DUBBO RACER IS COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS

Tyler Everingham on the podium at the final round of the 2015 Australian Kart Championship (Pic: Coopers Photography)

Dubbo kart racer Tyler Everingham is counting down the days until the Australian Kart Championship presented by Jayco and Castrol EDGE comes to his home track on February 5-7.

With 50 days tomorrow until the high-revving engines take to the Lincoln County Raceway, Everingham is so excited that he was the first driver to enter the event when nominations opened last week.

“To say that I’m extremely excited about the Australian Kart Championship coming to Dubbo is a bit of an understatement,” said Everingham.

“It’s going to be not only great for me to be able to race on my home track but it will also be really good for the sport here in the region.”

While racing on his home circuit against up to 40 of the country’s top drivers in his class will be somewhat of an advantage, Everingham believes it will also place some extra pressure on him.

“Racing on your home track can sometimes bring extra pressure but this can also be outweighed by the local knowledge,” said Everingham.

“My number one aim is to finish high up the order and get my Championship off to a good start. This year I missed the first round and had some mechanical issues in the next two so I was effectively out of the hunt for the Championship chase, next year I’m hoping it will be my year.”

The St Johns College Year 10 student believes that reigning National Champion Jack Doohan should prove to be the driver to beat but also respects that there will be many drivers who are highly capable.

“Jack Doohan is the current number one and he is always a tough competitor. It was an extremely competitive field this year and next year based on the registration list is only going to be the same or even better, always very unpredictable and any one of the field can come away with the results.”

The February 5-7 event is expected to attract more than 200 competitors from all across the country.

It will be the first time in more than a decade that a round of Australia’s highest profile karting Championship has been contested at the venue exciting the local karting community.

Next year will also mark the 21st Anniversary since a National level event was first held at the Lincoln County Raceway. It was at the 1995 National Sprint Kart Championships in Dubbo where dual V8 Supercars Champion Marcos Ambrose and Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Winterbottom were victorious in their respective classes.

Tyler Everingham in action (Pic: Coopers Photography)

WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHO
What: 2016 Australian Kart Championship – Round 1
When: February 5-7, 2016
Where: Lincoln County Raceway, Newell Highway, Brocklehurst
Who: More than 200 of Australia’s best kart racers from as young as seven years of age in the Cadet 9 class through to the drivers in the elite KZ2 class where they will reach speeds in excess of 140 km/h while racing centimetres apart.