Race Report Round 1 of the Australian Kart Championships

Race Report

Australian Karting Championships Round 1 – Monarto, SA.

The 2018 season brings a new challenge for Shannon’s Emerson Harvey as he steps up to the coveted KA2 Junior class.

From the moment Emerson hit the track for practice he did not slip outside the top 8, which was extremely encouraging considering his lack of practice due to an engine misfire during testing.

Qualifying; was in slippery wet conditions, the Shannon’s driver was being cautious, just trying to bank a lap & just as Emerson was getting in the grove he caught some slower traffic, slightly compromising his good lap. So the Shannon’s backed driver had to settle for 8th.

Heat 1; The race started on a damp track, with everyone on slick tyres, Emerson made an awesome start coming out of turn 1 in 2nd. A great battle between the top 3 saw Emerson finish 3rd, a great result for his first race in this new class.

Heat 2; In a hectic start line incident, the kart in front of Emerson slowed which caused the kart behind to hit Emerson on to infield, dropping to last. Emerson fought back to 14th and showed he had the pace to run up the front - just a little luck was required. 

Heat 3; Making a solid start and running with the leaders, the Shannons kart was on track for a great finish in fifth position, until an over enthusiastic pass by another driver saw Emerson end up in the dirt with 2 laps remaining. A trip to the stewards saw the other driver receive a 15 second penalty, however this would really compromise our starting position for heat 4.

Heat 4; As expected the heat 3 incident dropped Emerson back to 15th, a solid heat was all that the Shannon’s driver needed to stay in touch with the leaders & to have a shot at a top 5. A bit of a bump at turn 1 cost a few positions, but a good solid drive saw Emerson move up to 11th, again with good pace.

Final; Starting out of 13th called for some smart driving - Emerson put his head down and got on with the job, it was an epic final with not one driver giving an inch.  The battle raged for 20 laps with the Shannons driver coming home 6th, with the fastest lap of the race. So many positives to take away & to run at the front of this very classy field means Emerson is on track for a great season.

A busy few months ahead with Round 1 of the State champs at Geelong April 6 - 8, and the following week Round 2 of the AKC at Albury.