After earlier this week announcing Wagga and Districts Kart Club had re-aligned with the peak body of karting in Australia, Karting Australia, Dubbo Kart Club has made the shift back to the mothership.
While the south west of the state has been a stronghold of the rebel Karting NSW outfit since the organisations split, the two major regional hubs of Wagga Wagga and Dubbo are significant stakes in the ground for Karting Australia.
Over the last 18 months, clubs in the mid-north of New South Wales to the Queensland border largely came back under Karting Australia stewardship and now the south of the State has started to come back under the strength the national body can provide not only the clubs, but its members and license holders.
Dubbo is home to one of the more spectacular venues in the country, the Lincoln County Raceway, which has held several national level events prior to its defection.
One of the mid-north Coast clubs, Port Macquarie Kart Club also this week received a loan to re-seal its track under the KA National Infrastructure and Development Fund ahead of the Karting Australia NSW State Championships, which will be held over the weekend of September 27-29 where upwards of 250 competitors are expected to enter the event.
In 2018, Karting NSW launched a vote of no confidence in the national body and was formed with the support of most New South Wales clubs in 2019 after being expelled as an ‘ordinary member’ of Karting Australia in the January of that year. Karting Australia NSW was then formed for those clubs that wished to remain with the national body and since that time, the number of clubs under that stewardship has continued to rise.
Karting Australia is the only organisation with delegated authority from Motorsport Australia and therefore the FIA.
The long term viability of Karting NSW has to be called into question with another two clubs – based in two key regions in the south and west of the state – being the latest dominoes to fall.