Basso’s Second Red Plate on Class Debut

Mathew Basso made his KA4 Junior Heavy debut over the weekend at the Australasian Kart Titles at the Goulburn Valley Kart Club. Basso, a former red plate winner in 2019 was up against a stacked field of drivers and was looking to come home with another red plate title.

Mathew used Saturday morning practice to get up to speed before hitting the track for Saturday morning qualifying! Basso hit the track for Saturday qualifying and had 12 of the best drivers in Victoria to contend with. Mathew was immediately able to put himself in the front group and was one of the main fancies for the all-important pole position. Basso went to the top of the times and was doing everything he could to grab pole position. Mathew was able to grab position number 1 by a tenth of a second, which had him off the best position for the opening 2 heats.

(pic – GVKC/FB)

Heat 1 was the opening race of the weekend and Mathew was ready to do battle. Basso led out of the opening lap of the race but swapped positions in the early stages with Panduit City of Melbourne title winner Alexander Cirone. Basso got the lead back on lap 3 and led through the middle stages of the race, with Cirone applying the pressure behind. Mathew held his nerve and was able to convert pole position into a heat 1 victory by 2 tenths.

Basso was again off pole position for heat 2 and he was looking to get away cleanly. Mathew finished the opening lap in the lead and was trying to open a margin on the rest of the field. Victorian Kart Championship runner up Grace Riddell had made her way to 2nd spot and was chasing hard after Mathew in the lead of the race. In another close finish, Basso was able to take victory by just under 3 tenths.

Heat 3 was on Sunday morning and Mathew was once again off the all-important pole position. Basso got shuffled back off the start and was down in position 3 with work to do. Mathew was able to quickly make his way back into 2nd spot, but race leader Riddell had opened a sizable margin. Basso put his head down, setting the fastest lap and going after the race leader. Mathew wasn’t quite able to get the lead back and crossed the line in 2nd position.



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The nerves were high going into the final with Mathew still out of pole position and looking for a clean get away. With plenty of action behind, Mathew was able to get a clean get away and quickly opened up margin on the opening lap of the race. Basso was able to then manage the race from there and continually opened up the margin across the 20-lap race. Mathew was able to take out the Australasian Kart Title by over 4 seconds in a dominant win!

(pic – supplied)

Mathew’s father Paul spoke post weekend on his son’s awesome weekend of racing. “What a weekend. It was our first race in the bigger KA4 Junior Heavy Class and Mathew drove fast and smooth all weekend to take home the red plate!”

Mathew spoke post weekend on his love for the track and how happy he was to win another red plate. “I just love this track. I love this event and everything about it. I won this event back in 2019 as a Cadet 9 and to come back as a junior driver and do it again is very special”.

Mathew would like to thank: Melbourne Kart Centre, Castrol Racing, UNIT Clothing, MEARTH Electric Scooters, Atlas Neck Braces, Oakley Australia, Platinum Potions, Mayhem Tools, Ethika, PREPD Hydration, Albek Luggage, SAKA Water, 808 Dude, Secure Max & Co, Bakers Delight, Spark Plugs Direct, Raceline Motorsports Racewear, New Balance, Spark Plugs Direct and MotiV8 Training.



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