid and was ready to go to war for twelve laps to decide the fourth round. Benjamin slotted into position two off the start line and was right in behind his arch rival for the first half of the race. Classon tried to put a race winning move on to no avail, as Riddell was holding her nerve at the front. In an enthralling and exciting final lap, Benjamin was able to come home on the podium in second position overall in a great show of pace and maturity.
Benjamin’s father Paul spoke post weekend of his young driver’s performance. “It was a great weekend of racing for Ben. He drove his heart out and it was a great result and full respect to Grace, the two of them have a great mutual respect. A big thank you to Bob at Australian Go Kart Spares for our engine rebuild parts, Melbourne Kart Centre for the new Kosmic race suit and Pulse Tuning for a rushed carby rebuild”.
Classon will be one of the favorites going into the next round of the championship at the Rochester Kart Club in September.