General News
10 February, 2021
Cobden hosts bumper kart meeting
ANOTHER bumper weekend of racing has enhanced South West Karting Club’s status as one of Victoria’s, if not Australia’s premier racing facilities.
ANOTHER bumper weekend of racing has enhanced South West Karting Club’s status as one of Victoria’s, if not Australia’s premier racing facilities.
The Cobden-based club staged round one of the DPE Victorian Country Series, with almost 250 competitors on course over the weekend for the event.
Club official and Victorian Country Series co-ordinator Liza Fahey said the event was a huge success, with people from far and wide congregating on the small country town.
“We had just shy of 250 entries and they came from all over Victoria as well as Tasmania and South Australia,” she said.
“The event itself was a great success – our committee members planned and organised it very well with many of us putting in a number of hours to make the event successful.
“We were also fortunate to have other members from other clubs come and help us with things such as working bees which we are extremely grateful for.”
Fahey said the club’s ability to stage the prestigious event often attracted praise, and this year’s event was no different, with Tickford Motorsport managing director Rod Nash commending the club in an email following the meeting.
She said positive feedback from motorsport heavyweights such as Nash as well those who travel from far and wide indicated the club was fortunate to stage such a prestigious event.
Fellow karting series – Australian Karting Championships and Golden Power Series – fail to attract the numbers Cobden’s records, a feat the club is proud of.
“It definitely makes it worthwhile as it’s one of the biggest events in Australia,” Fahey said.
“We’ve been asked in the past why it’s so successful and why everyone is so willing to come to Cobden and it’s partly due to that country atmosphere and everyone’s willingness to lend a hand regardless of whether you’re a top competitor or a beginner – we always welcome everybody.
“It’s a huge feather in the cap for the club for sure – we should all be very proud of what we’ve achieved.”
Eleven classes were contested across the two day event which attracted the likes of V8 Supercar driver Nick Percat and the children of racing motorsport star Marcus Ambrose and ex-AFL footballer Brad Johnson.
“We had qualifying on Saturday afternoon and then we started racing on Sunday morning in challenging conditions,” Fahey said.
“There was misty weather which made the track slippery so drivers had to make the decision on whether to go with the slicks or softs, until lunchtime when the sun came out.
“They were quite exciting races to watch, they were all extremely competitive and there wasn’t too many issues in the races so to speak.
“But as usual everybody tries to win the race at turn one which often provides plenty of entertainment.”
Rusty Ponting was the pick of the local hopes, with the youngster winning the Cadet 12 section.
Other members to compete were Jaxon Johnstone (16th X30), Andrew Johnstone (26th X30), Jaymi Mackay (29th X30), David Menzel (11th Combined Light), Adam Henriksen (19th Combined Light), Max Fahey (21st Combined Light) and Blake Bassett (29th Combined Light).
Laura Fahey (ninth K4 Junior Heavy), Shaun Clover (12th K4 Junior Heavy), Kurtis Polkinghorne (sixth Cadet 9), Mitch Mackay (fourth KA3 Senior Medium) and Rhys Baxter (eighth Combined Medium) rounded out the South West Kart Club’s contingent.
“The club’s pretty proud of the results the members got and hope they continue to achieve great results while representing the club across the state,” Fahey said.
“We have a couple going to the Australian Karting Championships and a couple going to the Golden Power Series at Rochester in two weeks’ time.”
Fahey said the club was thankful to the Corangamite Shire and local sponsors for their support of the event and hoped it continued to succeed in the future.
“We’ve very lucky to have such a prestigious event held in Cobden,” she said.
“We had a lot of comments from people who never knew the track was there and they think it’s a wonderful track and we’re just lucky to have such wonderful volunteers maintaining the track.
“We’re also extremely grateful to have support from the Corangamite Shire and many other local businesses.”