Sapphire Coast Kart Club president Rob Motbey could not be happier with the running of the Karting Australia NSW Titles over the weekend.
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A field of 110 drivers and around 300 parents and pit crew descended on the Frogs Hollow circuit over the weekend in what Mr Motbey said was the biggest event ever at the local track.
"The atmosphere was unbelievable, I've never seen that amount of people at the track in my life and the best part was we had the founding members there," Mr Motbey said.
"Jeff Barker, Murray Watts and John Deborre all came and put their hands up to give us a hand and their enthusiasm about the track was incredible.
"When they started it 20 years ago they had a goal and we've finally been able to give them back what they were aiming for."
Feedback around the course was good, with visiting racers saying a lengthened course would be perfect, while they praised the technical and rewarding layout.
"There is the combination of the elevation, but the corners are off-camber as well, so it's extremely challenging on your body because of the number of corners in a shorter circuit," Mr Motbey said.
Mr Motbey beamed that locals stood up to the challenge as well with a couple of third place finishes and some just outside the podium.
"Tyson Moon had a massive effort to finish third in only his third race meet, while young Ryan Deborre had a massive effort to finish fourth in the Cadet 9s against a very strong field and Michael Platts also secured fourth.
"Young Aidan Williams had a few setbacks over the weekend and didn't get the results he was hoping for, but he raced brilliantly in the finals.
"Blake [Motbey] took the hard road, but was among the fastest drivers in his class to come from the back of the field to finish seventh was a huge result."
"The locals let the out-of-towners know they were there, for sure."
Visiting officials said they were blown away with the hospitality from local members and Mr Motbey said there were a team of volunteers who deserved a mountain of credit for the weekend.
"Our secretary Jennifer Hutchinson she put in pretty much three months of solid work to make the event happen," he said.
"The girls in the canteen, Bec, Emma and Candy they worked from 6am till 9pm over four days to keep everyone fed, they did a tremendous job.
"And a massive thank you to Eric Johnson our landlord without him supplying us the location we wouldn't have a track to race on."
With the border to South Australia opening, some of the club members are now looking forward to contesting the South Australian Titles.
And the club's major annual event the Sapphire Coast Cup will run on November 14 and 15 and Mr Motbey hopes to see some visiting drivers return.
"We'd love to have equivalent numbers to the weekend for the Cup, over 100 racers would be massive."
Track extension could hold numerous benefits
The Sapphire Coast Kart Club will seek state government support for track extensions to help with racing and driver safety programs.
The club successfully hosted the NSW Karting titles over the weekend and club president Rob Motbey hopes to springboard from that to seek a lengthening of the course as well as a concrete pad for motorbike safety training.
"We don't just want money from the government to make racing better, but we want to be able to run more driver training programs out there to prevent deaths on the road and teach kids the proper way," Mr Motbey said.
The Frogs Hollow track has already been home to the RYDA youth driver program for more than 10 years and Mr Motbey hoped an extension could see the programs expanded to even more learning drivers.
Mr Motbey said the kart club circuit already provides a technical layout where a number of scenarios can be illustrated, but extensions could mean an increase in the driver programs that could be held.
More than 4000 students have taken part in the RYDA course with schools spanning the Far South Coast getting behind the program, which includes demonstrations as well as practical workshops for teen drivers aimed at increasing their awareness on the roads.
The club will also seek the provision of a 50metre by 20metre pad to be able to host the Stay Upright program for learning motorbike riders.
"That program doesn't get a run on the Far South Coast because we don't have a facility."
He said the organisers of the program operate out of Queanbeyan and had already registered an interest in running the course on the Far South Coast if a plot existed for it.
"If we can supply them with a facility it's a no-brainer."
In some areas of NSW the course is a critical step for L plate bike riders to advance to their provisional licence, but was not easily accessible to people on the Far South Coast.
Like the RYDA driver program, the Stay Upright program has a long history of providing critical thinking and safety instruction for riders on the road, off-road or on a circuit.