Orange Kart Club’s Perc Griffith Way track came alive on Friday as the best in the business prepared for this weekend’s opening round of the 2017 NSW Kart Championship.
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Practice kicked off at 9am on Friday morning before qualifying that afternoon, with drivers from across NSW finding their feet on the track for the title bids kick off on Saturday morning.
There’s more than 150 drivers lining up this weekend across nine classes and the quality doesn’t stop there, it extends all the way to the commentators box were renowned caller Zak Caban will be perched.
Orange City Council sport and recreation committee chair Jason Hamling welcomed the event, the latest in a long list of large and prestigious race meets the Perc Griffith Way track has hosted.
“Hosting a round of the state titles will give locals a terrific opportunity to see the best of this sport in our own backyard,” Cr Jason Hamling said.
“Karting has traditionally been the foot-in-the-door for motor racing generally and this event will put the latest crop of drivers on show.”
Karting NSW chief executive officer Derek Ferry shares Hamling’s enthusiasm.
“Orange is one of the most unique karting circuits in the country and always produces some fantastic racing. We’re looking forward to another great event next month,” Ferry said.
“Everyone loves coming to enjoy the hospitality from the people in the Orange region and the event will be one of the real highlights on the NSW calendar for 2017.”
A number of the central west region’s best look likely to take advantage of their local knowledge, particularly Orange’s Cody Burcher and Brett Robinson.
Granted it was only practice, but the pair both grabbed wins in Friday’s practice races.
Robinson won all four of the TaG 125 Heavy division’s practice races while Burcher battled with Grenfell’s Thomas Sargent in the KA3 Junior practices runs. Burcher won two, as did Sargent.
That looks likely to be a battle as fierce as any other over the weekend.
Racing starts at 9am on Saturday, the finals kick off 24 hours later on Sunday morning.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
