IT'S A GOLDEN JUBILEE AT EASTERN CREEK

In the early years race meetings were conducted on various temporary circuits in paddocks across the state

The North Shore Kart Club will celebrate 50 years of karting in the Sydney metropolitan area when it hosts the Golden Jubilee Metropolitan Titles at the Eastern Creek International Karting Circuit next weekend (November 20/21).

Karting in New South Wales, and the world for that matter, has changed significantly since the first karting event at Caringbah venue in 1960.

In the early years race meetings were conducted on various temporary circuits in paddocks across the state whereas the modern era sees karting featured at multi-million dollar purpose-built complexes like the Eastern Creek International Karting Circuit.

Garry Holt, owner of the Eastern Creek karting complex, has been involved in the sport of karting for more than 25 years and is looking forward to next weekend’s celebrations.

“To be celebrating 50 years is going to be something very special for a lot of people, especially those who have been in the sport for a lengthy period of time,” said Holt.

“Karting provides such a great ground for the future of all of the world’s top motorsport drivers and we don’t have to look too far to see proof of that. The likes of Mark Webber, Ryan Briscoe, James Courtney and Mark Winterbottom all learnt their craft racing karts in New South Wales.

“It’s great to see guys graduate into the top level of motorsport and they all praise karting for giving them such a good grounding, which is encouraging for the future stars.”

Karting is a sport for all ages with drivers from as young as seven through to the more experience in life in their fifties set to line up on the grid at next weekend’s event.

For the youngsters the lessons they learn about car control and driving technique well before they are old enough to obtain their road licence are just as important as winning.

“It isn’t just the racing that makes the sport of karting so great though, it is the camaraderie between the drivers and their parents – let’s face it not everyone can be a champion but the lessons they learn from being in the sport will certainly help them in life,” said Holt.

“It’s a sport that the entire family can be involved in, it’s not just a case of the parents dropping the kids off to a match and picking them up a couple of hours later, in karting the parents are as much involved as what the kids are.”

Racing will be held across Saturday and Sunday with the winners being crowned the Jubilee Metro Karting Champion in their respective category.

The Eastern Creek International Karting Raceway is located on Brabham drive, Eastern Creek.