SUNDAY NOTEBOOK FROM THE VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Interested onlookers
Holden V8 Supercar drivers James Courtney and Fabian Coulthard were interested onlookers at the Victorian Open Karting Championships during today’s Championship Finals.

The pair had an hour to spare prior to heading to the Top gear Live show at the Melbourne Showgrounds and dropped by Todd Road to check out the next generation of V8 Supercar drivers.

For Courtney it was the first time he had been at a kart track in almost 13 years.

Other notable visitors over the weekend included Leanne Tander and Brad Jones Racing driver Jason Bright.

Arrow dominates – Wright Karts impress on debut
Once again it was the Australian-made Arrow karts that dominated the Victorian Open Championships with 11 victories across the weekend. This number is four more than the corresponding event last year held at the Oakleigh circuit.

In it’s first major event in Australia the Wright karts outfit claimed both the ‘sub-junior’ categories – Midgets and Rookies. With only 0.006 seconds separating the top two in Junior National Light it very well could have a triple treat for the English-made kart.

One win a piece went to FA Kart (Clubman Light), Monaco (Clubman Over 40’s) and Tony Kart (Clubman Super Heavy).

Home state domination
The host state of Victoria dominated in the State of Origin battle taking out 11 of the possible 16 victories on offer at the Victorian Open Championships.

A double by Brendan Nelson helped lift Queensland to second on the list with three victories while Joseph Mawson’s double were the only two victories heading to New South Wales.

Bay 13 at the top of the hill
Bay 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is well known for being a favourite for the excited fans, well Bay 13 appeared to be moved to the top of the hill at the Port Melbourne circuit today.

A number of the competitors and pit crew who featured in the early races found their way to the top of the circuit, a group that continued to expand throughout the day. The Mexican wave was a regular feature for many of the winners as they came around to greet the chequered flag.

Karting.net.au poll proves correct
A pre-event poll saw visitors to the karting.net.au website indicate that Clubman Light would be the best to watch at this weekend’s Victorian Karting Championships – and the poll proved to be correct.

With 23 percent of the votes the category gained almost twice the number of votes than the next best – Clubman Heavy. Junior National Light was the next best on the visitors choice one percent further back.

The new poll will allow people to vote on what they actually think was the best one to watch.