by Mitch McLellan
The 2026 Victorian Golden Power Series roared into life over the weekend, the opening round of the championship taking place at the Eastern Lions Kart Club with a near 300 entries! Under clear skies with hot weather, all drivers were ready for a tough weekend of racing.
- full results on Speedhive
- scroll to the bottom for photo gallery
- more photos by Tim Francis HERE
- more photos by Steve Dansie – grid/track HERE, Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE, podiums HERE
- more photos by Ben’s Gallery – Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE
- more photos by BPM Photography – Saturday HERE, Sunday HERE
TaG 125 Restricted Heavy had one of their biggest classes in recent memory with 18 drivers taking the start for the opening round of the championship. Mason Baldi was able to take first blood grabbing pole position over Victorian State cup winner Trent Meadows! Baldi made Saturday has day by grabbing both heat wins with Meadows having to settle for second spot. Harrison Dengate, Blair Van Ree, Ryan Van Ree and Craigo Ryan all race inside the top 5 in the opening heats. Meadows was able to turn the tables and grab his first heat win in the third race with Baldi right behind him. Blair Van Ree and Dengate battled for third and fourth with Aaron Jackson rounding out your 5.
The final kicked off and so did the action with both Baldi and Meadows have time at the front of field. Baldi was able to take the lead back in the mid stages of the race and didn’t look back, taking the opening round of the championship! Meadows had to settle for second spot with Dengate a second and half behind in third. Blair Van Ree was just behind in position 4, with Aaron Jackson rounding out your top 5.
KA3 Junior Heavy hit the track next with nearly 30 young drivers ready to try and stake their claim on pole position. Regular Golden Power Series front runner Jai George started his 2026 with pole position in the class! Hayden Spiteri was hot on the heels only 6 hundredths of a second off pole, with Oscar Corless just behind him. George was able to take heat 1 victory over Corless and Jake Ristell. George backed it up with another victory in heat 2 but had Sebastian Dias right behind him! Lex Kelly and Hayden Spiteri were also battling inside the top 5! George was able to lead in the opening few laps and open up a lead in heat 3 until the Corless fight back began. Corless got right on the rear of George by the end of heat 3 to make it a fascinating finish. George was able to hold on for another victory, but Corless kept him honest shaping the class up for an intense final! Ristell was third from Kelly and Spiteri rounding out your 5.
The action started from the opening lap in the final with both Corless and George battling for the lead. Both drivers had their turn leading during the race with Dias joining the battle at the front. Dias was able to cause an upset and take victory in the final laps over Corless and George rounding out the podium in third. Ristell was just behind George in fourth with Kelly coming home in fifth.
TaG 125 Restricted Light was another large field of drivers with 26 competitors hitting the 1064-meter circuit. In a super close qualify session Hugh Dalton was able to grab pole position over Jackson Pinczuk. Both drivers set identical lap times with Dalton grabbing pole after setting his first! Anish Ranasinghe wasn’t far behind in third spot. Local driver Andrew Riddell who qualified in fourth spot put his claim forward on Saturday afternoon, taking out both heat races! Dalton ran inside the top 3 along with Jarred Pinto and Pinczuk fought back for 2nd in heat 2 after an opening corner incident in heat 1. Riddell was able to get the jump in heat 3 but had a battle from behind with Ryan Dealy and Josh Godfrey. Dealy led the middle stages with Godfrey taking over position 1 on the final lap of the race in a tight finish!
The final kicked off in TAG Restricted Light under tough conditions with rain around. Riddell led away and had charges from behind with Pinczuk charging through along with White and Dealy in the battle. In a tense finish Riddell was able to hold on and grab the round victory by only a few tenths over Pinczuk. Dealy rounded out the podium with White in fourth and Adam Campbell charging forward to round out the top 5!
A capacity grid of 40 drivers hit the track in Cadet 12 class, showing the future of the sport is in excellent hands! The times were incredibly tight at the top through qualifying with Raf Busuttil taking pole position. The top 5 drivers were only separated by 7 hundredths with Harry Spence, Milan Sami, Jarvis Hindle and Alana Gurney rounding out the top 5. Last years Cadet 9 Australian champion Milan Sami took the opening heat in and intense battle with pole sitter Busuttil and former state champion Jarvis Hindle. Busuttil turned the tables in heat 2 with victory over Sami and Hindle setting up for a fascinating Sunday! Our first full course yellow of the weekend slowed things down at the start of heat 3 but this set up an intense battle to finish. Busuttil was able to hold on for his second heat win with Alana Gurney moving up to position 2. Hindle and Sami were right behind her with the final looking to be a grandstand race!
The hill was full of spectators for the final as Hindle was able to lead away from Sami. A red flag mid race bought the race to a stop and when the restart occurred Sami was able to take the lead. The battle continued all race, but Sami was able to open a slight margin late in the race to take the opening round victory! Gurney was able to win a battle for second over Beau Chambers rounding out the podium. Hudson Kelly worked his way through to fourth with Iver Spence finishing in fifth. Hindle crossed the line in second position but a post-race penalty dropped the former state champion to position 11 for the round.
