Matthew Basso took to the opening round of the Victorian Metro Karting Series as his final hit out before the second round of the Australian Kart Championship.
Young Basso out of the Tony Kart Australia stable just missed the podium at the opening round of the Golden Power Series. The young cadet 12 was ready to improve on his result.
Basso went out for his qualifying session looking to be out of the best possible position for the heats and was right in the battle! The Bakers Delight backed entry was in a battle with fellow competitors Jake Ristell and Harrison Strik. In a tough competitive session Basso was able to dig deep and grab pole position by 0.028 over Ristell and Strik in third.
Basso starting out of pole got just the start he was after, taking the lead out of the opening few corners. Harrison Strik gave Basso’s PREPD Hydration sponsored entry early company with the challenge for the lead on. Basso was able to show his pace and class in the middle to back stages of the race coming away from the rest of the field and taking the heat one win by over two seconds. The Secure Max and Co backed entry really coming on after the first few laps to take a strong win.
Heat two and much the same off the start, with Basso again leading away and had both Strik and Ristell stalked the back of the race leader in the early stages. The Barilla Pasta backed kart again come on in the middle phase of the race and was again able to put gap on the rest of the field, while setting fastest lap times in the process really showing the Tony Karts pace. Basso in his Baron Engines powered kart was again able to skip away with a comfortable victory by over three seconds setting himself up for the best possible result in the final.
They say save the best for last and that is what young Matthew Basso did! The First National Real Estate backed entry dropped back to second spot of the start behind Strik but by the end of lap two had already retaken the lead. The MotiV8 Training backed driver then put on a strong and fast display in the final opening up his biggest margin of the weekend while setting multiple fastest laps. Such was the performance of young Basso in his Tony Kart entry he was able to clean sweep the round taking maximum points and winning the final by over six seconds!
Both Matthew and his dad Paul were happy with the result from the weekend. “My Tony Kart Australia backed kart was smooth and fast all day. I got out in front and just tried to put in some fast laps to come home for the win” said young Matthew.
Father Paul was very proud of his son’s results. “Mathew did a great job today. We had a plan to follow and things to work on in during the event which he executed perfectly. Today’s performance is a big confidence boost for him in his preparation for next weekend’s Australian Karting Championship round in Melbourne”.
Young Basso will be on circuit again this weekend looking for Australian Kart Championship glory!
Article from Kart Sport News 11/3/21
Picture – Pace Images