27th January 2011

Stars headline Rotax Pro Tour in Melbourne this weekend!

From near and far they have come for the first major karting event of the 2011 Australian season – the Rotax Pro Tour at Melbourne’s Todd Road Circuit this weekend.

With entries today topping 152 across the all-Rotax meeting – it will be the largest total entry since the Pro Tour’s inception at the beginning of 2009.

Dusting off the equipment after the summer hiatus is the focus for many competitors, whilst there are some that have barely stopped over the Christmas break.

The man who owns the Todd Road circuit in Rotax Light, David Sera, has jetted back in from the USA specifically for the event, where last weekend he took the fight to some of the best racers in the world in the Florida Winter Tour Rotax Challenge.

Sera, the five times Australian Rotax Champion, took his Australian built Arrow chassis to second in both stages of the Winter Tour race meeting and left IndyCar superstar, Dan Wheldon in his wake.
He will compete in this event then immediately head back to the USA for the next event on the Winter Tour!

Former Junior star, Canberra’s Jackson Delamont has been spending his summer months becoming acquainted with a 900-horsepower Sprintcar. The car he has been driving was formerly driven by current World of Outlaws Champion, Jason Meyers on the gruelling trans-America tour. He’ll have a tough race in Rotax DD2 against last start winner, Brinley Gread and Australian representative, Jason Pringle.

After stepping up from Juniors, Delamont continues in the Rotax DD2 class aboard his Stable Karting Tony Kart. His sole aim this year is to qualify for the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals –to be held in Dubai at the end of 2011, whilst continuing Sprintcar commitments.

The Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals are considered the Olympics of kart racing worldwide and competitors must earn the right to race at the meeting – places cannot be bought. The Rotax Pro Tour, along with the Rotax Nationals provide the greatest opportunity for Australian racers to earn the right to represent their country.

A young man who did just that last season was Pierce Lehane. The Sydney-sider is without doubt one of the best Junior prospects in Australia and in early December, finished on the podium in the Junior World Final at La Conca in Italy. He backed this up one week later by going toe-to-toe against some of the best juniors in the World in the KF3 (CIK Pro-Junior in Australia) WSK Nations Cup.
Lehane has a very unique record among the Rotax Pro Tour competitors. Since its inception, the CRG factory driver has finished on the podium at every single Pro Tour event.

Another looking forward to this weekend is Queensland’s William Yarwood. He will debut a brand new chassis to Australia – the Exprit. Manufactured as a sub-brand of Tony Kart, the Exprit represents an exciting new dawn in Australian kart racing, particularly with a four time Rotax Champion in Yarwood behind the wheel. James Macken will head the Exprit charge in Rotax Light.

Seven female competitors make up the field, including Holly Patrizi – who at the previous Rotax Pro Tour event in Newcastle – rode out a wicked rollover. Thankfully the young Queenslander was uninjured and has been able to return to the race seat. The seven females make up one of the biggest female competitor entry for an event of this magnitude in Australian karting history.

The Rotax Pro Tour is also excited to welcome a number of South Australians to Melbourne this weekend. This will be the first time a group of South Aussies has come across the border to enjoy the lengthy races and high levels of competition that the Pro Tour provides.

Add to that a whole host of Melbourne based competitors, the usual suspects and some new surprises – it promises to be one cracking weekend!

Make sure you head out to Todd Road this Saturday and Sunday – geographically the best placed karting circuit in the world (adjacent to the Westgate Bridge) – and enjoy some of Australia’s best emerging motorsport talents going toe-to-toe on one of Australia’s iconic karting circuits!

For constant updates throughout the weekend, make sure you follow @RotaxProTour on Twitter.