Blake Haigh returned to the Ipswich Kart Club over the weekend for the September round of the club championship. Haigh was hot off a podium finish at the final round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship. Blake was still in the hunt for Ipswich Kart Club championship and the young driver was looking for the best possible result.
The Ipswich Kart Club format had no qualifying and Blake straight onto heat starting out of position 12. The Dentworld Paintless Dent Removals sponsored entry had a tough start being involved in someone else’s incident on the opening lap and dropping down to position 16. Blake got the head down and quickly made his way up into the top 10 showing excellent speed. Haigh continued his progress across the race and crossed the line in a remarkable 4th spot in a breath-taking fight back!
Haigh was out of position 10 for the 2nd heat but unfortunately an incident happened in front with nowhere to go for the young driver. Blake re-joined and the rear of the near 25 kart field and the young driver had a lot of ground to make up. The Inner Brisbane Reality supported entry got his head down and was setting fastest laps while closing in on the field! Haigh crossed the line in position 18 in a nice fight back and was out of position 11 for the 3rd heat.
Blake was looking to get a clean start and finally got one in heat 3, moving up 4 positions into 7th spot on the opening lap. Blake had superior speed and was into the top 3 by lap 3 and was closing in on the race lead. The Eni Oils and Lubrication Australia backed entry moved into the lead on lap 5 in an amazing 5 laps of driving, making up 10 spots. Haigh was able to come home and take the race win by 3 seconds over the rest of the field.
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Position 7 was the starting point in the final and Haigh knew a good start was crucial. The Project X Racing driver put in a scintillating open lap and moved up 5 spots to be in 2nd position. Blake was able to make the move for lead on lap 5 and was right in the battle with Michael Quintiliani for victory. Both drivers had their chance at victory but Haigh was able to hold in a close finish to take round win.
Blake’s parents spoke post weekend on their young sons driving. “It wasn’t the best start to the day but we knew Blake had the pace to fight for victory. His 3rd heat was amazing and just shows how good he can be. The final was a close race and we were so happy for him to grab the race win. He is now back in the hunt for the championship and we look forward to our next few meetings at Newcastle states and the Townsville Queensland State Cup”.
Haigh will be one of the favourites going into the New South Wales state championships later in the month.
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