B & A Kart Racing made the trip from Victoria to the final round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship at the Newcastle Kart Club. James and Aiva Anagnostiadis are 2 of the best young drivers in the country and they were looking to finish their 2022 Australian Kart Championship in style. James running in the KA4 Junior class and Aiva in the KA3 Senior class were ready to do battle!
James was the first of the siblings out in KA4 Junior and showed blistering pace all of Friday practice to top the time sheets. Saturday morning qualifying came around and James mysteriously lost his pace from Friday qualifying down in position 9 at the back end of the top 10. James drove the wheels off his kart in the opening heat, moving up 2 spots and into position 7 by the chequered flag. Anagnostiadis was able to do much of the same in heat 2 moving up to position 7 and this had him starting on the outside of the 4th row for heat 3.
James had an unfortunate start to his 3rd heat when he was sent off the track at turn 1 re-joining outside the top 20. Anagnostiadis had a bent kart due to this and a lack of pace coming home in position 20 overall.
Sunday morning the team found the issue with James’s kart and they were now confident he could move even further up the grid from position 11. Anagnostiadis quickly made his way into the top 10 but was showing lighting pace and moved into the top 5 as the race went on. In a brilliant drive, James made his way up to 3rd spot and was now chasing a podium result in the final.
Anagnostiadis started out of position 8 for the final but by lap 7 was already into the top 5. By half way Anagnostiadis had made his way onto the podium and the young driver was able to cross the line with a brilliant 2nd place overall!
Aiva was next to hit the track in the near full field of KA3 Senior. Saturday morning qualifying was an intense and hotly contested session with Anagnostiadis landing in position 17 overall. Aiva was able to put in a brilliant opening heat, moving up 5 positions across the 12 laps to cross the line in position 12 overall.
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The lady racer was able to back this up in heat 2, making up another 4 positions and crossing the line in position 13 overall. Aiva was out of position 12 for heat 3 and had moved her way up to position 10 before being taken out by another kart. Anagnostiadis crossed the line in position 20 overall.
Aiva was starting the final heat race out of position 13 and was looking to move up positions. Anagnostiadis was racing inside and on the edge of the top 10 for the whole race in a great battle for positions. The lady racer finished heat 4 in position 11 and was looking for a top 10 finish in the final.
Aiva had a terrific start from position 13 making up 4 spots on the opening lap and straight into the top 10. Anagnostiadis continued to make up spots and time on the lead group. The lady racer came home with her best result of the weekend in position 7 in a great fight back!
James and Aiva’s parents spoke post weekend on both drivers results across the weekend. “Newcastle is one of the most difficult tracks in the country. Despite little preparation, both drivers showed brilliant pace all weekend. A tyre issue on Saturday hindered James qualifying and heat results on Saturday, but he quickly regained his form, after we fixed the problem on Sunday morning.
“Aiva showed brilliant pace and we’ll achieved her goal of finishing within the top 10 in a super competitive KA3 Senior field”.
James, Aiva and the Anagnostiadis family would like to thank their sponsors Forch, B & A Concrete Pumping, Grace & Maggie, Rock Solid, Women In Construction, Repco, Fit Impact, Cc Racing Engines, Tom Williamson Motorsport, Kart Republic and Kosmic Karts.
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