Production Car Champ Joins Superkarts
from Mark Jones
Stuart Kostera has driven a lot of racing cars in his career. The former front-running Formula 3 racer is now a two-time champion in the Australian Manufacturers Championship, including an undefeated run of victories in the 2011 season in the TMR Mitsubishi Lancer. This weekend at the season finale of the Australian Superkart Championship, Kostera will make his racing debut in a Superkart.
Kostera will step aboard the Denture Professionals Spearwood supported Zip Eagle Superkart owned by fellow Western Australian racer Mark Hanson.
"I'm pretty excited about it," said Kostera. "I've done plenty laps at Phillip Island, including the six hour race this year, so the track will be good but learning the kart will be fairly hard work I believe."
The Superkart is a Zip Eagle, powered by the BRC250 tandem cylinder engine that places it in the front running class, 250 International, one of the three fastest classes of circuit racing categories in Australia.
"He's always been a karter," said kart owner Mark Hanson. "He's always been working with local kart clubs in Western Australia."
"Stuart was going to race for us earlier this year at Eastern Creek until business commitments got in the way."
"I drove one earlier in the year at Mallala," continued Kostera. The Formula 3 is the most similar to a Superkart with the speed and the downforce, I'm going in with the same sort of mindset as if I was driving the Formula 3."
"I don't have any expectations, every time I've tried to get some times and testing something has happened to cancel it." Kostera's first attempt to drive Hanson's Zip ended after 100 meters of Mallala's pit lane after a mechanical malfunction. Kostera immediately hopped into Barbara Hepworth's similar Zip Eagle-BRC and was quickly lapping within a second of front running pace at the South Australian circuit.
Practice begins tomorrow morning at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Cirucit finale of the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships. Qualifying and racing will begin on Saturday and run into Sunday.
The racing will be telecast later on SBS Speedweek and broadcast live over the internet on ITV Live.
