NSW & Qld Championships To Be Decided At ProKart Finale

press release

The final round of the Queensland and New South Wales ProKart Endurance Championship is to be contested this coming Saturday, November 12 at Raleigh International Raceway, just south of Coffs Harbour, NSW.

This 6-hour endurance race is the last in the QLD and NSW championships, both of which have been hotly contested over the 7 rounds previously contested.


Above: Team5150R, here driven by Ian McMah, holds a slim championship lead

In Queensland, the championship heads in to the final race with the closest margin ever seen, the #152 of Phantom Racing and the #50 of Team5150R separated by 4 points, which equates to less than 1 position on-track.

Whilst in mathematical contention, it is likely that PDS Racing will be seeking to consolidate their 3rd position in the championship as they are currently 45 points off the series lead and would need to finish at least 10 places ahead of both Phantom and Team5150R to have any chance of victory.

KnK Karts are currently in 4th position with a healthy points gap to BF Racing; however the next 4 positions are tightly grouped on points and any of those teams could end up finishing 5th in the series with a strong result at Raleigh. This group is comprised of BF Racing, the #662 Kart of PDS Racing, 2Dadz Racing and Frog Racing, with Atlas Racing not that much further afield.

All eyes however are likely to be on the Phantom Racing team of Simon Ham and Steve Thompson as they look to defend their slender lead over Ian McMah and Glenn Firth in the #50 Team5150R kart.

Barring failure or a major upset, it is remarkable that after a season-long battle, whoever finishes in front of the other on-track will take the Queensland series championship.


Above: Simon Ham and Steve Thompson will be hoping to keep the Phantom Racing kart at the top of the points

The NSW championship, whilst not quite as close, is as equally well contested, with a number of teams heading in to this final event in mathematical contention for the series win.

KW Racing, the recently crowned National ProKart Series Champions have proven to be the team to beat all season, however the #777 kart of Horsepower Racing is in a strong second place and well positioned to challenge for the series win, as they’re only 40 points behind the #3 KW Racing entry. Also in contention are the #21 entry of Walkos Racing and the #23 entry from Bell Pipes Racing.

Points are awarded separately for the QLD and NSW series entrants and it is likely there will be a high number of NSW teams competing, increasing the chances for Horsepower, Walkos and Bell Pipes Racing to close the gap if they can feature prominently in Saturday’s decider.

Whilst KW Racing team manager Grant Gaffa is confident, his experience and instincts lead him to assume that nothing is guaranteed at this stage of the season. Regardless of the result however, KW have undertaken a remarkable championship campaign this year – their National Series win against the best endurance teams in Australia proof positive of their strong management, equipment and driver line-up.

The Raleigh 6-hour features as one of ProKart’s marquee events and Raleigh International Raceway has hosted the season-ending event for a number of years now, proving popular with series officials, competitors and spectators alike.

The ProKart endurance series is like any other form of professional long-distance racing with pitstops, safety cars, driver changes and refuelling adding a new dimension to the sport of karting with most competitors drawing parallels with Australia’s own Bathurst 1000 V8Supercar event.

This event will be decisive in both the Queensland and New South Wales Championships and with an expected entry list of over 30 teams likely to take the starters flag, it should prove to be a fiercely contested and fitting season finale.

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