KA3 Junior Light was another large field with 38 drivers taking the start. Australasian champion Michael White took first blood with pole position over Aiden Spector and state champions Riley Harrison and Archie Bristow! The heat racing was an intense affair with White, Spector, Harrison, Bristow and Austin Mcpherson all battling in the lead group. Mcpherson was able to charge through to take victory in heat, while Bristow fought back from qualifying to take out heat 2. Heat 3 was a game changing race for the weekend with Harrison having a DNF and Archie Bristow well done the order after a lap 1 incident. Mcpherson and Spector battled for the race victory with Mcpherson emerging from the last lap battles in position 1. Spector landed in second spot with White in third.
The final kicked off with lots of positional changes and multiple drivers in contention for victory. Two race changing incidents happened throughout the race with Mcpherson, White, Lucas Constanzo and Jenson Damaschino all ending up on the sidelines after battling in the top 5. Aiden Spector who had taken over the lead was able to continue leading, not look back and take the round victory in his Pro Karting entry. State champions Harrison and Bristow were able to round out the podium with Luca Portaro and Noah Johnstone in fourth and fifth respectively.
TaG 125 Light took to the circuit next with a high calibre 29 drivers ready to do battle. Zach Findlay took pole position in the all-important timed session. Dallas Greene, state champion Amos Orr and former round winner Hugo Garraway were right on his hammer on the time sheets. Greene was able to take the opening heat after an intense battle between himself Findlay, Orr and Garraway at the front. Findlay and Greene battled again in heat 2 but came together resulting in Hugo Garraway taking the lead. Garraway took out heat 2 in a smooth drive over Orr, South Australian Dominic Mercuri, Findlay and Greene rounding out the top 5. Victorian champion Orr was the third different heat winner for the weekend taking out heat 3. Greene and Garraway rounded out the top 3, with Findlay down in sixth after an opening lap incident.
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The rain fell between races once again and made a damp affair in the TAG 125 Light final. Amos Orr who started out of second had an issue on the in grid putting him to start last in the near 30 kart field. Hugo Garraway, Zach Findlay and Dallas Greene all battled at the front with Greene being another front runner to strike trouble not finishing race. In an intense and exciting final few laps, South Australian Dominic Mercuri was able to emerge from the final few laps to take victory! Orr had charged through from the rear of the field to grab second position over Findlay in third. Cooper Johnstone came home in fourth spot with Jack Steere rounding out the top 5 with Garraway dropping to sixth in a post race penalty.
Victorian Combined Masters had 19 starters with multiple state champions making it a bumper field of drivers. Remo Luciani took pole position in the high-quality field. Luciani with over 50 state championships to his name had former state title holders Herman Van Ree and Ian Branson nipping at his heels in qualifying! Luciani led lights to flag in heat 1 and heat 2 in a strong display. The battle for the minors were on between Victorian state cup champion Steven Riddell, Ian Branson, Herman Van Ree and Leigh Holmes in the heats. Branson put the biggest fight to Luciani in heat 2 setting up an interesting Sunday afternoon. Luciani continued on his merry way in heat 3 taking his third consecutive victory with Branson and Riddell once again battling for the minor positions. Van Ree and Holmes round out your top 5 in a competitive masters heat race.
The light rain continued to hang around for Victorian Combined Masters with Luciani and Riddell jumping into a battle for the lead. Both drivers had turns leading the race with Riddell taking the fight to Luciani in the damp conditions. Remo was able to hold his nerve, take the lead back on the last lap and cross the line first but a post-race infringement put Riddell to position 1! Luciani was classified in an honourable second position from Trev Whitby in third. Ian Branson and Leigh Holmes round out the top 5 in the field.
KA3 Senior Medium had only the 13 drivers take the start, but this didn’t stop the thick and fast racing. Nathan Waldron was able to set the pace in a competitive qualify session over Nick Popple and Jarrod Bottomley. Juian Lynch and Luke Richards rounded out the top 5 with only 3 tenths across the 5 drivers. Bottomley was in a great position to grab heat 1 but a loose chain guard took him out of the race with pole sitter Waldron taking the opening race. Bottomley was able to bounce back in heat 2 taking victory over Waldron on the last lap. Popple, Richards and Lynch were all in the top 5 across the 2 heats keeping themselves in the hunt. Waldron was able to take the third heat race after a race long battle with Luke Richards. Bottomley finished at the rear of the field after a turn 1 incident.
The rain had well and truly arrived by the KA3 Senior Medium final but all drivers were caught on slick tyres. Waldron was caught out by the conditions on the opening lap and went down the order with Luke Richards taken over the lead. Ryan Dealy was in the battle for victory mid race with Richards but he was another to get caught out by the tough conditions. Richards was able to keep his kart on track and take a tough fought victory over a charging Dylan Ralph in second and Jarrod Bottomley in third. Seth Burton crossed the line in second but a post-race penalty dropped him to position four with Dealy recovering to take home fifth.
