Horsley Park's Matthew Waters is currently second in the Pro Light (KF) standings (Pic: AF Images/Budd)
Australia’s elite karting championship, the CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE, will head to Sydney later this month (July 27/28) for the penultimate round in the 2013 title chase.
The event will feature not only the top drivers from across Australia but also the World with Dutch driver Joey Hanssen, winner of the 2011 World Cup, calling Australian home in 2013. The quality of drivers is the highest seen in the Harbour City for more than a decade.
Not since the late nineties when the likes of Sydney-raised motorsport stars James Courtney, Mark Winterbottom, Ryan Briscoe and Michael Caruso were at the top of their karting career, has there been such a highly credentialed group of drivers compete in the Harbour City.
The July 27/28 event at Sydney’s Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway will feature up to 150 of the top young drivers across the three Pro categories – Pro Gearbox (KZ2), Pro Light (KF) and Pro Junior (KFJ) – and the three support categories. The youngest drivers in action will be those in the Rookies category where youngsters as young as nine years of age will take to the track.
Entering this month’s fourth round of the five round championship, the chase for the titles in the Pro categories are still very much a wide-open affair with 26 points, or one race win, being the largest gap at the top of the standings in either of the three categories.
Along with the round honours, competitors in the Pro Light (KF) category will be vying for the Franco Guaitoli Memorial Shield at Eastern Creek. Guaitoli, who passed away last year following a short battle with cancer, was considered one of the most influential people in the Australia karting for many years.
Carlingford teenager Andrew Kahl is currently fifth in the Pro Junior (KFJ) Championship (Pic: AF Images/Budd)
Guaitoli led the way for Australian drivers to compete overseas providing opportunities for drivers such as Darrell Smith and Ryan Wlodinski in the PCR team. He was also instrumental in putting Australia on the International karting map through his support of the Oceania Championships during the 1990’s.
In addition to the honour of becoming champion, and having their name alongside some of the biggest names in Australian motorsport on the winners’ list, the drivers are also vying for a $10,000 scholarship to compete in an international CIK event provided to the champion in each of the pro categories.
Practice for the event will be held on Friday July 26 ahead of racing on Saturday July 27 and Sunday July 28. Admission is free for spectators.
2013 CIK Stars of Karting Series presented by Castrol EDGE
Championship Points
After 3 of 5 rounds
Pro Gearbox (KZ2)
1. Joey Hanssen (Netherlands) – 382 points
2. Chris Hays (Gold Coast, QLD) – 356
3. Matthew Wall (Melbourne, QLD) – 316
4. Jason Pringle (Melbourne, QLD) – 298
5. Troy Bretherton (Gold Coast, QLD) – 290
Pro Light (KF)
1. George Geranis (Melbourne, Vic) – 364 points
2. Matthew Waters (Horsley Park, NSW) – 343
3. Brooke Topp (Toowoomba, QLD) – 303
4. Troy Loeskow (Bundaberg, QLD) – 298
5. Jordan Nicolaou (Melbourne, Vic) – 292
Pro Junior (KFJ)
1. Liam McLellan (Melbourne, Vic) – 332 points
2. James Abela (Horsley Park, NSW) – 317
3. Damon Strongman (Melbourne, Vic) – 294
4. Christopher Sandrone (Cobbitty, NSW)– 293
5. Andrew Kahl (Carlingford, NSW) – 278
