The weekend at the Australian Kart Championship at Todd Road was a huge learning experience for me, and while it didn’t end the way I’d hoped, it was still an important step in my racing journey.
The day started off tough with Practice 1, where I struggled to find any pace, particularly in the braking zones. We made some changes for Practice 2, and although I found a bit of pace, there was still a lot of work to do on the tune and corner exits. By Practice 3, I had better pace, but I realized that my track positioning wasn’t ideal.
Practice 4 was a real challenge—there was a lot of understeer, and I had to drive harder than I ever have to get a decent lap time. We tried changing the setup again for Practice 5, but it didn’t go to plan, and I ended up going backwards in terms of performance.
Qualifying was a tough session for me. It took a while for the kart to come on, and when it did, I only managed to get one good lap in. Unfortunately, I was held up during that lap, and the clock ran out before I had a chance to get another go. I qualified 25th, which wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I knew I had the pace to make progress.
Things didn’t go to plan in Heat 1. There was a big pile-up before Turn 1 involving nearly half the field, and the track got blocked. I was caught up in the chaos and ended up with a DNF. It was a disappointing way to start the racing.
Heat 2 start was better, but I was punted off in the second lap, which set me back. I fought hard to salvage what I could and managed to make my way back up to 25th. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but it was important to minimize the damage and collect some points.
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I started Heat 3 well, but as the race went on, the kart started to lose pace. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t quite keep up, and I finished 21st. It was a tough race, but I took away some lessons on how to manage the kart when it’s not handling perfectly.
Heat 4 was a crazy race with a lot of carnage happening. I kept my head down and salvaged a 25th-place finish. At that point, I was focused on finishing the weekend strong and learning from each race.
The final had been going well. I made up 4 spots and was really starting to find a rhythm. Unfortunately, my race ended prematurely when I was punted into the tyre barrier at the last corner. It was a disappointing way to end the weekend, but I’m determined to come back stronger.
Overall, it was a tough but valuable weekend. There were plenty of ups and downs, but I learned a lot, and now my focus is on Round 2 at Monarto in May.
Thanks to all my supporters and sponsors—Shaw Motorsport, Harrison Agents, and Creative Homes—for being part of this journey. On to the next one!
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