17th January 2012

Macken gives it a go in US - From the Gold Coast Bulletin

Macken gives it a go in US – From the Gold Coast Bulletin

KARTING: A tame end to his 2011 campaign convinced Gold Coast go-kart racer James Macken to challenge himself by tackling a big event in America.

Gold Coaster James Macken tackled a Senior Max event in Florida at the weekend but the bad luck of late 2011 continued

Macken, a 17-year-old student at The Southport School, stepped up a few notches in class when he competed in a round of the Senior Max category at Palm Beach in Florida over the weekend, a part of the Florida Winter Tour. Unfortunately for Macken, of Sanctuary Cove, his rotten luck from 2011 continued and he crashed during the pre-final on Saturday.

From the back of the field in the final, he charged from 39th to 17th at the finish.

On Sunday, Macken was sitting in 10th position when a mechanical failure forced him out. He was then involved in a first-turn crash in the final, an incident that ended his campaign.

The youngster was up against some of the best in the world, including Canadian Pier-luc Oulette and Ben Cooper from England. These two have both won the Rotax World Finals twice.

The Senior Max class is for drivers aged 16 years-plus in 125cc power machines. Macken represented Australia in the World Rotax Final at the United Arab Emirates last year.

He also won a round of the Australian Rotax Pro Tour in Warwick.

Macken will return to Australia tomorrow and finalise his preparations for the upcoming Rotax Pro Tour event in Melbourne.