Off the back of an impressive win at the City of Melbourne Titles a handful of weeks ago, Team Mathew Basso Racing ventured to regional Victoria to compete once again at the Australasian Kart Titles, held in the Goulburn Valley region. Having won three of the last three Australasian Karting Red Plates he contested in, Mathew and the team were determined to seal the deal and bring home their fourth win on the trot!
Being the tight, technical track that the Numurkah circuit is, qualifying is pivotal to securing a front-running starting place for the final. So, the team were understandably nervous heading into qualifying after registering as 4th fastest in the timed practice session prior. After re-evaluating and tuning the kart, Mathew was able to fight back in the qualifying session, putting his machine of speed on the front row; narrowly missing out on pole position by a mere 0.019s to Ryan Taborsky.
Set with the task of starting out of P2, Basso still had all the hard work to do as he lined up on the outside of Taborsky for the heat races. Taborsky’s favourable qualifying position benefitted him in the opening race, as he beat Mathew by no more than a kart-length across the line. Basso then proceeded to display an unrivalled level of precision and skill, kicking it up a gear and lumping the pressure on the opposition as he went on to win heats two and three by a resounding 1.3s and 4.9s, a crushing display from the emerging superstar!
The team’s efforts had been rewarded with a pole position start for the final, this time Taborsky set to start out of P2 as the leading pair swapped places for the final time. With the Basso bullet brimming with confidence, could anyone slow him down?
The flag dropped and we were underway, a perfect start for Mathew as he swooped into the lead! The #18 was able to build a slight gap, before fellow competitor, Cohen Naumann, began reeling him in. Basso’s tyres were still cold, the kart coming up to temperature while the young driver was still vulnerable, Naumann sliding past to take the lead. Basso refused to give in, determined to push through the momentary difficulties to bite back and hit the lead! That was all she wrote, Basso pulled the trigger on the #18 to break away from the field, going on to take a stellar victory by 1.7s as they crossed the chequered flag!
It was four Australasian Kart Titles on the bounce for Mathew Basso Racing, the squad thrilled with the result! In the post-race interview, Mathew had this to say about his racing weekend: “Man, I love this event. The people are fantastic, and the club really does a great job every year. The racing was close, especially with the circuit being only a 23+ second lap time; things can happen fast. I have competed at this event since 2019 as a Cadet 9, and besides the COVID years in 2020 /2021 where the race was cancelled, I have won four on the trot, which is just fantastic”.
Mathew would like to thank his sponsors for their ongoing support: Marco Motorsport, Castrol Racing, Morris Finance, The Silverdale Consulting Group, UNIT Clothing, NGK Spark Plugs, Raceline Motorsports Racewear and OMP, Oakley Australia, Platinum Potions, Ethika, PREPD Hydration, Albek Luggage, Alkaline World, 808 Dude and New Balance.
