Connell Family Double At Canberra Cup

press release

The Connell family came away from the annual Canberra Cup last weekend at Fairbairn Park Kart Track, near Canberra in the A.C.T, very pleased with their efforts after Geoff picked his third Canberra Cup victory in a row and his younger sister Beck scored her maiden win in the event.

Based at nearby Queanbeyan, the Canberra Cup was the perfect way to finish off what has been quite a busy year for the Connell family as they have travelled throughout the state of NSW in chase of all the major Karting events on the 2009 calendar.

Above: Geoff Connell

Adding to his top 10 results in Senior Rotax class in both the Nationals at Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway and the NSW Title at Oran Park Raceway, Geoff had a near perfect run in the Canberra Cup on his way to his record third victory in the Senior Rotax class. Connell qualified for the final on pole position after he won the pre final and earlier in the weekend topped the time sheets in qualifying and won one out of two of his heat races, finishing second in the other.

Connell made a strong start to the Canberra Cup final, however towards the latter stages of the 20 lap event he had to fend off a late challenge for his lead when the tyres on his Arrow X1 began to go off and he consequently lost grip.

“We didn’t make the best decision with our tyre pressures for the final and the mixed weather conditions really caught me out, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to deny me of taking the Canberra Cup for a third time in a row,” the 18-year-old expressed, who just recently graduated from St Edmunds College in Canberra. “Without the support of Mick from MS Floor Covering, who loaned me a Yarwood prepared engine, I wouldn’t have picked up a third Canberra Cup victory and my thanks to him is endless.”

Geoff’s sister Beck, who drove in two classes at the Canberra Cup and she managed to come away with a victory in the final for the Junior National class and a third place in the final for the Junior Rotax class.

Above: Beck Connell

For Beck this was her first Canberra Cup victory and she did it in style after dominating proceedings by qualifying at the top of the charts, then winning both of her heat races, the pre final and then the final aboard her Red Speed kart. In the Junior Rotax class the 16-year-old found the going a little tougher. She was amongst the top five runners all weekend before she made some setup changes to her Monaco Kart heading into the pre final and as a result she finished an impressive third in the pre final and then in the final.

“I had to work really hard to get my results in both of my classes and it was great to come away with two satisfying outcomes to the weekend,” she commented. “The Fairbairn Kart Track is a place that I know well and that gives you added confidence and that played a part in how my weekend turned out. The Canberra Cup is an event that I have always wanted to win as my brother had two of them and I wanted to add to the family tally.”

The Canberra Cup was Connell’s last event a Junior before she steps up to Seniors next year where she will run in the Clubman Light class.

“Winning the Canberra Cup was a great way to finish what hasn’t been the best of years and it was also a great way to finish my Karting as a Junior,” she added.

Both Geoff and Beck Connell would like to say special thanks to their parents Angela and Mark, along with Kennard’s Hire in Queanbeyan, MS Floor Covering, Universal Trusses and Stable Karting in Canberra for all their continued support.

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