Local Karting Ace's Toughest Challenge

24 March 2010

Shepparton karting ace Travis Kodric is getting set to tackle his biggest challenge of his karting career in the National Sprint Kart Championships at Puckapunyal, Victoria next weekend (April 2-4).

After winning the Northern Territory Title and finishing third in the Victorian Championships during his final year in the junior ranks Kodric, 17, has this year stepped into the senior ranks of the sport.

Travis Kodric in action during last year's
Victorian Championships at Puckapunyal.
(Pic: photowagon.com.au)

At next weekend’s championships he will be competing in two categories, Senior National Light and the highly competitive Clubman Heavy category that features some of the all-time greats of Australian karting.

Joining Kodric in the battle for the Clubman Heavy crown will be Melbourne’s Matthew Wall, Horsham’s Remo Luciani and Bundaberg’s Kel Treseder, who have amassed 19 Australian Championships between them.

“I’m both nervous and excited heading into next weekend,” said Kodric, a year 12 student at Shepparton’s Notre Dame College.

“In Clubman Heavy it is really the best of the best from all across Australia, I’ll be racing against some of the guys that I’ve idolised since I started racing seven years ago. If I can finish inside the top ten I’ll be very happy.

“I’m a little bit more confident about my chances in the Senior National Light class and I think that I have a good shot at finishing on the podium.”

Adding extra local interest for Kodric will be the fact that he is competing aboard an Imola Kart, designed and built in Shepparton, in the Clubman Heavy category. He will be one of only two drivers using the chassis brand at the event – the other being fellow Shepparton driver Luigi Catanese who is competing in the Clubman Light category.

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 at 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.