Club revved up for series opener ahead of State titles

Albany City Kart Club will play host to more than 100 drivers this weekend in the opening round of the South Eastern Zone Series as the build-up to the WA State Sprint Kart Championships begins.

The championships will be contested in Albany on September 29 and 30 and are expected to draw plenty of entries.

A total of 136 nominations have been received across 11 divisions for the series opener as drivers prepare for the blue-ribbon event later this year.

The cadet 12 division will have the biggest field in round 1, with 21 youngsters entered including ACKC representatives Jayden Turner and Mitchell Riedyk.

ACKC president Greg Riedyk said the club was looking forward to a strong meeting in the lead-up to the State titles.

“There are a lot of people talking about the States,” he said.

“We have 136 entries, which is pretty good, really, with karts being down in general over the last couple of years, and I think we are a little bit up on our numbers from last year.

“We have Simon Gwilliam, a multiple State champ, and also Kip Foster coming, so there are a few big names and everyone is getting practice in before the State titles.”

This is the first stop in the four- round series, which visits the Lake King, Eastern Goldfields and Esperance kart clubs.

Riedyk said he expected the local drivers to perform strongly against their visiting opposition this weekend.

He highlighted locals Tyler Spouse-Nastasi in Tag 125 light, Greg Pearson in Tag 125 heavy, and Bob Harrison in sportsman KA3 heavy as strong contenders in their respective classes.

The meeting will start with practice on Friday afternoon before qualifying on Saturday morning and two heat races to follow.

The final heat race will be held on Sunday before division finals.