The 2022 racing season kicked off last weekend for Mount Gambier Kart Club with visiting drivers from Adelaide as well as interstate joining in on the on-track action at Glenburnie Raceway.

Held as a twilight meeting on Saturday afternoon, blue skies into the evening presented ideal racing conditions for those in attendance.

The Cadet 9 drivers saw two new competitors venture to the Glenburnie Raceway complex for the first time to compete with Portland members Beau Chambers and Hudson Millard making the journey over.

Some great driving from the youngsters over the four heats, provided plenty of action with Chambers securing four wins from as many starts to take first place from Mount Gambier’s Kayle Herbertson, while Hudson Millard finished on the podium in his first ever race meeting.

The Cadet 12 class was also a hard-fought battle.

Despite only being two drivers in the class, very little separated Xavier Cain and Adelaide’s Levi Ross.

Over the course of the day both drivers experience the chance to lead the race with Ross challenging Cain until the drop of the chequered flag in heat race.

It was Cain at the end of the day who was awarded the overall win with Ross finishing a close second.

The junior categories also had spectators on the fence, watching and enjoying the racing on offer.

After moving up to the junior ranks, Denver Herbertson started slow in race one, only to take the lead on the last corner of the last lap, for the win.

Herbertron then went on to win the remainder races with from Lily Cain in hot pursuit and Hayley Fewins rounding out the podium.

KA4 Junior Heavy driver Rheyn Paterson mixed it with the Light drivers and showed some good pace and consistency to finish the day awarded first place, claiming four wins from his four starts.

KA3 Seniors had five drivers suit up and very little separated all drivers for most of the day.

Nose to tail racing provided plenty of passing opportunities, with Troy Moreland leading home the field in all heat races including the final from Portland’s Todd Chambers and Damien Ferguson securing third upon his return to the sport.

The 4SS category was a tightly contest field of racers also, with a tie on points for first and second as well as for third and fourth.

The countback from finishing positions in the 10 lap final determined the placings at presentations with Angelo Belmonte sneaking across the line.

Jack Ryan was awarded second and Grady Hutchesson picking up a well-deserved third.

Parker Scott battled a few issues over the course of the day, but managed to drive some consistent laps to clean sweep the TAG125 Light Class, with Andrew Harvey leading home Kelvin Moreland in the TAG125 Heavy category.

TAG125 Restricted Heavy proved to be the Battle of the Clodes with father son team of Alex and Paul both swapping track positions, to determine who walked home.

Both Alex and Paul Clode took race wins throughout the heat races with the former getting the better of his father on this occasion.

However, it is a long season ahead so there is plenty of time for Paul to return the favour.

TAG125 Restricted Light provided lots of action also after Callan Belmonte took an early win in race one, but Shane Moreland was quick to respond with a win in race two.

These two drivers along with Adelaide’s Duran Cowland rounded out the podium at the end of the days racing with Moreland coming out on top from Belmonte and Cowland.

The final class on offer was TAG 125 Medium and ended up being the largest class on the day.

Liam Downs Wooley took a race win, before Rick Amoroso found his feat and with it some speed to win the remaining races, including the 10 lap final.

Downs-Wooley hung on to finish strong with second place and Hamilton’s Andrew Stubbs finished the day with four top three placing s to round out the podium.

Glenburnie Raceway will again showcase some on-track action in just over a weeks’ time, with the club playing host to the first Vintage Kart Meeting of the 2022.

Competitors will be travelling from as far away as Queensland to attend this season opener which has established itself to be a popular event.

With karts on display and on-track dating back as far as the 1960s, right through until the late 1990s there will be plenty to look at for visitors and spectators.

Free entry to the event and canteen facilities available means it’s a great family day out with spectators able to walk around the pits and talk to the drivers.

The club encourages members of the public to attend the event and witness some great on track action and enjoy a relaxed fun atmosphere.