Queensland’s Max Walton has made the transition from the junior ranks into seniors a successful one, winning the opening round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship in the X30 class.
After a successful 2023 season where he won five state titles and the Australian KA2 title, the highest level in juniors competition, the factory Parolin driver has stepped up to X30 in what is the 15-year-old’s first season in senior competition.
The first round of the AKC was held in hot conditions at the Southern Go Kart Club in Bolivar, South Australia. After starting out the weekend solidly with third in qualifying, Walton continued the trend with third in the opening two heats, before finishing 12th in the third heat. He would bounce back in the final heat to finish sixth, accumulating enough points from the four heats to start the final on the front row, alongside JND / FA Kart driver and five times Australian champion, Brad Jenner.
Jenner had dominated the weekend up to that point, qualifying fastest and winning all the heats in his debut with the JND squad. In the X30 final, he led the opening ten laps in scorching conditions, before Walton snatched the lead away from his vastly experienced rival at half distance and would dominate the race right through to the finish.
Walton won the X30 Final 1.1s over Jenner, giving the 15-year-old the perfect outcome to his debut season as a senior driver.
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“I’m pleased to have won the first round of the AKC,” Walton said. “I didn’t think I would come out on top but here we are”.
Despite winning the opening round, Walton currently sits 2nd overall in the X30 championship, trailing Jenner by 23 points. Walton and the Parolin team will now head to Victoria and the Todd Road Kart Track in Melbourne for the 2024 Victorian Kart Championship on the weekend of March 8-10.
Round two of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship will be held at the Eastern Lions Kart Club in Hildene, Victoria on April 19-21.
SP TOOLS AUSTRALIAN KART CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 SUMMARY – X30 CLASS:
Qualifying: 3rd
Heat 1: 2nd
Heat 2: 2nd
Heat 3: 12th
Heat 4: 6th
Final: 1st
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