2017 VCS kicks off at Ballarat Kart Club
We are very excited that in 2017 we have the first round of the AUSTRANS Victorian Country Series on February 5.
In 2016, Cobden attracted a whopping 200+ entries for the first round, so we are expecting a big few days this year.
We will need help from all club members, family and friends to make this happen, so make yourself known to the committee by any means possible. (Facebook, email, phone)
As a lead up, we will be running the optional January club day (Jan 29) this year, 1 week before the VCS round.
Please note: Don't get carried away marking pit spots too early, we will mow lawns and mark pit boundaries in mid January.
Only after the lines are marked is anyone welcome to put their name down on a spot.
Check out the VCS Facebook page for more info
2016 Club Champions
Plenty of fun was to be at our end of year fun day, with the track running forward then reverse, welcoming home the club's first black plate winner in many years, hearing the glorious roar of an historic twin engine, and even finding a superb blue tongue lizard in the club rooms!
There was a good turnout of members and friends, and everyone seemed to have a good time, many commented that they loved the thrill of running the track in reverse.
2016 club champion presentations followed the fun day activities:
2016 Cadet 9 Club Champion: Akasha McEachran
2016 Cadet 12 Club Champion: Zaiden Barry
2016 Senior Club Champion: John Page
2016 Harry's Junior Challenge: Akasha McEachran
In 2016 Harry's Challenge was awarded to the best cadet or junior representing Ballarat at open events in 2016 as voted by the committee.
2016 Club Member of the Year: Bob Shears
You may not always see Bob on a race weekend, but he puts in an enormous amount of effort at every club working bee, and many times when there wasn't even a working bee scheduled.
A massive thanks to Bob from Ballarat Kart Club for all his hard work.
2016 State Cup results
Congratulations to all the Ballarat members who competed in state cup at Warrnambool on the weekend.
Jordan Malcolm, Luke Mason , John Page, Paul Feely, Mal Mason, Joe Fawcett, Andrew Bowen and Jaxson Cox all put in their best efforts amongst Victoria's top drivers.
A huge congratulations go to Jordan Malcolm, winning KA4 Junior Heavy and getting black plates for 2017!
It was great racing to watch and an outstanding result in a very impressive field.
Luke Mason also powered home to grab a great second spot in TAG Restricted Heavy with some impressive consistent clean driving.
View full results
End of year Fun Day: Sunday December 11
The club will be going ahead with a "Fun Day" on Sunday December 11th, and and the November clubday will not run.
The fun day will be open to all members (Including practice license holders and historic karts)and entry will be free.
- Activity format TBC (Likely a combination of forward and reverse challenges)
- Club champion presentations
- End of year BBQ (We have applied for a temp liquor license for the event)
- Activities will commence from 1:00pm, BBQ and Presentations from 5:00pm
Come out and have some fun on track, learn a few things from other karters, or just kick back and enjoy the BBQ.
Please make yourself known via Facebook, email or message so we can get an idea of numbers
2016 AGM Outcomes
Thank you to everyone that attended the 2016 AGM
The following roles have been filled for 2016-2017:
President: Paul Feely
Vice-president: Mal Mason
Secretary: Kev O'Donohue
Treasurer: Kev O'Donohue
Race Secretary: Debbie Page
Club Delegate: Paul Feely
Co Delegate: Mal Mason
Scrutineer: John Page
Track Inspector: Kev O'Donohue
Canteen Manager: Michelle Shields
Website and social media: Paul Feely
Trophies: Paul Feely
Publicity officer: Mark Fawcett
License secretary: Kev O'Donohue
Additional Committee members:
Bob Shears, Sam Wren, Brendan Torpy, Justin Malcolm, John Page, Ray Dumesny, Jess Aldridge and Luke Fong
A big thankful to everyone who has dedicated their time in these roles to make the club function.
The November committee meeting will be Wednesday 9 November at 8:00pm in the Haddon club rooms.
October clubday and AGM update
- With only 6 pre-entries the clubday racing cannot go ahead and is cancelled.
We highly encourage all members to pre-enter early for next club day to avoid this happening again. - The AGM needs to go ahead and is still scheduled for 11:00am
- All gate locks will be changed on Monday 31 October, so please attend the AGM and get your new key at the same time.
This is part of a security upgrade thanks to a Department of Justice Community Safety grant. - Karters are welcome to have a practice/test day after the AGM with help from other members
October Clubday and AGM
The October club day is this weekend: Sunday October 30.
We would love to see a few entries as the spring weather finally starts to appear.
The AGM will be held before the start of the racing, and all positions are declared vacant.
Every member is expected to attend the AGM:
Our club does not run as a business offering services for paying customers in exchange for a membership fee and no further commitment.
It does run as a club requiring members to occasionally pool together and offer their time and skills in exchange for the privilege of being a member and using the facilities.
Note: All member keys will soon be replaced thanks to a community safety grant from the Department of Justice.
We will post an update if this will be ready for this weekend and if the changeover process will be with the AGM.
Well done to our competing members
Well done to all our Ballarat members who had strong results on the weekend, with great wins for John Page and Sam Wren
New member Anthony Warner also picked up a good 2nd.
