With the biggest entry list of 331 competitors in over a decade for a Vic State Championship at the Eastern Lions Kart Club Hume International Raceway circuit, all eyes around the country were tuning in via the first time livestream of the event, with everyone on the edge of their seats for the exciting winner take all finals.
A red hot sunrise greeted everyone for the final day of racing but the on track action was even hotter.
In the finals:
Tag Heavy class
Matthew Wall jumped out to an early lead but Leigh Nicolaou made the pass and wasn’t headed going on to claim the 2022 Victorian state title.
KA4 Junior Heavy class
Cooper Stapleton got out to the lead and and was never headed with Grace Riddel 2nd and Denzil Sargent 3rd.
Cadet 12 class
After claiming 3rd place in the Cadet 9 class at last years Vic Kart Championship at Oakleigh, Sebastian Eskandari-Marandi drove brilliantly to take the title having moved up to Cadet 12, with Hamish Campbell 2nd and Cooper Folley 3rd.
Tag 125 Light class
Harrison Hoey put in a strong performance to take the Vic state title ahead of Victorian Troy Alger who put in a great drive with Zachary Heard 3rd. Everyone in the karting community is thinking of Declan Matthews after his accident yesterday, get well soon Declan we all hope you make a speedy recovery.
KA3 Senior Light class
Benito Montalbano took out the Vic state title with Joel Macpherson and Victorian Nicholas on his heels making him earn the win.
KA3 Senior Medium class
Gerry Westerveld and Zackary Thompson were battling for the lead for the majority until colliding on the final lap. Remo Luciani had been running in the middle of the pack early in the weekend but got the kart going when it mattered most and took advantage going on to claim yet another state championship to add to his cabinet with Benjamin Mouritz 2nd and Braden Clark 3rd.
KA3 Junior class
A huge field of 39 drivers greeted the lights and the fight at the front was intense, with only 3 laps to go 2 karts came together at the final corner blocking the track forcing the officials to slow the field and bring them into single file until the track was cleared. The race restarted with only 2 laps to go that meant a frantic dash to the finish with 9 karts separated by under a second with Mika Lemasurier having to take to the grass at the final turn fighting for the lead with Isaac McNeill coming out on top to claim the State title.
Cadet 9 class
Cruz Kelly go out to the lead and was never headed finishing 2.8 seconds ahead of Archie Bristow 2nd and James Flynn 3rd.
X30 Light class
Jace Matthews claimed the Victorian state title ahead of Harrison Hoey and Victorian Bradley Jenner.
Vic Combined Masters
Anthony Pethebridge had the speed when it counted most and was never headed going on to claim the Victorian state title by over 2.6 seconds from Phil Smith 2nd and Bendigo’s Phil Stradbrook 3rd.
Everyone in the karting community is thinking of Neil Mcauley after his bad accident in the pre-final, get well soon Neil everyone hopes you make a speedy recovery.
KA4 Junior Light
A big field of 32 drivers took the start in the final of KA4 Junior Light with Joanne Ciconte getting a way to a great start and was vying for the lead in the early stages, James Anagnostiadis was at the front of the field for much of the weekend and went on to become Victorian state champion with Benjamin Munro 2nd only 7 tenths behind and Samuel March in 3rd.
A big thankyou to all the officials, volunteers, Mitch from MMS Media & Commentating for his great commentary, Tim Francis / tfdesign.com.au for providing the events photography across the weekend (send him a message if you are after some photos) and everyone from the Eastern Lions Kart Club for putting on such a great meeting with such a large amount of people in attendance for this years 2022 Victorian State Championship and making it such a success.
See all the result from the meeting at speedhive https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1969256
Watch a replay of the live stream on mysportlive
More pictures available for viewing in the facebook albums from each day below click on them to see even more.
