Published by the ABC Riverland
Now that the summer of speedway has ended, the Riverland is ready to rumble with the Australian Dirt Kart Nationals heading to Loxton in October. One local racer in particular has his sights set on the big prize.
Loxton’s Brett Manuel is ready to race. Image: supplied
Brett Manuel has grown up racing dirt karts and is eagerly awaiting the competition on his home turf in Loxton over the October long weekend.
It will be the first time the event will be held at the Loxton Kart Club and the 21-year-old believes the home advantage will help him succeed over his rivals.
“I’ve probably done a lot more laps around this [Loxton] circuit than anyone else,” Manuel said.
“I know the track from the back of my head.”
The Riverland is renowned for producing strong racing talent, with V8 Supercars drivers Todd and Rick Kelly growing up outside the SA border in Mildura.
This weekend, Manuel will also be in action for the two-day Riverland Championships beginning at Renmark on Saturday and concluding on Sunday at Loxton.
There are more than 270 entries from across Australia for the championships.
The Loxton racer will be trialling three different go-karts and said he will be using this weekend’s championship to prepare the set-up, all the while getting to know his competition.
“All karts have different horsepower, and we’ll try and make the set-ups the same.”
The Riverland Championships begin on Saturday, 7 June.
Media by Loren Hazelwood 