Akasha McEachran and Luke Mason were both just outside the podium knocking on the door.
Luke Thurston's position sells him a bit short - he was racing with and matching Remo pace in a very fast KA3 freight train.
Ballarat member results:
John Page 1st TAG Restricted Masters
Sam Wren 1st TAG Restricted Super Heavy
Anthony Warner 2nd TAG Restricted Masters
Luke Mason 4th TAG Restricted Heavy
Akasha McEachran 4th Cadet 9
Ray Dumesny 5th TAG Restricted Heavy
Joe Fawcett 5th Cadet 12
Paul Feely 5th TAG 125 Heavy
Jordan Malcolm 7th KA4 Junior Light 7th KA3 Junior
Jarrod Dwyer 7th KA3 Senior Light
Luke Thurston 7th KA3 Senior Heavy
Mal Mason 9th TAG Restricted Masters
Zaiden Barry 10th Cadet 12
Sam Murphy 10th TAG 125 Restricted Light
Braydon McKinnon 10th TAG Restricted Super Heavy
Trent Johnston 11th TAG Restricted Super Heavy
Tim Forster 11th TAG 125 Restricted Light
Lachlan Pring 14th Cadet 9
Andrew Bowen 15th TAG 125 Restricted Light
Brendan Torpy 17th TAG 125 Restricted Light
Sam Wren leading TAG 125 Restricted Super Heavy
John Page leading TAG 125 Restricted Masters
Anthony Warner 2nd TAG 125 Restricted Masters
A big thankyou
It's time to say a few thank you's to all that helped us out over the weekend with the successful running of this year's Ballarat Victorian Country series round.
Over the last two weeks we have been asking for, and requesting help with club volunteers just to try and get enough numbers to make it work, let alone offer some relief for the regulars in the canteen.
We have to say that we are very proud of what our club members were able to deliver, with an excellent level of support from mums, dads daughters and grans, girlfriends and just mates, even people from other clubs, all of which allowed our regular canteen legend Michelle successfully deliver hundreds of meals and drinks throughout the weekend.
To everyone that jumped in to help with the tyre marking that also contributed towards getting the karts to the grid in a timely manner, throughout most of the qualifying period there were a minimum of 4 people marking the tyres, most rotating between their own races just to make it work.
To the regulars at working bees throughout the year, and newer faces more recently that contributed to getting the track ship shape for this meeting. It doesn't happen on its own.
This is a typical effort that continues to make not only Ballarat, but all of our country clubs in the Victorian Country Series stand out and continue to showcase our sport.
Well done everyone, and thank you from the Ballarat Kart club committee.
Mayor of Ballarat tries karting at Haddon
Today we invited the Mayor of Ballarat, Councillor Des Hudson, out to our track to learn more about our sport ahead of our VCS round this weekend.
Without even hire kart experience (He has driven a monster truck before though!), Des was quick to start working on smooth lines and pushing the kart harder, and he had quite an enjoyable stint.
Ballarat Kart Club President and Vice-President (Paul Feely and Mal Mason) had a good discussion with Des about the sport, the club and sport in the region.
We thank Des for his time, and hope he enjoyed it.
View the onboard video
August Club Day Results
Thanks to everyone who came out on Sunday, it was great weather to turn some laps.
Both WinTV and The Courier came out ahead of next weekend, so we hope to see some of our karters in the news this week.
Remember; if you haven't pre-entered yet for next weekend, enter now at https://karting.net.au/cms/member/
Cadet 12
1 Joe Fawcett
Cadet 9
1 Brocklan Parker
2 Akasha McEachran
3 Ruby Gibson
TAG 125 Light
1 Mitchell Sutej
TAG 125 Restricted Light
1 Lachlan Hill
2 Alexander Barallon
3 John Page
KA3 Junior
1 Jordan Malcolm
2 Ryan Bettess
KA4 Senior Light
1 Leandra Schmidt
2 Trudi McEachran
KA4 Junior Light
1 Jaxson Cox
2 Jordan Malcolm
3 Nerinda Beard
KA4 Junior Heavy
1 Daniel Hookway
2 Will Kelly-Merrifield
3 Maximus Fahey
TAG 125 Restricted Heavy
1 Luke McPherson
2 Anthony Warner
3 Sam Wren
KA3 Senior Light
1 Douglas Jackson
KA3 Senior Heavy
1 Luke Thurston
Full results at https://karting.net.au/cms/results
August and September at Ballarat Kart Club
It is a busy month for the club in the lead-up to the Victorian Country Series Round 5 on September 3 and 4.
There's a lot of work ahead, but it should be a great event.
- Volunteers - We need all members to contribute to the preparation and running our biggest event of the year
We need help for jobs including working bees, tyre marking, sunday bbq, canteen and bar (RSA required)
A list is posted outside the canteen for names - Round Sponsorship - Sponsorships are available for $100 per class (Listed in program, mentioned in commentary etc)
Contact Paul on 0438 981300 - Pit spots - Lines have now been marked and you can mark out your spot
- Working Bee 2: Saturday 27 Aug (TBD)
- August Club Day - Sunday Aug 28
- AUSTRANS Victorian Country Series Round 5: Sat Sep 3 and Sunday Sep 4