by Mitchell McLellan, MMS Media & Commentating
Retro Karting Australia fired up over the weekend for the opening round of their Australian Kart Championship series. The round took place at Beckley Park Raceway, Geelong, with the Victorian State Titles being award.
With over sixty entries across five classes, Retro Karting was certainly back on the map in 2022.
F100 Heavy
F100 Heavy was one of the most epic battles of the weekend with Glenn Riddell putting his entry on pole position, over Daniel Richert and Ryan Aitken. Richert put in an amazing lap in the shootout taking pole position for the all important heats.
Richert took out both opening heats with Riddell right behind, keeping him honest and Matthew Wall fighting through the field off the rear of the grid. Riddell took out heat three with a mechanical failure hurting Richert.
The rain came for the final changing the complexion of the race completely. Matthew Wall went to the front with former national champion Jason Pringle moving to second ahead of Riddell. Wall unfortunately had motor issues resulting in him dropping out of the race with Pringle moving to the front. Pringle took out the Victorian championship in dominant fashion in a wet weather master class over Riddell and Aitken rounding out your podium!
F100 Light
F100 Light qualifying was another intense battle with Reif Corbett putting his entry on provisional pole. Steven Riddell was able to take pole position off him in the shootout in a great flying lap. Riddell was able to take all three heat wins with Corbett and state champion Anothny Mrhar striking trouble in the heats.
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The heavens opened up and the F100 Light field took to the track for a wet final. In an epic drive, Mrhar was able to come through from the rear of the grid and take the victory to add another state championship to his collection! Riddell had to settle for second place but left the opening round leading the championship with local driver Kenton Ferguson rounding out the podium.
Clubman Super Heavy
Aaron Jackson took his maiden state championship in the Clubman Super Heavy field. Jackson took pole position and won the opening three heats with Phil Straughen, Brett Jenkin and Kurt Dickson not far behind.
In a drying final Jackson got out to over four and half seconds in front with Leigh Everitt making his way to second. In a dominate fight back Everitt got to the back of Jackson to start the final lap. Aaron was able to hold his nerve and win his maiden state championship over Everitt and Simon Larcey in third.
Clubman Heavy
Leigh Cocker went into Clubman Heavy looking for the win and come out of it with a Victorian state championship and maximum points. Cocker got challenged in the opening by David Musgrave. Cocker was able to dominate the rest of the day taking out the final by over nine seconds! Musgrave had to settle for second spot with Chris Davis a further three seconds behind in third place.
Clubman Light
Kenton Ferguson took the pole position in Clubman Light with current state champion Reif Corbett and Andrew Riddell not far behind. Ferguson, Corbett and Mick Riley all took a win in the opening three races with state champion Chris Sandrone looking quick!
The final started on a dry surface but then went wet with all drivers on slick tyres. Sandrone looked like he had victory in sight but Corbett was tearing through the field! In an epic finish, Corbett was able to come through and take victory over Ferguson and Kevin Stray rounding out your podium! Sandrone was unfortunately involved in an incident on the last lap resulting in a DNF.
The Retro Karting Australia Series will fire up for the second round at the Dubbo Kart Club on May 7th and 8th.
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