Ashton Cattach returned to the Eastern Lions Kart Club over the weekend for the June round of the Club Championship. Cattach has had a busy start to the 2022 season and was coming up against a quality field of twelve KA3 Senior Light drivers. With dry weather to start Sunday, Cattach and his team were looking to put their best foot forward in qualifying and get himself as far up the grid as possible.
The track was dry, the pace was hot and Ashton was ready to give it his best shot for pole position. The Ringwood Kart Centre backed entry immediately put himself in the top ten and was pushing the top five in the battle for pole position. Cattach continued to put in fast and consistent lap times and was pushing himself and his package to the best of its ability. In a great start to the days racing, Ashton was able to set the fifth fastest time in qualifying and have himself off the third row of the grid.
The opening heat was the starting point for Ashton in trying to make his way up the field. The Luscombe Automotive driver had an excellent start moving up to second position off the start and right behind the race leader. Cattach put in fast lap times but couldn’t quite go with the race leader in the six-lap heat. Ashton did a terrific job to move up three spots and cross the line in second spot to start his racing for the weekend!
Cattach had excellent confidence after the first heat and was looking for a similar result in heat two. The Ringwood Kart Centre supported entry wasn’t quite able to get the same start as heat one, dropping down to sixth at the completion off the opening lap. Ashton was able to dig deep and put himself back in the top five in the first half of the race. Cattach was able to come home in an excellent fourth position, moving up a spot across the race and now starting out of position three for the third heat.
Ashton was up on the second row for the third heat and he was able to get an excellent start and move up to second spot in the opening lap. The battle for the lead was on and the Luscombe Automotive sponsored entry was right in the thick of it and continued to push in the top group. The battle broke open slightly in the second half of the race, but Cattach was still able to come home in an awesome second place overall. The excitement was now building to his final.
Cattach was once again out of third spot, with the round win able to go to anyone of the top three drivers. The Ringwood Kart Centre driver jumped up to second spot on the opening lap and continued to push hard on the back of the race leader. As the race went on Ashton got into a battle for the minor positions and dropped back to fourth on lap five. In an enthralling battle to finish the day, Cattach came home in fourth place and that was enough to put him on the podium in third overall.
Ashton’s mother Cin spoke post weekend on her son’s weekend of racing. “It was good to finally have a clean weekend of racing and running where we know we could. Ashton showed he can mix it with the best and we’re better prepared for the Golden Power Series round here in a few weeks”. Cattach will return to the same circuit and track in fortnights time to contest the fourth round of the Victorian Golden Power Series.
