The first round of the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship next weekend at Port Melbourne’s Todd Road will set a new record for a class entry with no less that 78 competitors registering for the KA3 Junior category.

Entering its 10th year since Oscar Piastri won the first ever AKC premier junior category – at the inner Melbourne venue – never before have so many competitors entered a single class.

Overall, 342 competitors will be present at Todd Road securing the Australian Kart Championship as the biggest domestic Championship (by entry numbers) in the world.

A feature of this year’s Championship will be new chassis brands, including Drago – the latest brand brought to life by serial Italian kart chassis creator, Armando Fillini – which has never been seen at the national level in Australia before and EKS, which has been in Australia for a few years now, however the Italian manufacturer and Australian importer will be making a significant contribution from round one.

The Series will see every state and territory represented, along with a number of international visitors.

The premier KZ2 Gearbox category will see a solid 23 competitors entered, while the KA2 junior category hits a Championship record 35 entries. Similarly, Cadet 9 (for drivers between 7 and 10 years of age) hits 23 entries – another category record.

TaG 125 will see 54 entries take to the track across the course of the weekend and some 52 Cadet 12 drivers will begin their quest to be Australian Champion, following in the footsteps of Jack Doohan and the like.

Harry Hoey (TaG125) and Sam Dicker (KZ2) will both be entering their respective categories with the Australia 1 on board, the pair also looking for their third successive Australian Titles.

The battle of the Olivers – Williamson and Armitt – moves to Cadet 12 after a season long battle in Cadet 9 last year, which ultimately fell the way of the former. Nevertheless, the duo will not only have to get their way by 50 other competitors, including Stars of Karting winner, Jay Kostecki who came from 15th on the Cadet 12 grid to win that event on the same track almost two weeks ago.

Supercars star, Nick Percat’s ever expanding JND Racing will be key protagonists in a number of classes, the team setting new benchmarks for pit and team presentation across the board.

In a further Supercars flavour, Nulon/PremiAir Racing pilot, Jimmy Golding has entered for the full Championship and will be looking to go one better than his second place in KZ2 at the Stars of Karting

Action begins at Todd Road on Friday with Practice and Qualifying before racing through Saturday and into Finals on Sunday. Entry to spectators is free and both days will be livestreamed.

The first round of the SP Tools AKC comes off the back of the Stars of Karting event, attended by Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 star, Kimi Antonelli and a hugely successful activation in a new area on the city side of the circuit at the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix.

Karting Australia is expected to make a number of announcements in the week leading up to the event that are set to re-shape the decade long AKC model in a number of areas.