St Edward’s Christian Brothers College student Harrison Mitchell, 17, won his first national Australian Karting Championship round in the X30 class in Newcastle over the weekend.
It was an emotional win and a dream come true for Mitchell when he took home the chequered flag and finally stepped up to the illustrious podium.
The X30 class is one of the fastest and most competitive classes in the championship, which Mitchell has competed in for just over a year.
The weekend saw more than 370 competitors fighting it out for only eight first place trophies.
The Year 12 student had been working hard leading up to the third round and it all paid off with a well thought through tyre strategy and pace all weekend.
He qualified P3, won a heat and placed second and fourth (twice) to have a second-row position in the final.
Mitchell drove a solid and consistent race seeing him cross the finish line as number one with a 1.3 second gap on his home ground.
The popular driver had the loudest roar from the crowd as he crossed the finish line with friends, family and team-mates cheering on his first podium and win.
It was also one of the youngest podiums of this class, with all three spots going to competitors aged 17 and under.
Mitchell is now setting his sights on the championship, with the fourth round in Ipswich, Queensland on July 14-16 and the finale in Melbourne’s Todd Road on August 25-27.
Terry Collins