Hugo Garraway made the long trip from Mildura to the Goulburn Valley Kart Club over the weekend. Hugo was chasing his maiden “red plate” Australasian Kart Titles in the KA4 Junior Heavy field.
Garraway was up against a near 15 kart field of the state’s best drivers. Hugo has been consistently running inside the top 10 drivers this season and he was looking to continue his strong form. Hugo had 2 practice sessions on Saturday morning and was showing top 5 pace going into the all-important qualifying session.
The Garraway Group backed entry hit the track for qualifying and immediately put himself in the top 10 and then into the top 5. Hugo was showing excellent pace and was right in the battle for pole position after making his way into the top 3. Garraway stopped the clock in position 3 overall and only just over a tenth off pole position!
The first race of Saturday was heat 1 on Saturday afternoon and Garraway knew his start was crucial. The Tecno Karts Victoria driver got shuffled back in the opening few laps and was down in position 6 in the tough field. Hugo regrouped and got his head down and made his way back into the top 5 on lap 11. Garraway crossed the line in position 5 overall and was looking to heat 2 to try and move forward.
Garraway was able to nail the start in heat 2 and jump up to 2nd position and be right behind the race leader. The battle in the top 3 was fast and intense and the Garraway Group backed entry was racing well. Hugo dropped down to position 3 in the middle stages but was keeping on the back of the top 2 and was in for a chance of race victory. Garraway crossed the line in position 3 overall, under a second off the race winner.
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Sunday was finals day but Hugo was trying to finish his final heat with a strong result first. The Tecno Karts Victoria driver was quickly into the top 2 but was shuffled back to 3rd on lap 2. Garraway didn’t quite have the pace to go with the top 2 in the 3rd heat but was doing a great job to grab valuable laps and points towards his starting position for the final. Hugo crossed the line in 3rd position overall and was excited for the 20-lap championship decider.
The nerves were high as the coveted red plate was on the line for Hugo. Unfortunately, Garraway’s chance for victory was over at the first corner, when he was involved in kart contact which put him to the rear of the field. The Garraway Group backed entry drove his heart out to try and make his way back up the field. Hugo dug deep and set the fastest lap of the race while making his way back into the top 5. Garraway crossed the line in a remarkable 5th position in a storming recovery drive!
Hugo’s father Russell spoke post weekend on what could have been for his young son. “We had great pace all weekend and the opening lap of the final was an unfortunate end to our winning chances. Hugo was able to go purple with the fastest lap in the final and got his way back up into 5th by the flag in a nice recovery. We’re hoping we can stay out of trouble at Rochester for the Golden Power Series”.
Garraway will be back on track for the 5th round of the Golden Power Series this weekend at the Rochester Kart Club.
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