Revved up for refurbed track

MORE than two-hundred racers revved their engines over the weekend at the Central Highlands Regional Karting Complex to try out the site’s recently revamped go-kart track.

The weekend saw two days of racing with home group Ballarat Kart Club hosting round two of the Victorian Country Series, and club president Justin Malcolm said the event was an ideal one to show off the refurbed track.

“It’s tremendous for the club to host this event since the upgrades,” he said. “It’s really improved our membership base already and the revenue generated from an event like this is critical for us.

“There’s racers here from seven years of age to into their late 70s. There’s been a lot of positive feedback from people and there’s improved passing opportunities.

“We’ve been on this track for 63 years and there’s been five or six developments in that time. This is a once in 20 years improvement that’s really transformed the track.”

The site was reopened with back-to-back club days in mid-March following a yearlong closure to allow for track upgrades.

The works comprise a 120-metre track extension and pit lane relocation and was funded with $231,000 from the State Government’s Community Motorsport Program and the remaining amount through the Ballarat Kart Club, which has about 100 members.

The Community Motorsport Program is part of a $7.4 million initiative aimed at improving motorsport infrastructure in Victoria.

An estimated more-than-2000 manhours of work were contributed by club members during the works, which included pulling down fencing and changing the layout of grids, gravel, driveway, and tyre perimeter placements.

Golden Plains Shire mayor Cr Brett Cunningham, and Member for Ripon, Martha Haylett, visited the track on Sunday to officiate the club’s reopening.

Ms Haylett said the upgrades are part of the State Government’s ongoing support for Victorian motorsport.

“This is a much used and much-loved track which needed some TLC so it’s fantastic to have worked with the kart club here in Haddon which is really for the community and the whole state,” she said.

“Motorsport is such a well-loved sport in Victoria and across the world and here in Haddon we’re training the next generation of motorsport champions.

“That’s where we want to make sure they have the best possible facilities no matter where they are.”