KA3 Senior Light was another field with a big presence of 33 drivers on circuit! Zach Findlay after taking pole position in TAG 125 Light was able to make it a double pole in KA3 Senior Light! Christian Sasso was hot on his heels in second spot with Nathan Emmins from Mildura in the battle as well! Findlay was able to back up pole position with heat 1 victory but didn’t have it all his own way with both Sasso and Emmins having their time in the lead. Findlay led lights to flag in heat 2 in a dominant display with Sasso a clear second over Zach Tucker and Emmins battling for third spot. Findlay continued his perfect weekend in heat 3 to take another lights to flag victory. Action was a plenty behind with Sasso, Emmins, Tucker and Zackary Thompson all battling in the top 5. Emmins was able to work his way into second spot with Tucker rounding out your top 3.
KA3 Senior Light manage to make the change to wet tyres for their final as the rain had set in along with action packed racing! The Pro Karting duo of Christian Sasso and Zach Tucker went straight to the front and didn’t look back. Tucker was able to get the advantage over his stable mate as the race went on and took a dominate race victory. Sasso had to settle for second spot with local driver Jack Jenkins fighting into third spot. Chris Lowe fought his way forward into fourth in the tough conditions over Aydan Warren in fifth.
16 drivers took the start for qualifying in the TaG 125 Restricted Medium class with multiple previous round winners being in the field! Clayton Groves continued his stellar Golden Power Series career by grabbing another pole position in TAG 125 Restricted Medium. Former Australasian champion Brodie Doidge and former state champion Glenn Riddell were pushing hard behind rounding out the top 3! Groves led away in heat 1 but had local Glenn Riddell hot on his heels challenging for victory. Riddell was able to take victory in the last few laps of heat 1 with Groves right there in second. Groves took out the second heat in a tight win over a rebounding Doidge and Riddell in third. Jamie and Trent Meadows were inside the top 5 across the heat races. Groves and Riddell resumed their battle from heat 1 in heat 3 with both drivers battling for victory. Groves was able to hold on for his second heat win of the weekend over Riddell with Jamie Meadows making his way into the top 3!
The Final in TAG Restricted Medium was turned on its head with neither Groves or Riddell taking the start allowing the Meadows pair of Trent and Jamie to go straight to the front. The drivers battled in time all race long but Trent who took second earlier in the day was able to go one better and grab victory in TAG 125 Restricted Medium. Jamie Meadows came home in second position Ethan Briggs on the podium in third. Mick Triantafillidis and Brodie Doidge rounded out the top 5 in a spread-out affair.
The youngest class in the series, Cadet 9 were up next with 22 young drivers ready to start their season. Xavier Rajendran was able to dominate nearly all of qualifying until a last lap flyer from Alfi Lucchetti put him on pole position! Rajendran settled for second spot with Lincoln Pugliese hot on their heels. Rajendran was able to turn the tables in heat 1 taking out the win with polesitter Lucchetti and James Henman rounding out the top 3. Rajendran made it another win in heat 2 with Lucchetti once again in second setting up an interest battle for heat 3! Rajendran and Lucchetti both had chances of leading heat 3 with an intense battle ending in tears as both drivers came together on the final lap. James Henman was able to take victory with Jack Morrell and Mason Mott rounding out your top 3.
The final kicked off and so did the mayhem in wet conditions. Alfi Lucchetti and Xavier Rajendran after both battle at the front were involved in incidents that put them down the order. This left Jack Morrell to take over the lead with Jett Gobourne challenging in the later stages. At the conclusion of proceedings Gobourne was classified the Cadet 9 winner over Morrell and a recovering Lucchetti in third. Lincoln Pugliese and Mason Mott rounded out your top 5 in the class.
The final class on the program was TaG 125 Heavy. Thomas Hughes kicked off his 2026 with an important pole position in his Jackson Souslin Harlow entry! Harrison Draffin battled him all the way to land on the front row with Victorian State Cup winner Benjamin Mouritz close by as well. Hughes converted pole position into victory in heat 1 but the top 3 were only separated by 6 tenths with Draffin and Mouritz hot on his rear bumper! Hughes took back-to-back heat wins but the racing was close, the top 5 in Hughes, Draffin, Mouritz, Sebastian Perrone and Scott King were separated by under one second! Hughes and Draffin both had their chances of leading heat 3 but Hughes was able to break clear in the later stages to take victory. Perrone made his way up to second spot with Mouritz, Draffin and Max Lumsden rounding out the top 5.
The track was damp for the first time of the weekend for the TAG 125 Heavy drivers and Draffin was able to rocket straight to the front and not look back! Draffin opened up margin and led from the early stages to dominate victory and left Hughes and Lachlan Sharpe to battle for second spot. Hughes was able to hold onto second on the podium from Sharpe with Sebastian Perrone and Kain Armstrong completing your top 5.
The second round of the championship will take place at the Bendigo Kart Club on the 2nd and 3rd of May later this year.
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