Young Cadet 12 front runner Archie Bristow made the trip to the Go Kart Club of Victoria last weekend for the 37th running of the City of Melbourne Kart Titles.
Bristow, after winning the opening round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship in South Australia, has had a tough season by his own standards due to mechanical issues and incidents while running at the front of the field. Bristow was looking to put his best foot forward in the chase for victory.
Archie showed strong pace in Friday practice and continued to build a strong base going into Saturday morning qualifying. The Hains Windscreens backed entry headed out for qualifying and found some space on circuit, setting some strong lap times to put him in the battle for pole position. As the session went on, Bristow was in the top 5 battle but had no slip stream due to his track position. Archie put himself in 4th position overall and only 1 tenth off pole position!
Due to the split heats, Archie was off the outside of the front row for his opening heat race. The nerves were high for Bristow starting from the outside of the front row in a capacity field. The Bridgeswade sponsored entry had a tough opening lap and had to settle in position 5 with work to do. Archie showed determination and strong pace by making his way back into the top 3 by lap 4 and up into 2nd by lap 5. Bristow made a move for the lead on lap 7 and in a remarkable drive, was able to open half a second and take a brilliant opening heat win!
Archie was on a high after a brilliant opening heat and was able to take the lead on the opening lap of his 2nd heat. The R & J Batteries supported entry was able to lead the first half of the race and was looking to make it 2 from 2 heat wins. Bristow, was able to put another brilliant result together coming home in position 3 overall and having him right in the front mix heading into Sunday! Archie was once again starting up the front heading into the final day of racing. Sunday and championship deciding day came around and Archie was looking to continue his hot form and grab another heat win in the final heat race. Bristow got a sold start and slotted into 3rd spot behind current state champions Jackson Brasher and Riley Harrison. The GB Fasteners sponsored driver made a move into 2nd spot in the early stages and then made a move on Brasher for the lead of race on lap 5. The Parolin kart of Archie was working well and he was able to hold off Brasher and take his 2nd heat win of the weekend!
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The championship decider came around and Bristow was off pole position and looking to take out his 2nd consecutive City of Melbourne Title. The MJ Pressure & Property Works backed entry led away off the start and was able to lead the opening half of the championship decider. The second half of the race was full of thrills with Bristow, Joseph Bianchini and state champion Harrison all in with a shot of victory. Due to some set up changes, Archie didn’t quite have the kart underneath him to hold off a fast-finishing Bianchini and Harrison settling for a brilliant 3rd position overall. Thev MDS Accounting backed entry had grabbed another solid podium at the biggest event of 2023!
Archie’s father Matt spoke post weekend on a fun and tough weekend of racing. “Archie was focused and confident going into the final. However, I made a couple of changes to his kart that upset the handling and Archie struggled to get it to come on. I could see he was having a good go but just couldn’t shake off Joseph. The two of them had a great battle the whole race that gave the spectators a thrill. Archie has shown that he has good pace and he is ready to take on the final round of the Australian Kart Championship.
“Congratulations to Joseph for the win and Riley on 2nd. I would like to thank everyone that has got behind Archie and supported him. Especially his teammates, Parolin Australia, J&A Kart Tuning Centre, his sponsors and brother JB. Your belief and encouragement have helped Archie to push to the top and continue fighting for podiums”.
Bristow will be back on track in the last weekend in October to round out his Australian Kart Championship season.
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