The Ballarat Kart Club has honoured a couple of locals with long histories in the sport – Noel and Sandra Hocking.
Club President Justin Malcolm gave the following speech at the club’s race meeting on the weekend.
“Noel Hocking started racing back in about 1980 here at the Ballarat Kart Club and right there next to him was his wife, Sandra.
Apart from the normal volunteering at the club like in the canteen, within 2 years Sandra had taken on the role of club secretary, and as shown up on our honour board she was club secretary for 3 years from 1982 through to 1984.
It wasn’t just these 3 years as club secretary that was significant at the club, but it was her many, many years of race secretary and lap scorer. I unfortunately can’t give you the exact number of years but I am sure both Sandra and Noel can give the specifics.
From one of my sources who left the club in 1984 and returned in 1996 Sandra was still the race secretary and lap scorer when he returned 12 years later.
Just to put things into context, this is well before the days of computers, CMS, KOMP or electronic transponders.
This involved both Sandra and Noel taking phone calls from up to 200 karters for a big meeting; recording names, class, which chassis and engine you are using, consolidating, and forming classes on paper.
The lap scoring was also done via pen and paper and I find it hard to fathom how hard and the pressures this must have been to manage. I have heard a whisper that Sandra might have done lap scoring up to State and even Nation championship level.
Noel was also representing Ballarat at the highest level where he was so close to winning an Australian Championship in the 1980’s where he finished second (by 1 point).
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Noel and Sandra stopped racing around the very late 1990’s and it was their nephew, Ray Dumseny’s decision to return to karting in the about 2017 that renewed the spark in Noel as he returned as his mechanic/support.
I remember being grid marshal that first day and like I am to all the new karters on P platers I gave the encouragement to don’t worry if you get lapped. Little did I know the years and years of experience that was between those two as he finished very well in his heat.
It didn’t take long for Noel to get the bug again and to buy a kart and engine off his good mate Remo and to start karting again. Noel still has that passion today to race and I believe still has ambitions to take the restrictor out and to race TAG.
But as you might not have noticed, Noel doesn’t hit the track as often as he possibly could, like today’s club day for instance.
The reason for this is that Noel has stepped up once again and completed his officials training. Noel often sacrifices his racing even at club level, so we have enough officials to race a club day and is often the starter.
For those who don’t know, for the last couple of years Noel has been the started for most VCS rounds when he is not travelling, and at most of these rounds Sandra has been by his side still supporting karting.
Noel is also known to turn up in his ute midweek by himself and to do a little tree pruning and shredding, keeping the place respectable but with very little fuss about what he has done. It is noticed and appreciated.
When I talked to our club life member Kevin O’Donohue about the contribution of Sandra over the years, Kev immediately replied that he doesn’t think the Ballarat Kart Club recognised her contribution over the years, he went and opened a dusty bottom drawer and pulled out a little shield he had made before Covid to thank Sandra for her contributions. This was obviously never presented to her but here it is today.
So as the current President of the club, I am proud to acknowledge and recognise both Noel and Sandra Hocking for their many years of service to the Ballarat Kart Club and would like to congratulate and to present them both with Life Memberships to the Ballarat Kart Club.”
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