Liam Carr is knocking on the door of a maiden KA2 Junior SP Tools Australian Kart Championship after an immaculate weekend in Newcastle, while double KZ2 Champion, Troy Loeskow, recorded a record-equalling career round win.
The third round of the Championship, presented by Castrol, was a dramatic weekend, literally from qualifying Saturday morning, and the drama ensued on Sunday with new round winners and firm favourites beginning to emerge.
Carr put forward one of the most dominant performances seen in KA2 through the Australian Kart Championship era, scoring a maximum and then going on to a six-second win in the Final aboard his Kart Republic. Hamish Campbell brought his Tony Kart home in second, while Jye Flynn scored his second consecutive podium for CXR Racing.
Troy Loeskow took his first win in KZ2 since Emerald 11 months ago in the process claiming his 14th round victory, placing him alongside Brad Jenner on the all-time winner’s list. The former Australian Champion was at his best throughout the weekend, taking a pair of heat race wins and then a fine win in the Final - it wasn’t an easy win, nevertheless.
Championship leader, Dylan Guest, led from the start of the Final, but spun on the second lap, handing Loeskow the lead. While the Bundaberg native may have anticipated driving away in his BirelART, Scott Chaston had other ideas.
The Albury-Wodonga DAP kart driver pushed Loeskow the entire way, getting to within striking distance late in the race. Loeskow found something within the last minute to get to the line first. Regardless, Chaston was ecstatic with his performance, claiming his first podium.
Jay Coul, after a difficult start to the weekend, put two BirelARTs on the podium, while Guest recovered to sixth. In the race of the weekend, Luke Nolan took his first-ever AKC round win in tense circumstances.
He grafted his way to the lead from Braxton Regan and survived all sorts of pressure for the remainder of the 12-minute race. On his tail was a former Australian Junior Champion in Paddy Buckley and Regan, after dropping back in the field, fought his way through to third.
Nolan, the team Top Gun racer from Townsville, last year didn’t make the cut for the final; however, a renewed focus in 2025 has seen him become a round winner for the first time.
In a great day for the Nolan family, Luke’s younger brother Brock earned his first Cadet 12 podium. Nolan finished just 0.2 behind the impressive runner-up Cooper Clavell, he too earning his first Australian Kart Championship podium. Clavell and Nolan aside, the story of Cadet 12 this weekend was Oliver Williamson.
He was another driver to score maximum points over the weekend, winning the final by 3.7 seconds. With Jay Kostecki, the championship leader, coming into Newcastle and having a troublesome weekend, Williamson has assumed the title lead heading to the penultimate round in Ipswich.
In TaG 125, Jackson Souslin-Harlow has signalled his Championship intentions and desire to assume the Australia #1 from defending Champion, Harrison Hoey.
Souslin-Harlow was dominant at every stage and in the Final took the win by nearly two seconds from rival, Hoey. The results over the weekend saw Souslin-Harlow extend his Championship lead; however, the next round will be on Hoey’s home track at Ipswich.
Mika Lemasurier, after a terrific weekend, crossed the line third; however, a post-race bodywork infringement saw him drop two spots, elevating Championship aspirant Kiahn Burt to the podium. It also brought Dallas Greene to fourth after a tremendous weekend. Marc Tulloch scored the fastest lap on his way to ninth, having started 32nd.
KA3 Senior went the way of Toby Spinks. In a hard-fought race, Spinks was in a battle with Zac Heard and Round One Winner Christian Estasy, whose consistency has kept him near the top of the Title race. Heard finished in second four-tenths behind Heard with Estasy third.
In Cadet 9, Milan Sami is well on his way towards a maiden Australian Title. The Victorian won his third consecutive round in a fine drive. He got there narrowly, though, being pushed by arguably the form driver of the weekend in Felix Sim. Through heat race points, Sim has himself in Title contention, while Ryder Xiong, despite a bingle (with Sim) in one of Sunday’s heats, got home third after a titanic battle with Luke Robinson and RJ Bellbowen.
Brodie Whitmore was making amends for the disappointment of round one by crossing the line in X30 first by 3.4 seconds. Max Walton finished in second place, with Jett Kocoski elevated to third after Tyler Howard was dropped two places due to passing under a yellow flag.
However, the results have been considered provisional after post-race technical inspections have led to further investigations required into Whitmore’s power unit. Full results from this weekend’s event and Championship points are available on https://speedhive.mylaps.com/