QLD KART CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1 – July 6-8

We headed up to Gladstone for the first round of the Queensland titles with Friday as practice and Saturday/Sunday racing.

Ryan had never been to the Gladstone track before so practice was ultra-important, however a few mechanical errors only saw him complete 3 out of the 5 practice sessions. The track was fast and flowing with a little technical section just before you get onto the straight. Friday ended not too bad with him having the 2^nd and 3^rd fastest lap time out the 3 practices he got to complete.

Saturday Morning Race Day.

It was clear sky’s for qualifying. Ryan rolled out on track and was doing well. He was fastest out there for a little bit but was beaten by another competitor for pole, so we had to settle for second place qualifier. A totally awesome effort considering only driving around the track the day before.

Race 1 sees Ryan starting out of 2^nd and finishing 2^nd.

Race 2 and the heavens opened up just as we went to the grid. The race was delayed by 10 minutes by the starter so he could declare the race wet or not. In the end he declared it wet so a frantic change on the grid to wets. Ryan started in 2^nd again and having never driven in the wet around this track before, saw some trying times on track as it was super slippery. He was in front for about 5 laps but was passed and finished 2^nd again. He was very happy with this result that’s for sure.

Sunday Race Day.

Race 3 saw Ryan starting out of 2^nd again and finishing in 2^nd place. Still making little errors on track which meant he couldn’t quite get to the front guy.

Race 4 and the final 28 laps.

Ryan was off 2^nd which is the outside of the first corner. He was unable to get inside due to 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th nose to tail going into the first corner so he had to settle for 4^th after turn 1.

It took him 1 lap to settle in before he made a pass to get him into the 3^rd position. By then 1^st and 2^nd were a way in front and it was going to be hard work to catch them. Then on the 13^th lap a back marker spun out going onto the straight and was in a dangerous position.

With karts all over the track there was no break in the traffic to move him off safely so the race received a red flag, a godsend to us really!!

This meant a single file restart and Ryan was starting out of 3^rd right behind 2^nd place. The race restarted and after 2 laps of the restart he overtook 2^nd place and he started to run down first place, the 3 of them nose to tail and less than a tenth in it.

After another 2 laps he was right behind the leader and that’s where he sat buying his time whilst working out where to pass him. With 5 laps to go at the end of the straight Ryan dived in and overtook 1^st place. 3^rd place also overtook 1^st place so 1^st place went back to 3^rd after that corner.

Now Ryan is in 1^st place with 4 laps to go – he leads for 2 laps and with only 2 laps to go gets overtaken. He is in 2^nd place going across the line for the last lap, then at the end of the straight Ryan dives in again and overtakes! Putting him in the lead for the rest of the last lap with 2^nd right on his tail for the entire lap. He managed to hang on and win the race!

Ryan was over the moon and couldn’t have done it without his Mechanic Andy Dickens, CXR Racing Engines and his Hasse Corsa.

He would also like to thank his sponsors Nu Trend Quality Homes, Edge Web Design, Snap Fitness Caloundra and Uber Graphics for all their support.

So after running second for each race and then winning the final at the end of round 1 Ryan is sitting in 2^nd position on points only 2 points behind the leader.

The next round is in Bundaberg in September.

We are off to Dubbo 13^th, 14^th and 15^th July for the 2^nd round of the NSW titles, where after round 1 at Coffs Harbour he is sitting in 3^rd place on points overall.