I would like to thank all the fabulous volunteers and officials that made this weekend a very successful Round 1 of the Victorian Country Series .

Big events like this require so much preparation and organisation to run, you might actually be surprised if you knew the amount of man hours involved.

I want to specifically thank a few people for the weekend
First thank you is to our club secretary Paul Feely, who on top of all the normal duties of secretary, "event coordinator" and also an official, took on the role of pit allocations and I think that turned out to be pretty successful exercise. Thank you all for your patience and Paul looked pretty happy with himself scooting around the pits on his golf cart.

A massive thanks to Grant Johnson and Tony Potter who have taken over the role of canteen co-ordinator's and all I can say is wow.
Wow, did we sell a lot of stuff through the canteen this weekend. It's not just these two but the wonderful volunteers from community organisations that hire our track who came to assist, the volunteers from other kart clubs who chipped in to assist and of course our club family volunteers.

Yes we had a few electrical loading issues associated with sheer volume of food being cooked, cooled and prepared, but we all chipped in to assist where we could and we got through the weekend.
Big thanks to our two can-do men Mitch Arrow and Daniel Findlay who on t
op of their racing, were relentless in sorting through these little issues of the weekend, arranging generators, just getting things done in including the cooking of the bacon and eggs at 6am.

The breakfast crew also included Ben Findlay, Bill West, Aaron Colignan and Tye Corbett.

I also want to thank Jason Douglas who unfortunately hasn't been able to race but was there all weekend running errands, delivering supplies to the officials and watering the pits to settle the dust throughout Friday and Saturday.

And finally thanks to all the members who assisted in the setup on Friday, marking up Racecourse Rd, the emptying of the bins, the cleaning and maintenance of the toilets etc. and then also the pack up tonight. It really is a team effort and I would like to thank you all.

Apologies in advance to the people I have missed, as my mind is still trying to unwind from the last two 15 hour days, but I did just want to highlight these.

A huge and successful weekend.
Thank you
Justin Malcolm
President

For those wanting to learn more about the club this morning's 3BA Ballarat interview:

Cadet 9 Club Member of the year: Charlie Hunger
Cadet 12 Club Member of the year: Archie Bristow
Junior Club Member of the Year: Troy Hollingworth
Senior Club Member of the Year: Ben Peverill

2024 Club Member of the Year: Archie Bristow!
The club's first national champion in over 60 years, and a great ambassador for the club with a positive attitude.
He join's his dad Matt on the honour board, who was club member of the year in 2021.
Unfortunately, Arch was not present, but we will catch up and present the plaque in person.

We also recognised the "Champions of the club".... our volunteers who keep the grounds maintained, the facilities clean, the canteen running and the race meetings officiated.
There is a lot more than these 10 who make all of this happen and we thank and acknowledge all of you.
We just wanted to specifically thank these 10 who have gone above and beyond this year.

Clive Howse
Grant Johnson
Tony Potter
Ray Douglas
Ray Dumesny
Kelsey Mason
Leeane Mason
Anthony Taylor
Michelle Shields
Bianca Kucina
 
As well as the very special life memberships:
Sandra Hocking
Noel Hocking

Congratulations to Sandra and Noel Hocking on being honoured with life memberships!
We did say there would be a special or announcement or two today, and we're so happy that many of you were there for it.







Full speech below:
Noel Hocking started racing back in about 1980 here at the Ballarat Kart Club and right there next to him was his wife, Sandra.
Apart from the normal volunteering at the club like in the
canteen, within 2 years Sandra had taken on the role of club secretary, and as shown up on our honour board she was club secretary for 3 years from 1982 through to 1984.
It wasn’t just these 3 years as club secretary that was significant at the club, but it was her many, many years of race secretary and lap scorer. I unfortunately can’t give you the exact number of years but I am sure both Sandra and Noel can give the specifics.
From one of my sources who left the club in 1984 and returned in 1996 Sandra was still the race secretary and lap scorer when he returned 12 years later.
Just to put things into context, this is well before the days of computers, CMS, KOMP or electronic transponders.
This involved both Sandra and Noel taking phone calls from up to 200 karters for a big meeting; recording names, class, which chassis and engine you are using, consolidating, and forming classes on paper.
The lap scoring was also done via pen and paper and I find it hard
to fathom how hard and the pressures this must have been to manage. I have heard awhisper that Sandra might have done lap scoring up to State and even Nation championship
level.
Noel was also representing Ballarat at the highest level where he was so close to winning an Australian Championship in the 1980’s where he finished second. (By 1 point)
Noel and Sandra stopped racing around the very late 1990’s and it was their nephew, Ray Dumseny’s decision to return to karting in the about 2017 that renewed the spark in Noel as
he returned as his mechanic/support.
I remember being grid marshal that first day and like I am to all the new karters on P platers I gave the encouragement to don’t worry if you get lapped. Little did I know the years and years of experience that was between those two as he finished very well in his heat.
It didn’t take long for Noel to get the bug again and to buy a kart and engine off his good mate Remo and to start karting again. Noel still has that passion today to race and I believe
still has ambitions to take the restrictor out and to race TAG.
But as you might not have noticed, Noel doesn’t hit the track as often as he possibly could, like today’s club day for instance.
The reason for this is that Noel has stepped up once
again and completed his officials training. Noel often sacrifices his racing even at club level, so we have enough officials to race a club day and is often the starter.
For those who don’t know, for the last couple of years Noel has been the started for most VCS rounds when he is not travelling, and at most of these rounds Sandra has been by his
side still supporting karting.
Noel is also known to turn up in his ute midweek by himself and to do a little tree pruning and shredding, keeping the place respectable but with very little fuss about what he has
done. It is noticed and appreciated.
When I talked to our club life member Kevin O’Donohue about the contribution of Sandra over the years, Kev immediately replied that he doesn’t think the Ballarat Kart Club recognised her contribution over the years, he went and opened a dusty bottom drawer and
pulled out a little shield he had made before Covid to thank Sandra for her contributions. This was obviously never presented to her but here it is today.
So as the current President of the club, I am proud to acknowledge and recognise both Noel and Sandra Hocking for their many years of service to the Ballarat Kart Club and would like to congratulate and to present them both with Life Memberships to the Ballarat Kart Club.
Justin Malcolm
President
Ballarat Kart Club

