ORANGE karter Cody Burcher is thriving since moving up to the rookie division from cadets.
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On the weekend the 10-year-old lined up in the Brian Farley Memorial race meeting at Eastern Creek and turned in an outstanding performance.
The rookie event attracted karters from around Australia and Burcher was able to match them.
He and his father, Shane, used Friday for practice and to set the kart up.
Saturday morning was qualifying with competitors on the track for four minutes in timed sessions.
Burcher didn’t disappoint with his fastest time of 47.728 seconds earning him pole position for the heats, his first pole position as a rookie.
He was consistent in the three heats, finishing third in all three.
Burcher and his dad made a few changes to his kart in preparation for the final, which was held in sweltering conditions.
Burcher started in third for the final in a field of 18.
A group of four broke away from the rest of the field and battled for positions throughout the final.
There was a lot of push a shove in the final but Burcher managed to move onto the back bumper of the leader with two corners to go.
At that point the karter in third tried to make a move and hit Burcher’s back wheel.
The Orange karter managed to hold on to second place, 0.173 seconds behind the winner.
After such a strong showing on the weekend, Burcher is looking forward to the other big races coming up this year.
This weekend he’s off to Newcastle, before lining up in the Victorian State Titles in March, the NSW Open State Titles in June, the Queensland State Titles in July and the NSW Closed State Titles in October.
Burcher will compete in Australia’s premier karting series, the CIK Stars of Karting.
This will be raced over five rounds in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland, starting on March 28 and 29 in Ipswich.
Burcher is one of the few karters who isn’t sponsored by a kart shop.
As a result he and his father often sleep in the trailer at meetings to cut down costs.
Burcher has a Facebook page for anyone interested in following his progress.
You can follow his results at www.facebook.com/CodyBurcherKarting.