1st October 2014

Jayden Gollan’s skills in the wet help him to victory - From the Bundaberg News Mail

STATE CHAMP: Bundaberg's Jayden Gollan won the Queensland Closed Championship in the Junior Clubman class in Emerald. Photo: Ben Turnbull / NewsMail

BEFORE Jayden Gollan could even leave the pits in his junior clubman kart at the Queensland Closed Championships in Emerald he had to bolt lumps of lead to his seat to get his machine to the minimum weight required to compete.

Compared to the other drivers Gollan is tiny in stature and a few years younger, but that didn’t stop him piloting his kart to victory by six seconds, claim a state title and finish off a great weekend of racing.

After qualifying fastest Gollan was being hunted by a snarling pack of drivers and was sure to be put under pressure trying to hold them off.

There was one thing the other competitors didn’t count on – Gollan’s ability to drive in the wet.

“The wet suited my driving style – I love racing in the wet,” Gollan said.

“In the final I didn’t make one mistake and I was so happy to beat the best in Queensland.”

Gollan’s season doesn’t finish with the state title and his next goal is to defend his lead in the junior national lite category in the Central Queensland series in Gladstone on November 8-9.

He won in the rookies and wants to win the CQ title in a second class. To hold off the second placed Sam Battye Gollan will have to drive well on the twisty and undulating Gladstone circuit.

To do that Gollan listed a few of the traits he thinks will give him the advantage. “My strengths as a driver are saving the tyres, keeping the engine cool and passing,” he said.

Gollan is a member of the Bundaberg Kart Club which will hold its next meeting at Dromeside Race this Sunday, the Jordan Paige Memorial.