Cam Wilson won his second successive national championshipSlideways Go Karting have successfully defended their Hyundai Excel national title, with Cam Wilson coming out on top from intense battle at Wakefield Park on the weekend.
The victory for Wilson came a year after claiming the inaugural national crown at Queensland’s Morgan Park Raceway.
The result rounds out an incredible season for Wilson, who wrapped up the Queensland based Track Attack Hyundai Excel series a round early.
All told, Wilson was victorious in 20 of the 29 Hyundai races he started in 2017, with four other podium finishes, two pole positions, and four fastest race laps.
Wilson also ran a limited campaign in the Australian Trans Am Series, with pole on debut at Lakeside Park backed up by three podium finishes, including a race win.
Electing to save the car, Wilson only completed two of the four Friday practice sessions, before qualifying fourth from 34 starters in Saturday’s all-in 30-minute-long qualifying session.
In the top-eight shootout, Wilson improved to second position on the provisional starting grid, falling only 0.0813sec shy of the pole position time.
In changing weather conditions, Wilson started on pole, and held on to the lead throughout the opening nine lap long heat race on Saturday afternoon.
A rough and tumble affair on Sunday morning saw Wilson forced off-track, with a comeback drive resulting in second place on the result sheet.
The race also saw Wilson set a new lap record for the venue with a 1:14.0538sec time.
From the race start in the final, Wilson found himself in third position, before charging through to the lead on the fourth lap.
The race boiled down to a battle between young Victorians Jaylan Robotham and Ben Bargwanna, with Robotham taking the lead from Wilson on the 18th circuit.
Wilson however struck back on the very next lap, and held station until the chequered flag, with the final margin of victory to Robotham being 0.7551sec.
The victory added to a rich history of the car, which now has a total of three Queensland state titles, in addition to the national success.
The Slideways racing crewAlso representing Slideways on the starting grid was BPRO team principal Brett Parrish, who was visiting the rural New South Wales venue for the first time.
After initially qualifying 11th, Parrish came through to finish fifth in the opening heat, which was held in tricky conditions, before improving to third in his final heat.
In the final, Parrish settled into sixth position, before elevating himself to fourth position by the completion of 21 laps.
Impressively, Parrish lowered Wilson’s benchmark lap record for the venue with a 1:13.1695sec time.
The weekend proved to be a success for the team in two states, with Simon Winters claiming his first career race and round win in the Keema Excel Cup at Lakeside.
All in all, the Slideways/BPRO squad won seven of the eight Keema Excel Cup rounds for 2017, with Wilson claiming four, with Parrish, Winters and Robert Buckley winning one event apiece, with all four finishing in the top-eight of the end of season standings.
Another highlight for the squad was a second-place effort at the recent 200km race for Winters and team mate Ryan Hansford.