Having travelled to South Australia for the opening round of the 2024 Australian Kart Championships, Team Basso were elated to bounce back in the series with a race in their own home state, duelling it out in Puckapunyal against 74 of Australia’s very best pilots.
After leaving the opening round with a feeling of wanting more, Mathew and his squad were adamant to turn the tide in their favour for the remaining rounds of the national championship.
Basso did exactly that, putting the #18 kart out of P4 in a remarkably close qualifying session, a mere 0.108s off pole position!
Mathew continued his crusade to the top of the charts, backing up his impressive qualifying session with a 2nd place finish in the opening heat, narrowly missing out on the win.
In Heat 2, Mat had different plans and worked his way into the lead with some quick sharp driving technique before being shovelled off-track by a competing driver while in the lead – finishing a frustrating P16, before crossing the line in 1st for Heat 3 to only be relegated to 15th as a result of a starting procedure 5-second infringement.
It was mixed emotions within the team come Finals Day on the Sunday, knowing they had the speed to win the event but would start out of position for Heat 4 due to the last two heats. Starting out of 11th, Basso looked determined to commence the claw back, reaching deep into his war chest to pull out a miraculous 4th place with the joint fastest lap of the race!
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The final had arrived, Mathew set to start out of 12th with 42 other drivers taking to the final grid – all to play for as the field had witnessed the wrath of Basso the heat prior.
Lights out and Basso maintained his position, acknowledging the final as more of a war of attrition than an all-out sprint. The laps wound down, Basso bullying his way through the pack with ease as he picked off racers one by one. 5-laps to go, Basso in 5th on a charge to the podium before disaster… a slight coming together with P4 resulting in Basso sliding down the ladder that is KA3 Junior – down to 24th. Despite the deflating final laps, Basso stormed his way to 19th with only a handful of laps to go.
Whilst feeling somewhat downhearted with the result, Mathew was optimistic in reflection of his weekend. “We had such a tough weekend. Some highs and some lows. My speed was really good all weekend. Marco Motorsport had the kart tuned to perfection and it all came down to some unlucky incidents that ultimately made what was going to be a great weekend finish the way it did. That’s motorsport and we are now looking to build on this weekend’s experience and come back stronger than ever at Round 3 in four weeks’ time in Emerald, Queensland”.
Mathew would like to thank his sponsors: Marco Motorsport, Castrol Racing, Morris Finance, UNIT Clothing, NGK Spark Plugs, Raceline Motorsports Racewear and OMP, Atlas Neck Braces, Oakley Australia, Platinum Potions, Ethika, PREPD Hydration, Albek Luggage, Alkaline World, 808 Dude, New Balance and MotiV8 Training for all their support.
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