From the Gympie Times (http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2012/03/23/billy-spares-the-horses/)
Junior Rotax driver Russell Whittaker with his kart and showjumper turned kart driver Billy Raymont are ready for a big weekend of racing. Pic: Gympie Times/Craig Warhurst
CHAMPION showjump rider Billy Raymont has swapped his horse for horse power this weekend and will compete in the Rotax Pro Tour in Gympie.
The event is tipped to be ultra competitive with no less than 10 current or former Australian karting champions in action aboard the 125cc Rotax-powered karts.
Raymont said he wasn’t expecting to feature at the top of the standing but bought a new Rotax kart just to compete at Gympie.
He said he loved the sport and said his kart would reach speeds of 120kmh in the main straight.
“That’s pretty quick when you are an inch off the ground and 40 other guys are racing with you,” Raymont said.
Raymont has just returned from a showjumping competition in New Zealand with fellow Gympie jumper Brett Warren.
He has a horse on the national squad and said he should be at home working in it in preparation for the show circuit and a chance of making the Olympic team.
He said the Royal Easter show in Sydney was his last chance to get the horse prepared.
He then has to make a decision whether to take the horse to Europe for a selection competition.
“The horse is still a bit young,” Raymont said.
“Another year would have been good.”
Another Gympie driver hitting the track is junior Rotax driver Russel Whittaker.
Whittaker, 15, said he was hoping for a good result and wasn’t concerned if the track was going to be wet.
One hundred and fifty-five entries have been received across the six categories in the Rotax Light, Rotax Heavy, Junior Rotax, Rotax Over 40’s, DD2 and DD2 Masters.
It is the first time the Rotax Pro Tour has visited Gympie, something another local driver Kyle Ensbey hopes will play into his hands.
The 21-year-old, who is fresh off a victory in the opening round of the CIK Stars of Karting Series in Adelaide, will take on the likes of 2011 Rotax Nationals winner Jason Pringle (Melbourne, Vic), Gold Coast brothers Damian and Lucas Ward, three-time Australian Champion Tyler Greenbury (Toowoomba, Qld) and perennial front-runner Troy Woolston (Melbourne, Vic) in the DD2 category.
“Over my career, I’ve done thousands of laps around the Gympie track and I’m really looking forward to taking on Australia’s best drivers on my home track,” he said.
