As round three of the 2023 Golden Power Series signified the half-way mark of the championship, KA3 Junior Heavy looked once again to be another close set of affairs, with series leader Mat Basso looking to stamp his authority on the category and take home another strong collection of points.
With confidence high off the back of a solid return to the KA3 Junior Light category, Mathew got to work immediately – going fastest in timed practice before backing this up with yet another pole position to add to his excellent 2023 one-lap record. With the heats ensuing, Basso displayed his dominance and mastery in both dry and wet conditions, recording fastest laps in all three heats; topped off with a masterclass drive in heat two that saw Mat fastest on track by almost one second – a winning margin of a scarcely believable 13.5 seconds after 10 laps!
As the final got underway, team Mathew Basso Racing were hopeful of yet another strong result. As the lights went out, Mat had an initial poor start that allowed fellow front-row starter, Hugo Garraway to get the jump into turn one. Basso threw the fishhooks onto the back of the Garraway kart, a thin margin between the two as the weather continued to worsen. The front pairing distanced themselves from the field, pulling a significant lead over the karts behind. As the laps rolled on, backmarkers began to interrupt the tussle between the front two, with Basso continuing to fight grip issues as the kart came to temperature. It was too late; Garraway crossed the line as victor with Mat bagging a solid P2.
Whilst dejected about missing out on the clean sweep by the barest of margins, the team were elated with their showing over the weekend. MBR team principal and father, Paul, mentioned “Mathew drove fantastic all weekend, especially in the wet and tricky conditions. Unfortunately, we got the kart set up a little wrong for the final and he just struggled for grip”.
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Mathew concurred with the remarks, stating “I’m happy with the way the weekend went. Even though we finished P2 in the final, we were able to extend our points lead and I’m now focused on Rochester in 6 weeks’ time”.
Mat and the team would like to thank their sponsors: Melbourne Kart Centre, Castrol Racing, UNIT Clothing, NGK Spark Plugs, MEARTH Electric Scooters, Atlas Neck Braces, Oakley Australia, Platinum Potions, Mayhem Tools, Ethika, PREPD Hydration, Albek Luggage, SAKA Water, 808 Dude, BODIE’Z Protein Water, Raceline Motorsports Racewear, New Balance and MotiV8 Training.
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