What a weekend! Racing at the opening round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship (AKC) at Todd Road in Port Melbourne was an incredible experience. With 75 karts entered in the KA3 Junior class, I knew I’d be up against the best drivers in the country, and I was ready for the challenge.
Representing Empire Kartsport in my FA Kart, I was proud to carry the #15 and have the support of my amazing sponsors, EHS Parts and Components & Turners Engineering. This was my first big race of the season, and I was determined to start strong.
Friday was all about getting comfortable on track and fine-tuning the kart. Todd Road is a technical circuit, so it was important to get everything dialed in. Over the four practice sessions, I was consistently in the top 10, which gave me a lot of confidence heading into Saturday.
The highlight of the day was finishing 3rd in Practice 2 and 4th in Practice 4. I felt really positive about my pace, and the team did a great job helping me get the kart where it needed to be. Everything was coming together, and I was ready to take on qualifying and the heat races!
Saturday started strong with a solid qualifying session. Out of 75 karts, I managed to put my FA Kart in 7th, which I was really happy with. It set me up well for the heat races, and I was feeling confident.
Heat 1 was a bit rough—I had a tough start and dropped back to 11th, but I knew I had the pace to fight back. I worked my way through the field and finished in P6, which was a solid recovery.
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Heat 2 was a fun race, even though I lost a couple of spots off the start. There were plenty of battles, and I pushed hard to climb back up to P4 by the checkered flag. Overall, there were a lot of positives to take from the day, and I was looking forward to Sunday.
Sunday brought more challenges with Heat 3, Heat 4, and the all-important Final. In Heat 3, I started P3 but had a poor start and got caught up in some contact in the opening lap. Unfortunately, this caused some front-end damage that held me back, and I had to settle for P8.
Heat 4 was another tough one—I still felt slightly off the pace and found myself caught in battles throughout the race. I finished P8 again, which wasn’t ideal, but I was still in a good position for the final.
Unfortunately, the final didn’t go as planned. On the first lap, I got a heavy push from behind going into Turn 1, which sent me flying over the kart in front. I managed to land and keep going, but the impact caused major damage to my kart. My rear bumper was hanging off, and I was given a meatball flag, meaning I had to pit and retire from the race. It was a really frustrating way to end what had started as a positive weekend.
Even though the final didn’t go my way, I’m still proud of the way I drove in such a huge and competitive field. The heat races were strong, and I banked some solid points across the weekend. Despite the tough ending, I leave Todd Road tied for points for 12th in the championship heading into Round 2 at Monarto in May.
I want to thank my team at Empire Kartsport, my sponsors EHS Parts and Components & Turners Engineering, and everyone who supported me throughout the weekend. I’m already looking forward to the next round, and I’ll be pushing even harder for a strong result!
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