WESTERN Australian drivers dominated the NT Karting Titles at Hidden Valley at the weekend, with seven wins from nine categories.
Leading the way was Nathan Davis and Nicholas Rowe, who both collected two wins.
Davis led home local drivers Brodie Green, who is a former junior champion, and Nathan Norman in the Clubman Light category.
Davis’ win in the Leopard Light category was less straight- forward than his dominant win in Clubman Light. Fellow Western Australian Adam Garnaut set the pace in qualifying and the heat races to line up alongside Davis on the front row of the grid for the pre-final.
When the pair came together on the opening turn, it left Davis on the sidelines and dropped Garnaut well down the order as Darwin’s Damien Stevens went on to claim the win.
Starting from the back of the field in the final, Davis charged his way to the front to take the win ahead of Stevens and Garnaut.
Joining Davis in the winner’s circle was his brother Matt, who broke through to claim his maiden state championship with victory in the Clubman Heavy category.
Rowe’s pair of wins came in the Junior Clubman and Junior National Heavy categories. The KTEQ Rentalsbacked driver fended off the challenges by Victorian Jake Klein throughout the weekend in the Junior Clubman category, as the duo finished ahead of local pair Bryce Fullwood and Jake Smith.
In the Junior National Heavy category, Rowe was outpaced by Ben Harders in qualifying, however that would be the only time he would be headed, with Rowe taking a clean sweep of victories throughout the racing.
Local driver Jake Smith finished runner- up in the final as WA’s Daniel Stewart, Harders and Chad Pittard rounded out the top five.
The largest field assembled at the event featured the youngest drivers, with 20 suiting up in the grid in the Cadets class. After a frantic battle throughout the weekend, it was Perth driver Aaron Love who claimed the win after Nathan Herne and Benito Montalbano came together on the penultimate corner. Jack Doohan snared second place ahead of Victorian Jordyn Sinni.
In the Rookies category, it was Queenslander Harrison Hoey who showed the field a clean pair of heels.
His only blemish came in the opening heat after he was forced to fight back from the rear of the field.
He went on to dominate both the pre-final and final with comprehensive wins. Jordan Caruso finished second ahead of his Victorian counterpart Cooper Murray.
WA female racer Tayla Dicker was unstoppable throughout the weekend in the Junior Rotax class. The Flatout Karts driver took a clean sweep of victories before winning the final by 4.4 seconds ahead of Fullwood.
Natasha Herne made it two girls on the podium with a fine third placing.
After recording a third and a second in other classes earlier in the day, Fullwood completed his trifecta with victory in the Junior National Light category. The reigning national champion entered the event as the favourite for the category, however, someone forgot to tell fellow Darwinite Thomas Maxwell who was the fastest qualifier.
The pair then diced it out throughout the weekend before Fullwood came out on top. Maxwell held onto second while Victorian Jacob Prestipino rounded out the podium.
