The second round of the Slideways Junior Racing Series saw another top morning of racing, with groups for Cadets (aged 7-11 years old) and Juniors (aged 12-15 years old).
The next event for the Junior Series is set for Sunday May 27, with the early bird entry cut off for a free bonus race closing at midnight on Monday May 21.
This Friday evening (April 27) sees the Slideways Enduro Series returning for a 75min race with the normal track direction, while the Slideways Sprints Series and the Slideways Ladies Sprint Cup return on Wednesday May 23rd.
The free early bird bonus race cut off for the Sprint and Ladies event is midnight on Friday May 18.
Many of the Junior and Cadet competitors hone their craft at the Slideways Karting Academy, with personalised tuition teaching racers of all ages the finer points of race craft, check out the webpage for more information.
Further info on all Slideways race events can be found on our Gold Coast Go Kart Racing page.
Juniors
The competitiveness in the Junior category continues to step up in 2018, with a host of new drivers adding to the depth of the competition.
Once again the Sodi weight box system was utilised to level the playing field, while the random grid draw with an inversion for the second race ensured that all competitors had to fight hard for positions on track.
In the opening of three ten-minute-long races, Lewis Spencer came home with the race win in his first event for 2018, bettering the three third placings he registered last season.
In second place, 1.517sec behind was the hard charging Juliette Russell, who claimed the overall win in the most recent round of the Slideways Ladies Sprint Cup, while Chloe Herbison led a long train of karts to claim third.
Fourth was the hard charging Liam Hydes, ahead of Olivia Herbison, then Jude Livermore, Chaad Hewitt, Stefanie Willmott and TJ Leaver.
Fastest on track was Spencer with a 40.674sec lap time, with the fastest eight drivers on track split by less than a second in terms of best times.
For race two, Livermore backed up his success from the opening Junior race of the year, claiming victory by only 0.562sec ahead of Olivia Herbison, with the duo clear of Hydes by 5sec at the chequered flag.
Leaver placed fourth, being pushed all the way by Russell and Hewitt, Wilmott, Spencer and Chloe Herbison, with less than two seconds separating positions four through nine at the chequered flag.
Hydes was the fastest on track with a best lap time of 39.910sec.
Capping a week in which he won a race in the Senior Sodi World Series event (and place second overall), Hydes led from the front in the final race to claim victory by 8.525sec, setting the fastest race lap with a 39.775sec.
Later this year Hydes will be representing Slideways and Australia at the Sodi World Series finals in Italy.
Second in the finale was an exceptional result for Olivia Herbison, who has stepped up in class for the 2018 season, with Russell pushing her all the way to the finish, just falling two-tenths of a second short.
Fourth place went to Chloe Herbison, ahead of Hewitt, Wilmott, Leaver, Livermore and Spencer.
Overall for the event, Hydes stood atop the podium ahead of Olivia Herbison and Russell, with the Best and Fairest award going to Hewitt, with Wilmott claiming the Encouragement Award.
Photos
PHOTOS! Slideways Junior Race Series Round 2 >> https://t.co/9iWel926Jd #slideways #gokarting #goldcoast #brisbane pic.twitter.com/5DNLEzP317
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) April 22, 2018
Videos
Junior racing underway! #slideways #gokarting #goldcoast #brisbane https://t.co/VWdEJ4cCyS pic.twitter.com/WtXGtQ5mAc
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) April 21, 2018
Juniors off and racing in their final! #slideways #gokarting #goldcoast #brisbane pic.twitter.com/XHgud6d0Tw
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) April 22, 2018
Cadets
The Cadet field was split into two groups for their races, before combined results set the grid for the third and final outing.
Race one for the first group saw Juliette Bogart claim the victory after 10 laps, a clear 5.779sec down the road from Lachlan Trevillien and Matthew Scholten.
Carter Skewes claimed fourth position from Javier Fernandez, with Matthew D’Arcy sixth.
Bogart was the fastest on track with a 46.471sec.
The second heat for the group saw Scholten claim the win ahead of Skewes by only half a second, then Fernandez, Bogart, Trevillien and D’Arcy, with Bogart quickest on track with a 46.314sec lap time.
Jordi Slater came out on top of the battle in the second group’s first race, from Luke Wilson, then Daniel Sullivan, Levi Boyd, Brayden Hill and Jett Leicester.
Slater was the fastest on track with a best time of 46.815sec, although three other competitors were within a tenth of a second.
Leicester (best lap – 46.748sec) turned the tables in the second race, winning clearly by 6.766sec over Hill, Sullivan, Wilson, Slater and Boyd.
In the Group B final, Hill was pushed all the way to the line by D’Arcy, with the final margin of victory being 0.358sec.
Fernandez was next from Boyd, who set the race’s fastest lap with a 46.432sec time.
In the main final, it was Scholten who withstood the pressure, winning by only 0.383sec from Bogart, Skewes and Sullivan, with the top four covered by 1.607sec.
Fifth place went to Wilson, then Slater, Leicester and Trevillien.
Fastest on track in the finale was Bogart with a best time of 46.269sec.
The Cadet Best and Fairest went to Sullivan, while Skewes received the Encouragement award.
Photos
PHOTOS! Slideways Cadet Race Series Round 2 >> https://t.co/k5gIXowjou #slideways #gokarting #goldcoast #brisbane pic.twitter.com/QOsG3EQD5V
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) April 22, 2018
Videos
Cadets off and racing. #slideways #gokarting #goldcoast #brisbane https://t.co/VWdEJ4cCyS pic.twitter.com/twz4sKpJo3
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) April 21, 2018
Cadets group 2 underway! #slideways #gokarting #goldcoast #brisbane https://t.co/VWdEJ4cCyS pic.twitter.com/UPw4OXDGZO
— Go Karting World (@SlidewaysWorld) April 22, 2018
