Todd Kelly

Loxton local has eyes on karting prize

ABC, Dirt Karts

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

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.

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Winterbottom and Courtney tighten championship at Winton

Australian V8 Supercars, Fiasco Sports

With the Australian V8 Supercar Championship tighter than ever, it was vital for Mark Winterbottom and James Courtney to take the final wins in Sunday’s two races.

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Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

With the current championship leader Jamie Whincup having a horrific weekend at Winton Raceway, rivals Mark Winterbottom and James Courtney were able to close the championship gap by taking the two race wins.

Sunday’s first race saw Jason Bright take pole position, but this did not stop Winterbottom from taking his first race win on home soil at Winton.

Behind the leaders, Alexandre Prémat caused a multi-car accident when rejoining the track at Turn 2, and with championship leader Whincup involved in the accident, he later failed to finish the race.

Others involved in the accident were Russell Ingall, Alex Davison, Garth Tander and Michael Caruso.

The safety car entered the track after the accident, making the dash to the finish close between Winterbottom and Bright, crossing the line 0.4s apart.

Winterbottom failed to qualify at the front of the field for the second race of the day, giving Courtney pole position for the finale.

Courtney managed to take the win, holding first for the entire 34-lap race, with a safety car coming in to play with 10 laps to go.

Young gun Chaz Mostert held second for most of the race, but had to settle for third after Fabian Coulthard took a gamble and put on new tyres during the safety car.

The race was filled with accidents, with Todd Kelly crashing out on the pit-straight at the start of the race, after receiving contact from the front of Whincup’s car, causing the first safety car.

Scott Pye once again had dramas, with the eKol Holden catching fire due to a bent exhaust.

Rick Kelly followed his brother’s suit, after causing contact with Winterbottom at the Turn 5 sweeper, causing damage to his rear suspension and bringing out the second safety car.

Craig Lowndes later received a 25-point penalty for making contact with Caruso’s Nissan, causing him to fall from second to fourth in the championship, with teammate Whincup holding onto the current series lead.

The next round of the championship will be held at Sandown Raceway, starting the season of endurance races.

Current Championship Standings
1 Jamie Whincup 1847
2 Will Davison 1792
3 Mark Winterbottom 1777
4 Craig Lowndes 1775
5 Fabian Coulthard 1709
6 James Courtney 1687
7 Jason Bright 1649
8 Shane Van Gisbergen 1632
9 Garth Tander 1602
10 Scott McLaughlin 1318
11 Jonathon Webb 1282
12 David Reynolds 1222
13 James Moffat 1155
14 Rick Kelly 1101
15 Alex Davison 1080
16 Tony D’Alberto 1015
17 Alexandre Premat 899
18 Chaz Mostert 892
19 Russell Ingall 839
20 Tim Slade 821
21 Dean Fiore 820
22 Michael Caruso 809
23 David Wall 785
24 Tim Blanchard 703
25 Todd Kelly 689
26 Scott Pye 649
27 Lee Holdsworth 635
28 Maro Engel 576
29 Jonny Reid 149
– See more at: http://fiascosports.com/winterbottom-and-courtney-tighten-championship-at-winton/#sthash.0yCb1m7b.dpuf