14-year-old sensation Ethan Briggs is having a break out season in 2022! Briggs has been consistently running at the front of the KA3 Senior Medium field in the Victorian karting ranks. Briggs was looking to continue his stellar season at the 36th running of the Panduit City of Melbourne Titles over the weekend.
Ethan was against a dynamite field of drivers with multiple current or former state champions taking to the track and chasing victory! Briggs used track time on Friday to grab valuable set up and driver knowledge before hitting the track for qualifying Saturday morning.
Ethan hit the track on Saturday morning and immediately put himself in the top 10 and in the battle for the coveted pole position. The privateer driver was doing a brilliant job and was looking strong when he punched out a quick time that put him on the front row of the grid. In a breath taking and terrific performance, Briggs put himself on position 2 and on the front row in one of the biggest titles of the season!
The nerves were high going into heat 1 and Ethan knew his start was going to be crucial. Briggs nailed the start and was able to jump up into the lead in the early stages of the race. Ethan was in a train of skilled drivers at the front of the field swapping positions throughout the race and being in a strong top 5 battle. Briggs starting his racing in strong fashion coming home in position 4 overall in the tough KA3 Senior medium field!
Briggs was once again off the front row of the grid and was able to lead down to turn 1 for the second time of the day. Ethan led the opening 4 laps of the race before being shuffled back in the long and fast freight train of drivers. Briggs dropped as low as position 10 but was able to regroup and pick 1 of those spots back up. Ethan was able to cross the line inside the top 10 in position 9.
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This had Briggs out of position 6 for the all-important final heat. The outside of the third row was the starting point for Briggs in the third heat and that’s where he stayed in the opening lap. The privateer stayed in the position 6 the first half of the race before being able to make his way into the top 5 on lap 7. Briggs put his head down and stayed focusing trying to move forward into the top 4. Ethan crossed the line in position 5 overall which had him off the inside of row 3 for the final only counts race.
The nerves were in the air as the 17 lap championship final is where your weekend is decided. Ethan got another excellent start and moved straight into position 4. Briggs was doing a great job racing in the top 5 drivers in the early stages but was shuffled back through the lead freight train dropping to the end of the top 10. Ethan never gave up and regrouped coming home in a credible position 9 in one of the toughest classes of the weekend.
Ethan’s father Kris spoke post weekend on his young son’s weekend of racing. “I’m so proud of Ethan racing against other competitors that have been racing longer than he has been alive, and so excited about his racing future. Also a big thank you to Anthony Bartolo from J&A Kart Tuning for his continued support”.
Briggs will be back on circuit for the remainder of the 2022 karting Victoria season.
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