Kart win straight out of the box

Local karter Cian Fothergill takes out the final of the CIK Stars of Karting Series in his debut for the competition last weekend.

A GO-KART win for a local in his CIK Stars of Karting Series debut was literally one straight out of the box.

Gladstone Kart Club racer Cian Fothergill hadn’t jumped into his new kart until the Newcastle event, and came away stoked with how the machine went on the track.

“The new Kosmic kart went really well, any changes we made over the weekend just made it go faster,” Fothergill said.

Fothergill was confident going into the final, after winning the second and third heats.

A 10-second win in the 25 km Pro Light final was testament to the kart’s speed.

“The most pleasing part of the kart was the fact we basically took it straight out of the box, put it on the track, and it was quick straight away,” Fothergill said.

Considering this was his debut at the elite karting level, Fothergill had no trouble dealing with longer race distances.

“I’d thought I’d struggle fitness-wise, but I went well,” Fothergill said.

The Newcastle track provided drivers the chance to show off all their racing skills.

“The track is very quick, there’s good curves, and plenty of opportunities to pass,” he said.

Gladstone Kart Club member John Grother had a weekend he’d rather forget, suffering “unbelievably bad luck”, including a radiator failure and broken accelerator cable during his Pro Light races.

Grother started the final from last place and mowed down other competitors, setting the quickest lap time on the way.

However, a second-place finish was snatched away, after officials found the vehicle’s timer had fallen off during the race, and he was disqualified.