Jake Klarich holds a precarious position ahead of the penultimate event of the Australian Kart Championship despite clinching the opening two rounds.

The Western Australian driver has upstaged more fancied opposition in the KZ2 class with two victories and a second placing but the door has been left ajar for rivals to pounce in Newcastle this weekend.

A total of 27 points separate the top three drivers in the KZ2 class however with the opportunity for drivers to drop their worst points-scoring round, the gaps are greatly reduced.

With this enacted TB Kart driver Klarich’s lead compresses to three points over CRG Australia’s Jason Pringle with Energy driver Chris Hays a further five points back.

“We’ve had the speed at the right end of the weekend but when you look at the points our domination hasn’t translated because we’ve been outscored early in the weekend,” Klarich said.

“In every round so far we’ve qualified outside the top five which makes is hard in the heat races and has left the other guys in with a shot at the title. “

If successful in his quest to secure the KZ2 title, Klarich will become the first Western Australian driver to etch his name on the John Pizarro Perpetual Trophy.

Close to 200 entries have been received for this weekend’s fourth round of the Australian Kart Championship presented by Jayco and Castrol EDGE in Newcastle, including third generation racers Ben and Jude Bargwanna.

The cousins will take to the circuit in the KA Junior and KA12 classes.