Archie Bristow has been one of the stand out karters across the country in the young Cadet 9 ranks! Bristow has taken out the South Australian state championships, City of Melbourne Titles, The Ultimate Club Racer and Australasian Kart Titles just to name a few.
Archie made the next step in his karting career over the weekend making his debut in the Cadet 12 category. Bristow was taking on the final round of the Victorian Country Series at his home track of the Ballarat Kart Club.
Bristow utilised his practice sessions to get up to speed, before hitting the ground running in his first qualifying session in Cadet 12. The Bridgeswade Pools and Spas backed entry was able to quickly jump into the top 10 and was pushing hard to work his way into the top 5. Archie was able to move his way forward across the session and in trickey conditions was able to stop the clock in a remarkable 4th spot overall!
Archie’s confidence was high after a remarkable qualifying and he was now looking to challenge for victory. The MJ Pressure and Property Works sponsored entry got an excellent start and was quickly into 3rd spot. Bristow was showing remarkable speed and made his way up to 2nd spot and then into the race lead. Archie was shuffled back in the heat of the battle and settled for an excellent 3rd spot.
Archie was looking to the final race of Saturday to move further forward. Bristow was looking to get a clean get away in heat 2 and that was exactly what he was able to do. Archie was able to move up to 2nd spot on the opening lap and then take the race lead on lap 2. The GB Fasteners backed entry was in a tough and fast battle at the front of the field with multiple lead changes across the race. Bristow was able to hold his nerve and take his maiden Cadet 12 race victory on his first full day of racing in the class!
Heat 3 was 1st up on Sunday morning and Archie was looking to continue his strong weekend of racing. The Bridgeswade Pools and Spas sponsored entry led the opening few laps of the race but was then straight in a 3-way fight for the victory. Bristow went back as low as 3rd but then fought his way back up into 2nd spot but had lost ground to the race leaders. Archie was able to come home with another top 3 result in 2nd spot overall and was one of the main contenders going into the final.
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The nerves were high going into the final as Archie was in with a live shot of taking home the round win. Bristow led the early stages of the final but was shuffled back to position 4 mid race and had work to do to try and grab victory. The MJ Pressure and Property Works backed entry made his way back into 2nd spot and was stalking the race leader before hitting a wet patch, which hurt the young stars chances. Archie was able to recover on come home on the podium in a remarkable 3rd position!
Archies’s father Matt spoke post weekend on his son’s Cadet 12 debut! “The weekend started well with Archie setting the top times in the practice session. From then on, the weather went downhill and literally was changing by the minute. We had a couple of heats where it just started to rain when going out on slicks which made of some very exciting racing. Being our first cadet 12 race and knowing the competition would be much tighter I didn’t set the bar to high. Archie however exceeded my expectations and was right up there even winning in heat 2.
“The final was a cracker and could have gone any way of the top 4. When Archie made his move from P3 to P2 with 2 laps to go I couldn’t believe it and thought he might have this. Unfortunately, though at the next corner both himself and Lewis in P1 just got a caught out with a fresh sprinkle of rain and ended up taking a trip across the grass. Wasn’t to be this time but really happy he had the pace to be at the front all weekend and still take a podium finish. We have both learnt a bit from this and looking forward to the challenge next year. The weekend did finish off on a high however with Archie winning the Cadet 9 category of the VCS completion. Special thanks to our family, friends and sponsors for all of your continued support throughout the year”.
Bristow will be back on track this weekend for Go Kart Club of Victoria Gold Cup in his preparation for the 2023 season.
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