In a sign of how important an event it as, Karting Australia NSW (KA NSW) Officials Committee Coordinator Darcy Cox travelled across the state to support Broken Hill Kart Club Inc. (BHKCI) with their first race day in several years.
Keen go-karting parents rolled up with kids and karts for a fantastic family weekend of thrills and a few harmless spills at Johnson Speedway over the weekend.
Mr Cox said he was delighted to see so many families turn up for the first go-kart race day of the year at the spruced-up track on Menindee Rd.
“KA’s purpose and vision across Australia is to inspire karting enthusiasts – especially children and young people – to enjoy fun, and respectful, safe racing.
“This club has done an amazing job to clean up the site and get karts back on track,” said Mr Cox. “I drift through this way every now and then and I’ll be calling in occasionally to assist wherever needed but the work done by Hayden Slattery, the executive team, and volunteers from the community certainly exceeded my expectations.
“The site has undergone a complete transformation so congratulations to all involved.”
And with the first race meeting now done and dusted, the results are in and the winners are:
Cadet 9
1st Ricky Leonard also won the Bells Milk Bar $200 Dash for Cash
2nd Charlotte Slattery
3rd Paisley Slater
Cadet 12
1st Dale Smith Jnr also won the Bells Milk Bar $200 Dash for Cash
2nd Laykin Cullen
3rd Zaidon Staker
Juniors
1st Ryder Sanderson also won the Bells Milk Bar $200 Dash for Cash
2nd Chase Slattery
Seniors
1st John Ray also won the Bells Milk Bar $200 Dash for Cash
2nd Aiden Slattery
3rd Maddex Brooks
BHKCI President, Hayden Slattery, thanked everyone for helping to get the site race-ready with a special thanks to the executive team who he said had volunteered their time and skills to reestablish a family-friendly club that encourages community connection and fun, safe, respectful competition on the track.
“With 14 entries taking to the track on Sunday, it’s a great starting point for the club to slowly build on,” said Mr Slattery at the end of the day.
“That storm created a few challenges on the track on Friday but family and friends came to the rescue with pumps, brooms and blowers. With perfect weather conditions for our first race day of the year, we couldn’t be happier with the event.
“Our new canteen was a real winner for club fundraising efforts, so a big thanks to Matt from Bells Milk Bar for pulling that together. By the end of the day, we’d sold out of almost everything with everyone commenting on how good the burgers were. It was fantastic to see spectators support the club just by turning up to buy lunch,” he said.
“We’ve been inundated with questions on our Facebook page so we’ll attempt to get back to everyone now the pressure is off,” said Mr Slattery.
“At this point, we encourage anyone interested in getting involved in the sport to come along to our next general meeting [date to be announced]. We’ll be releasing our full event calendar soon so we’re looking forward to seeing new faces.
“We’re planning the next Come and Try day as we’ve got over 20 families on our waitlist, so we’re encouraging everyone to keep an eye on the BHKCI Facebook page,” he said.
“Karting Australia has provided so much support over the past months, so we’re all very grateful to Darcy in particular. He’s taken my calls almost daily in the leadup to the first race day so we appreciate him driving across the state to oversee our first weekend of competitions.
“People who don’t want to get on the track but still want to be involved in the club can do online training to become an official,” said Mr Slattery. “It’s a really important role so we encourage people to join the club and take part in this exciting, high-speed sport that teaches our local kids and young people a range of important skills, especially safe driving and sportsmanship.”
KA NSW provides online training for anyone wishing to become a karting official. For all the information, go to: kansw.com.au/
For more information about BHKCI or to join, email [email protected] and to stay updated, Like or Follow: facebook.com/BHKCI
