Albury-Wodonga provided 3 days of near perfect weather for the over 300 drivers and teams racing at the 2023 Victorian Kart Championship at Albury Wodonga Kart Clubs Sheathers Road Kart Complex from March 10th to 12th.
Many of the best drivers from around the country including up and coming local stars were at Albury for the event which is traditionally one of the biggest state championship meetings on the calendar.
2023 Victorian Kart Championship results
KA3 Senior Medium class
1st #13 Matthew Waters
2nd #21 Benjamin Mouritz
3rd #7 Ryan Nicholson
Zach Findlay was faster qualifier and fought it out with Matthew Waters, Corey Arnett and Benjamin Mouritz for the front running. In the final Finlay would lose a chain and Matthew Waters would go on to claim victory over Benjamin Mouritz by 1.6 seconds and Ryan Nicholson taking the final step of the podium.
TAG 125 Light class
1st #1 Zachary Heard
2nd #57 Brodie Whitmore
3rd #45 Zackary Thompson
National champion Zachary Heard would take pole position from defending Vic State champion Harrison Hoey. Heard, Toby Spinks, Zackary Thompson, Harrison Hoey, Angus Wallace were fighting it out at the front during the heats with Thompson taking victory in heat 3. In the final Heard would take the lead and then on lap 6 a red flag would be called for an incident involving Steve Riddell at turn 1. Upon the restart Heard went on to take victory by 2.5 seconds over Brodie Whitemore 2nd and Zackary Thompson in 3rd.
Cadet 9 class
1st #83 Koda Singh
2nd #14 Paige Flack
3rd #16 Jude Ammoun
Koda Singh was coming into the Vic State Championship with good form after taking victory at the recent Golden Power Series at the Eastern Lions Kart Club and would take pole by 1 tenth from Paige Flack.
Jude Ammoun, Koda Singh, Alana Gurney, Oliver Williamson, Paige Flack and Jarvis Hindle were battling it out at the front during the heats and in the final Koda Singh would go on to take victory by 2 seconds from Paige Flack and Jude Ammoun 3rd.
KA3 Junior Light class
1st #68 Max Walton
2nd #9 James Anagnostiadis
3rd #34 Oliver Wickham
In one of the tough luck stories of the weekend Pip Casabene would go on to claim pole win every heat and final and lead every lap, but in the final would miss the weigh-in by only the narrowest of margins, handing victory to Max Walton who was racing hard with James Anagnostiadis and Oliver Wickham for the remaining steps on the podium.
X30 Light class
1st #1 Jace Matthews
2nd #28 Christian Estasy
3rd #2 Bradley Jenner
Jett Kocoski would take pole, but then Bradley Jenner would go on to win all heats and the final but would receive a 2 place relegation in the final for a drop down penalty which handed the victory to Jace Matthews with Christian Estasy in 2nd and Jenner 3rd.
Cadet 12 class
1st #9 Jackson Brasher
2nd #81 Archie Bristow
3rd #19 Corey Carson
Jackson Brasher would claim pole, win all heats and claim victory in the final and raced hard with Archie Bristow for much of the weekend with Liam Carr, Corey Carson and Anashe Manyau also racing close, in the final Brasher would take the win from Archie Bristow by less than a second with Corey Carson in 3rd.
TAG 125 Heavy class
1st #14 Leigh Nicolaou
2nd #5 Jackson Souslin-Harlow
3rd #21 Hayden Cox
In qualifying Liam Ford would take pole position from Troy Alger. Jackson Souslin-Harlow, Leigh Nicolaou, Liam Ford and Hayden Cox were racing for the lead in the heats but in the win defending champion Leigh Nicolaou would go on to take his 4th State Title taking the win from Jackson Souslin-Harlo 2nd and Hayden Cox 3rd.
KA2 class
1st #68 Max Walton
2nd #70 Dominic Penman
3rd #14 Toby Dvorak
Dominic Penman would take pole and at the font of the pack for much of the weekend would be Toby Dvorak, Max Walton and Mika Lemasurier. In the final Dvorak would lead the early running but while fighting for 2nd position had to run wide, Max Walton going on to take the win from Dominic Penman and Toby Dvorak 3rd.
KA3 Senior Light class
1st #8 Jacob Dowson
2nd #69 Benito Montalbano
3rd #4 Keegan Fraser
Jacob Dowson would take pole and have a close battle with reigning champion Benito Montalbano for much of the weekend, with Keegan Fraser and Nicholas Trebilcock also in the mix, Dowson going on to win the final with Benito Montalbano 2nd and Keegan Fraser 3rd.
Vic Combined Masters class
1st #89 Anthony Pethebridge
2nd #32 Tim Monte
3rd #40 Jason Domaschenz
Anthony Pethebridge made it 2 Vic State Championship wins in a row and dominated proceedings with Tim Monte, Clayton Groves and Jason Domaschenz fighting it out for the minor placings.
KA3 Junior Heavy class
1st #18 Mathew Basso
2nd #14 Alexander Cirone
3rd #74 Amos Orr
Mathew Basso would take pole and go on to win all heats and the final, with Hugo Garraway, Alexander Cirone, Amos Orr and Charlotte Page also towards the front of the pack. Mathew Basso winning his first Victorian State Championship win by 2.2 seconds from Alexander Cirone 2nd and Amos Orr in 3rd.
A huge thank you to all of the competitors who travelled to the event and especially to those making the extra effort to make it back to back weekends after the AKC Round 1, thank you to all the race officials, members and volunteers from the Albury-Wodonga Kart Club including president Sharee Muller and Pam Arnett from Karting Victoria and all of the KV executive for all of their time and effort behind the scenes to help put on a great event for all.
Happy 60th to our Karting Victoria president Russell White who celebrated his 60th birthday across the weekend and a big thank you for all that you do and have done for Karting here in Victoria Russell.
We wish Steven Riddell, Natasha Emmins, Hunter Salvatore and Harry Strik a speedy recovery.
We hope everyone had a great meeting and hope to see you again for the 2024 edition of the Victorian State Championship.
