The monthly Club Day meeting of the Ballarat Go Kart Club was held on Sunday July 27th at the Haddon Park Raceway, Haddon. Cold and wet conditions greeted the 39 drivers who competed in 8 classes of racing. Wet conditions in the first round of heats saw most drivers put the racing slicks in the trailer and run on wet tyres. As conditions dried the slicks were back on the karts for the second round of heats and the first of the finals. Late rain saw drivers in the last of the finals scrambling to change to wet set-ups once more. Close and exciting racing resulted in many of the classes. Results as follows......

Close racing between the three placegetters highlighted the Midget class. Dominant in the first two heats, Michael Seferis had to hold off strong finishes from Blake Graham and Jarrod Dwyer to secure the point-score for the day.

Mitch Quiddington and Dylan Harrison had a tight tussle all day in the Rookies before Mitch prevailed in the final with a strong drive. Reading the weather better than his rivals, Mitch entered the final race set up for wet conditions while Dylan and Danial both stuck with their dry set-ups. As the rain came down, Mitch quickly established his dominance driving away with the win. 

In some of the closest racing of the day, the Rotax Heavy class put of a great display of power and pressure driving. The lead swapped regularly across the heats and final race as all drivers pushed for the ascendancy. At the end of the day Pete Renga was a narrow point-score winner from Craig Widgery. An unlucky Andrew Marshall took third position after being involved in a collision on the last lap of the final

Results in each class for the day were as follows:

Encouragement Award

Kyle Bourke, a new driver in Junior National Pro, is the winner of the encoragement award for this month. At his first race meeting, Kyle showed that it won't be long before he is challenging for podium positions. Well done Kyle!

Drivers arrived to a track looking picture perfect after the working bee on the saturday prior to racing. Conditions were overcast and cool, with accasional sunny periods. Threatening rain later in the day held off until after racing had been completed. 48 entrants contested the 9 classes run during the day, with close racing in all classes. Results in each class as follows:

Encouragement Award

Ash Findlay - CLUBMAN LIGHT

Cold, windy and at times wet conditions greeted the 41 entrants who raced at the June club day. The varying track conditions threw lots of challenges at all drivers as kart set-ups were adjusted between each race to suit a track that was initially dry, then very wet, and finally drying, but still wet and slippery in patches. Some great racing resulted...

Jarrod Dwyer showed his skill on a wet track in the Midgets final. After starting from position 2 in the final, Jarrod quickly took the lead and was unchallenged for the rest of the race to take the class win for the day. Tyler Harrison continued his good form from Warnambool to come home in second with Blake Graham third for the day.

A close contest in Rookies with Mitch Quiddington, Daniel Doria and Dylan Harrison finishing as the placegetters. There were spills and spins aplenty as the drivers battled with the unfamiliar wet conditions, but persistence shone through on the day. 

Ash Quiddington made it a double for the family with a clean victory in Junior National Pro. Reversing the result from last club day, Ash led Nick Davenport home, with Patrick Loiacono taking a podium finish for the first time, just ahead of the rapidly improving Tylaer Carter. 

A great drive from Callum Boyce in Senior National Pro. After winning both heats and starting on pole for the final, Callum overshot the first corner and was lucky to stay off the safety barrier. Rejoining the race in last positon Callum turned on a great display of power and precision driving to pass the field and record a clean sweep on the day. Josh Dunstone and Michael Masterson filled second and third positions.  

A close fought battle in Clubman Light saw Josh Dunstone edge out Drue Masterson for the class victory. Showing great skill in the wet conditions Josh drove away from the field to record a strong victory. Ash Findlay took third place on the day despite ending up in the wood chips during the extreme wet of the second heat.

Clubman Heavy saw drivers struggle with the difficult conditions with Brad DeCarli the only driver to greet all three chequered flags for the day, leading the field home on all three occasions. Craig Widgery battled gamely for second position on the day, with Brad Quiddington joining brothers Ash and Mitch in podium finishes for the day.

The 'tall man' Stephen MacDonald took the class win in Clubman Super Heavy for what I believe was his first ever finish atop the podium. Driving well in the conditions Stephen showed great consistency to cross the finish line in each race. Trevor Attwood battled gamely with Mick Angwin to fill the minor placings on the day. After 2 DNFs in the heats, Rob Graham strarted the final from the back of the grid. In a great drive Rob drove through the field to record a strong win in the final.

Relishing conditions as the track turned wet, Peter Renga powered home to win the Rotax Pro class on the day, ahead of the ever-reliable Kevin O'DOnohue. In a rare visit to the Rotax arena Andrew Smith greeted the chequered flag on two occasions, however a DNF in one of the heats proved costly on the day, relegating Andrew to third place. 

Results in each class for the day were as follows:

Encouragement Award

Tyler Carter, a new driver in Junior National Pro, is the winner of the encoragement award for this month. Tyler is showing lots of improvement as his time on the track increases. Keep up the good work Tyler!