I have just got back from my trip to Australia. I had an amazing time seeing all the sights of Sydney and Melbourne and I even got to see the men’s finals in the Australian Open, which was a once in a lifetime experience.
The main part of the trip was to compete in their Rotax Pro Tour event at Todd Road in Melbourne.
From first impressions the track looked quite tight and twisty with lots of levels. It was quite different to what I was expecting as once you are on the track it’s a very fast flowing circuit with many different corners and a great down hill drop onto the main straight.
After testing the first day I had got used to the track and had found a lot of time, but we was still looking for more time, we was struggling to get the kart to release out of the corners so we decided to try different things with the kart to manipulate the action of the chassis.
The races were great fun as it has been a year since I raced a kart and I was excited to see we were all using the half bumper (old European style) as I hadn’t used that since my JICA days. I found that the level of competition was really high and the drivers were really respectful, the racing was fair and yet difficult.
Because of the problem trying to get the kart to release I found it very difficult to race, as I couldn’t overtake very easily without losing too much time.
I made it through to the final, which had a massive gird of 40 drivers and I drove hard, over taking where I could and doing the best I could.
It was one of the best races I have ever done and the people I met while I was there were amazing, I couldn’t thank everyone enough for making my dad and myself feel so welcome.
I would like to thank everyone at the Pro tour, IKD for giving me the opportunity, my mechainic Don and all the friends I made out there.
I had the best experience in Australia but I am still looking for a budget for this year.
