THE Motorsport arena is more commonly referred to as a place that is dominated by males, however, at the Lithgow Kart circuit it was a different story as the venue hosted the second annual All Ladies Race Day earlier this year.
The event is the only one of its kind in Australia with female competitors coming from various parts of the country to race in a variety of categories from Midgets, aged between seven and ten years, through to the senior ranks where a number of ladies over the age of 50 took to the track.
This innovation was brought about by the Combined Districts Kart Club to highlight the involvement of females in karting and the important role they play not just in racing, but in all aspects of the sport and that karting is open to all sections of the community.
As a result of the profits and the fundraising around this event, the National Breast Cancer Foundation was presented with a cheque of $16,020.
Junior karters Angela Hearn and Stephanie Sandrone were outstanding in their fundraising efforts and attended the recent cheque presentation.
Not only did these girls raise a lot of money but they both backed up to compete in the Junior National class at the All Ladies Race Day.
“This presentation is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people and without the support of the Combined Districts Kart Club and the entire karting community this wouldn’t be possible,” said event co-ordinator Russell Grimson.
Frosty tops again at QR
MARK Winterbottom has again led from the front with yet another dominant display from Ford Performance Racing at Queensland Raceway last weekend, extending his lead in the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
Winterbottom won the City of Ipswich 400 ahead of veteran Russell Ingall and James Courtney.
He was a runaway winner in the end, winning races two and three to consolidate the top of the table.
“I said on Friday and Saturday how much we’ve gained as a team and to come up here to actually make points is a great effort,” Winterbottom said.
“We have gone well in the season so far, have got points ticking over and are still going for race wins at the time.”
But Winterbottom was pressured by the resurgent Ingall who on the surface appears to have driven Supercheap Auto Racing into the front end of the field and Courtney who after more than two years in the sport now has a race win to go with his eight podiums.
“He pressured a fair bit and had a great run on the back straight,’ Winterbottom said.
“I keep seeing him in the mirror and I could see his face through the window – he had the race face on.
“It was quite a good battle,” Winterbottom said of the battle that ended when Ingall had a brief off-track excursion.
Ingall held his nerve and used his experience to take second in the last race to come in second ahead of his former Stone Brothers Racing team-mate James Courtney.