Southern Sprint attracts impressive entries

A stellar field of KZ2 drivers will converge on Albany this weekend as the major highlight in the annual Southern Sprint, one of feature meetings on the calendar for the Albany City Kart Club.

Not for the first time will a round of WA KZ2 Series be held in Albany, as close to 30 drivers of the exciting gearbox class do battle for round 3 honours over Saturday and Sunday.

The top-nine competitors in the series standings have all nominated to compete in the Albany meet, including points leader Daniel Currey, from Hurricane Kart Club.

Currey (202 points) is first in the standings, ahead of accomplished driver Hayden Patrizi (144) and Lake King member Harrison Oddie (142).

In a major boost for the Albany round, other names inside the top 10 on points who will be racing are Simon Gwilliam, Joshua Merritt, Thomas Sparkles, Mitchell Perrella, Ryan Bender and Jayden Pierce.

Perrella resides in Albany and is a member of Lake King but has a wealth of experience on the local track.

Albany’s Tyler Spouse-Nastasi, who is 16th in the series, was the sole local driver among the field of 21 nominations yesterday.

Adding to the intrigue of the event is the nomination of David Priolo, an experienced sprintcar driver in speedway.

He is one of three Priolos in the field, alongside Michael and Jason.

The KZ karts, expected to do 42-second laps of the Albany track and running in an anticlockwise direction, will reach speeds of 130km/h down the back straight.

A total of 12 classes were on offer at the Southern Sprint with 56 nominations received earlier this week.

A host of Albany drivers will hit the track including cadets Cody Colmer, Harrison Beres, Riley Munro and Ben Norder.

ACKC president Howard Heerey said the event promised some great racing.

“The big attraction will be the really quick KZ gearbox karts,” he said.

“We will be running anticlockwise this time and it will make fantastic racing.

“The club is doing well with a good number of new members this year and of course we want to make the Southern Sprint as successful as possible.”

Practice begins tomorrow before qualifying and heats on Saturday and finals on Sunday.