V8 Supercars Driver To Take On Dirt Karters
| press release | 26 November 2014 |
| Tweet | |
Some of the best Speedway Kart drivers from around the country will this weekend converge on the Toowoomba Speedbowl track for the 2014-15 season running of both the Queensland Title and Des Carsburg Memorial that has close to $15,000 in prize money up for grabs, and the driver line up is headed by cameo Speedway kart appearance of V8 Supercar driver Ryal Harris.
Above: Former tar karter Ryal Harris hits the dirt track this weekend in Toowoomba
Harris, who is the defending two-time V8 Ute Racing Series Champion and also recently made an impressive V8 Supercar debut at the Bathurst 1000 event, will make his debut on dirt, after cutting his teeth in go karting on the tar circuits as a youngster.
The 29-year-old from the Gold Coast will only be competing in the Des Carsburg Memorial event on the Saturday night. He will be running for the Ronnie Conquest-owned MG Group Racing team in the premier Outlaws class.
Apart from the cameo appearance of Harris, the second annual double header has attracted over 160 nominations. Drivers will be coming from various parts of Australia, including NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory to battle it out with a tough field of Queenslanders eager to protect their turf.
In the Outlaws class, NSW’s Glen Corish, who finished second in the Queensland Title last season, is no doubt aiming to go one better. For the Des Carsburg Memorial, Victorian Michael Van Ginneken is the defending champion, and he wants back-to-back wins. Both Corish and Van Ginneken are shooting for both wins, but they will have some fierce competition amongst the 17 entrants from the likes of current Australian Champion Ben Hodge (Vic), Tahleesha Mayes (Vic), Brandon Corish (NSW), Chris Harrison (NT), Steve Mergard, former Australian Champion Gavin Wesble (NSW), and of course the Saturday night appearance of Ryal Harris.
NSW-based youngster Luke Geering was the only driver last season to win both the Queensland Title and Des Carsburg Memorial. The current Australian Champion was able to achieve this in the Junior class, but with Victorian visitors the Barbary brothers, Lachlan and Jackson, and also the Martin brothers, Todd and Tyson, it’s going to be a tough task to repeat that performance.
The 125cc class has attracted the second largest field of the event, with a total of 16. Last year, resulted in Brandon Corish and Iain Roxburgh (NSW) share the wins in the Queensland Title and Des Carsburg Memorial events respectively. Both drivers are entered for this year’s event, and are hoping to claim a pair of wins. However, with drivers such as current Australian Champion Glen Corish, Russell Williamson, Dion Smith and Phil Perrott, that task isn’t going to be achieved easily.
With neither defending champions in the Modifieds class entered for this year, there will be new winners. Headlining the entry list is current Australian Champion Neville Britton (NSW), along with Daniel Gow (NSW) and Tony Bailey.
The fifth and final class of the event, Standards, Dylan Goodyer (NSW) is the defending Queensland Champion and Troy Evans the current Des Carsburg Memorial Champion. Goodyer isn’t going to be competing in the class instead he is focusing on the 125cc class, while Evans is hungry to not only defend the Des Carsburg Memorial but reclaim the Queensland Title he won three years prior. With Bailey, Mergard, Hodge, and the Mayes siblings, Tahleesha and Sam, the competition is going to be hotly contested.
The running of the Queensland Title will be held on the Friday night with four heat races and a final, while the Des Carsburg Memorial is set to be fought out on the Saturday night with time trials, two heat races, a dash and the final.
The Toowoomba Speedbowl is located at 100 Wirths Road in Charlton (13km west of the Toowoomba CBD).
The 2014-15 season running of the Queensland Title and Des Carsburg Memorial is proudly supported by:
DMS Karting
MG Group
Luxbet
MG Transport
Austrans
Multiple Electrical Services
AE Smith
Complete Air Supply
Gota Racewear
Qld Plumbing Union
Northside Kart Supplies
Bremco
The Shock Shack
INOX
Kool Custom Paint
Coast Cat Excavations
Recycling Developments
Airtech Tools
Omega Racing Karts NSW
Milwaukee Tools Australia
Sprint Shack Australia
