Racers to upset out-of-towners

Gladstone’s Craig Butler should give the clubman lite category a nudge on Sunday during round five of the SuperCheap series at the Gladstone Kart Club.

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ROUND five of the SuperCheap series heads to Gladstone this weekend.

Gladstone Go-Kart Club spokesman Johnny Grother said karters from Brisbane through to Townsville will be racing over the weekend, and they’ll have their work cut out for them against local karters.

With a who’s who karting line-up racing, including current leopard class Queensland state champion Luke Lane, the competition on track is expected to be fierce.

“I think the locals will upset many in the races, our club is pretty strong, even at national level,” said Grother, who will race in the leopard class.

“The racing should be pretty entertaining.”

CIK Stars of Karting Pro-Lite champion Cian Fothergill will also race in the leopard class, fresh from his win in the series in Melbourne.

A group of Gladstone Kart Club members competed at the SuperCheap round four series in Toowoomba recently and most performed very well.

“Craig Butler will be one to watch in the clubman lite,” Grother said.

Rookies Josh Rogers and Connor Smith will also be around the mark in their category.

“They’ve both been driving very consistently,” Grother said.

As part of the SuperCheap round, the club has nominated the Tag 100 class as part of the series event.

The expectation is for about 25 entries in the class.

“There’ll be a good representation of locals and there’s guys coming from Townsville as well, as they don’t get to race in this class often,” Grother said.

“Benny Benedetto and Anthony Myers will probably be the ones locally to watch in that category.”

Practice begins on Saturday, and qualifying is scheduled for after 3pm, and racing gets underway from 8pm on Sunday.

Three races of 25 laps each will decide the winners in each class.

A bar and canteen will be running and entry is free.

Presentations will be made on Sunday.