Bendigo Brigade Ready Take On Australia's Best

26 March 2010

A group of karters from the Bendigo region are ready to take on Australia’s best drivers at the National Sprint Kart Championships to be held at the Hume International Raceway at Puckapunyal, Victoria next weekend (April 2-4).

After winning the Victorian Championships in the top junior category, Junior Clubman, last May Kyneton’s Jarrod Egan made the move into the senior ranks late in 2009.

Kyneton's Jarrod Egan in action at this year's Victorian
Championships. (Pic: photowagon.com.au)

While many young drivers may been intimated by moving into the senior ranks, Egan is excited about the prospect of being amongst the ‘big boys’ in the highly competitive Clubman Light and Clubman Heavy divisions at next weekend's championships.

“When you move up into seniors people have told me it can be a daunting task but it is really something that I am enjoying and I'm relishing the new challenge,” said Egan, a year 11 student at the Bendigo Senior Secondary School.

“I got crashed and bashed a bit in the Victorian Championships, where I finished 10th, earlier this year but I learnt a lot from that and can’t wait to get out there next weekend.

“One of the guys I raced closely with a lot last year, Chris Hays, has also moved up into seniors and he won the Victorian title. Seeing him win gave me some confidence to know that someone fresh out of juniors really can be competitive."

Egan is no stranger to the front of the pack in national competition having finished a creditable fifth place in Junior Clubman at the corresponding event last year in Townsville, an effort made more impressive given the fact that he started from the back of the grid for the championship final.

Bendigo's Tyler Cramer will be competing in the Senior National Light
category. (Pic: photowagon.com.au)

Egan, who was inspired to start his karting career by Aussie Formula One star Mark Webber, thoroughly enjoys the competitive nature of the sport.

“Karting is a great sport to be involved in, I love the competitive nature of the sport but also the friendships that you make from all across the country,” said Egan.

“I sat for my road licence last year but I’d already been driving karts for seven years and learning all about car control and driving techniques which means that I wasn't overwhelmed when I got behind the wheel of a car.”

Joining Egan is the chase for National glory at the event is also Bendigo’s Tyler Cramer, Daniel Valentini and Craig Arnett. Cramer will be competing in the Senior National Light category, Valentini in Junior Clubman and Junior National Heavy while Arnett will line up in Clubman Super Heavy.

The National Sprint Kart Championships is the most prestigious single event on the Australian Karting calendar with over 350 entries being received across the ten categories being contested for the three-day event.

Competitors and teams will begin arriving in the Goulburn Valley region this weekend to start practice for the championships on Monday March 29. Qualifying will be contested on Friday April 2 followed by heat races on Saturday April 3 and the championship finals on Sunday April 4.

The Hume International Raceway is located on the Tooborac Road, Puckapunyal