Sport
1 August, 2023
Cobden teen in the fast lane
COBDEN teen Rusty Ponting is fast making a name for himself on the speedway circuit.
COBDEN teen Rusty Ponting is fast making a name for himself on the speedway circuit.
The 14 year-old has been behind the wheel of race cars for a decade, having first raced in the junior quarter midgets class as a four year-old.
Growing up around speedway, with his dad Warren being a front running F500 driver in the early 2000s, it was inevitable that racing would be his chosen sport.
For three years Rusty raced the junior speedway tracks across Victoria in the junior quarter midgets before venturing on to the bitumen where he spent six years racing go karts.
During that time he took two Victorian Country Series Championship wins along with back-to-back Victorian Karter of the Year awards.
Rusty recently returned to speedway competition via the rapidly growing Junior F500 class.
Last season he took the championship win in the Victorian Stampede Series and more recently travelled to America and joined the pit crew for a Micro Sprint team where he spent a fortnight gaining valuable behind-the-scenes experience.
Rusty now hopes to return to America next year and is aiming to get behind the wheel of a Micro Sprint.
He also hopes to move into F500s in seniors once he turns 16 and, ultimately, drive a 410 Sprintcar.
This upcoming 2023-24 season will see the Cobden teen compete in around 20 junior F500 race meetings, including those in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.