Farkas Upstages The Big Guns In DarwinTweetAKA media Queenslander Chris Farkas upstaged his more fancied rivals during qualifying at the 50th Australian National Sprint Kart Championships at the Hidden Valley Kart Raceway in Darwin on Saturday. Farkas, (right, AF Images/Budd pic) who is competing in the Leopard Light category for the first time, set the fastest time during qualifying ahead of two-time Pro Junior (KF3) Champion Pierce Lehane and reigning champion Cian Fothergill. While Fothergill went on to claim both 7-lap heat races, Farkas is excited about the prospect of mixing it with the best drivers in the country during tomorrow’s pre-final and final. “It was a very last minute decision to enter for this weekend’s event and after running in Clubman for many years this is my first race in the Leopard category, so to get pole position against such high quality opposition I’m very surprised,” said Farkas. “My parents and I travelled the 3,600km earlier in the week to get here and so far it’s been a great weekend. I came here aiming to qualify in the top ten, so to put it on pole is outstanding. “We’re still learning a lot about this kart and engine package, hopefully we can continue to learn more and be close to the front tomorrow afternoon.” Local driver David O’Dowd qualified just outside the top ten while Noonamah’s Royce Nott had a troublesome day in the Leopard Light category enduring a 14th place finish in heat one before he was eliminated in a lap one incident in heat two. Palmerston’s Chris Gatt also battled with O’Dowd in the middle of the pack. Continuing the good run for the Queenslanders during qualifying was Brock Plumb and Scott Simpson, who qualified first in the Junior National Heavy and Clubman Super Heavy classes respectively. “It’s a great start to the weekend. I qualified second fastest last year and ended up finishing second for the event, so hopefully it’s a bit of an omen for the rest of the weekend,” said Plumb (left, AF Images/Budd pic) . “I was quick in practice over the past couple of days but there was also a few there who were fast as well. So far I’m really enjoying the track, it’s very challenging and hard to keep the momentum up – you really have to be focused on every lap.” Reigning champion Kip Foster secured pole position during qualifying in the Clubman Heavy category ahead of last weekend’s winner at the Northern Territory Championships, Shay Mayes. 50th Australian National Sprint Kart Championships RESULTS: Qualifying (Top Five) Clubman Super Heavy Junior National Heavy Clubman Heavy Senior National Junior National Light Leopard Heavy Clubman Light Junior Clubman The results are being updated as soon as possible after each race here (https://app.austkarting.com.au/aka/results/view/NT/Darw/2012-07-08/) RACE ORDER/SPLIT Evening Classes
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