  • Free Cadet Tyres just begging to be given way if a Cadet class forms!
  • Great early practice for next year's first VCS round.
  • Special long 36 lap final as something new.
  • BBQ and Beers after competition.
  • 2024 Club champions awarded.
  • A special announcement or two...


You must enter by MIDNIGHT Friday night, we can no longer do late entries on the day with KOMP.

Practice/E Grade license holders - DON'T Forget - Most practice licenses can enter ONE club day per year to ACTUALLY race.
As long as you have the compliant equipment, this is a great chance to meet your fellow club members and jump in at the shallow end.

Spectator entry is free, and questions about getting into the sport are welcome.

 
During the nicer months, we will offer a 30 minute session before our monthly committee meeting for any new member to attend.
This will allow you to meet some of the crew, get to know how the club works, and ask any kart/tech questions.
We get a heap of questions via phone and social media from new members, and this will allow us to help more of you together.
Even if you have been with the club a while, you are welcome to come along.

Upcoming Dates for 2024:
Wed October 9 7:00pm
Wed November 13 7:00pm (Apologies, there was a mixup on this meeting date)
TBC December
TBC January
TBC February

Location: Haddon Club Rooms.

We cant wait to get out of winter and into some spring racing.
Make sure you save the date. 
NOTE: There is no October club day planned , so this is your second last chance to race a club day this year.



Calendar is provisional, all dates are subject to changes/variations


Congratulations to the winners, and thankyou to our army of officials and volunteers, and also the Haddon community.

Big events are absolutely NOT easy to run.
We all worked dusk till dawn for 2 days and still got through the weekend with most of our sanity intact.
So now it's time to kick our feet up for a bit.

We sincerely hope that whatever your final result, you had fun and enjoyed the challenge this weekend.

We are massively proud of this track upgrade, and our club

Its been a great start to our new circuit, with many karters out burning a groove into the new surface.

This month is a busy month and we are expecting some great action and big entries.

Sunday April 14 - Club day with the VC4SS Trail

Saturday - Sunday April 27-28 DPE Victorian Country Series Round 2

We need plenty of help from our members for both events, so make sure you pencil these weekends in.

Congratulations to all members who have stepped up to take a bigger role in the club for 2024.
We particularly thank life member Michelle Shields as our long serving canteen manager.
That position is temporarily vacant as Michelle steps back, and we will be looking to transition the role.

President:                            Justin Malcolm

Vice President:                   Mitch Arrow

Secretary:                           Paul Feely

Treasurer:                           Daniel Findlay

Race Secretary:                  Bill West

Member Protection Information Officer: Justin Templar

New Member Liaison:         Mal Mason

Karting Victoria Delegate:  Ray Dumesny

Co  Delegate:                       Mal Mason

VCS Delegate:                      Daniel Findlay

Club Safety Officer:            Mal Mason

Canteen Manager:              Vacant

Trophy  Buyer:                    Ray Dumesny

 

 

2024 Committee:                                   


Justin Malcolm
Bill West
Mal Mason
Paul Feely
Ray Dumesny
Mitch Arrow
Daniel Findlay
John Page
Matthew Bristow
Justin Templar
Jason Carter
Jason Douglas
Charles Carnie
Grant Johnson

Junior advisors
Flynn Carnie
Dom Kucina

Q: My club is open again, but how do I practice at the track?

1 KAC KAC KAC
We have been shut for a while, and private practice requirements have changed in a BIG way while we were closed.
You MUST register or join a social karting session in KOMP to use the track AHEAD of time. (eg the day before)
There MUST be a qualified Karting Activity Controller (KAC) present.

2 - Track hours are 9am-6pm
Track is closed TUESDAYS (No engines)
Please RESPECT our neighbours and finish up on time.

3 Use your member key to open the top gate
If you are do not want others to join your session, shut the gate behind you.

4 This is a learning curve for all of us.
We will be patient as a club with any genuine mistakes, but we will also monitor compliance.
Anyone ignoring the requirement will be contacted by the committee.

Links

https://www.karting.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/How-To-Get-KAC-Licence-2.pdf

https://www.karting.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/How-To-Onsite-Karting-Activity-Controller.pdf

  1. Members check your inboxes!
  2. February Working Bee Blitz- EVERY Saturday from 8:00am till lunch
  3. Track Sealing Works Begin!
  4. 2023 Club Member of the Year - Justin Malcolm
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