ProKart Championship Kicks Off
| press release | 2 March 2013 |
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ProKart Australian Championship Series commences this weekend with Coffs Harbour 12-hour
The first round of both the Australian and Queensland ProKart Endurance Championships is to be contested this weekend at on Saturday, July 23 at the Coffs Harbour Kart Club. It will also be round 2 of the New South Wales ProKart Endurance Championship series and is shaping up to be one of the most competitive endurance karting events this country has ever seen.
With series sponsorship from KT Cable Accessories, the Queensland ProKart Endurance Championship will see record levels of participation this year and many competitors are heading to Coffs Harbour to contest the 30 grid-spots available for this event, including current Australian Champions Phantom Racing, who will sport new colours and drivers as they campaign to achieve further success in 2013. With the support of Castrol and the recruitment of new driver Alan Gurr, this team is undoubtedly entering the event as one of the clear favourites.
Joining them among the Queensland teams will be the new team from KnK Australia, which now includes 2012 Queensland series champions Glenn Firth and Ian McMah, along with former race winners Scott Pearce and Dustin Pocock, with long-term KnK Tigers driver Nathan Pearce.
With the first round of the NSW series already won by Horsepower Racing in their #777 kart, they also enter this event as one of the favourites. Always contenders, the Horsepower Racing team consistently combine savvy strategy with excellent preparation and speed and can never be discounted.
2012 New South Wales Champions Starkey Motorsport are also expected to run towards the front throughout this coming season. Their strong finish to 2012 should see their tremendous run of results continue at Coffs Harbour.
eWishingWell.com.au in their #23 kart will also undoubtedly be a factor. Fast, consistent and relentless, they only missed out on claiming the 2012 NSW State Championship by the smallest of margins and will be highly-motivated to change that result in 2013.
As round 1 of the Australian ProKart Endurance Championship series, competitors will compete this weekend in 2 separate 6-hour races, with a variation on parc ferme overnight.
Whilst teams will be able to undertake some maintenance on their karts after tomorrow’s first 6-hour race, they are not able to fit new tyres. Tyres will be impounded by series officials and only distributed to each team minutes before the start of Sunday’s 6-hour race.
The ProKart endurance series is like any other form of professional long-distance racing with pitstops, safety cars, driver changes and refuelling adding a new dimension to the sport of karting with most competitors drawing parallels with Australia’s own Bathurst 1000 V8Supercar event.
This event will be decisive as both races count for ‘half’ normal series points in both the Queensland, New South Wales and Australian series, so competitors who may not place well on Saturday can still work to recover valuable points in Sunday’s event. It is the first time the current series’ will travel to Coffs Harbour.
This event is shaping up to be the most competitive yet of the Australian ProKart Endurance Karting Championships.
