Former Super 2 Supercars series competitor, Joshua Fife has extended the lead in the SP Tools Australian Kart Championship at Victoria’s Eastern Lions Kart Club in Seymour through winning two of his three heat races today.

Fife was pipped for pole position by young West Australian, Dylan Guest, however was able to convert his front row start to two wins, Guest taking the other gong.

In the premier junior category, KA2, Lewis Cordato signalled his title contentions with a superb performance, winning two heats. Queenslander Isaac McNeill won the other.

The Nick Percat-owned JND Racing outfit had a solid start to the second round in several categories. KA3 Junior title leader, Jack Szewczuk heads to finals day with a maximum pointscore after recording pole position and all three of his heat race wins. Multiple Australian champion, Brad Jenner emulated Szewczuk’s maximum pointscore in X30 – extending his title lead.

Ayce Buckley, the son of Collingwood Magpies Brownlow Medallist and coach – Nathan Buckley had his best day in AKC competition with two second places in KA3 Senior. He was well in the hunt in his third heat for a win – leading much of the race until all hell broke loose, dropping him to just outside the top five.

The six heats were shared by BirelART’s Mika Lemasurier with two heat wins for the Michael Patrizi-led team; Hunter Salvatore; perennial front runner Benito Montalbano, Amos Orr and Luca Belardo – who is emerging as a title threat along with Salvatore.

Belgian star, Ean Eyckmans dominated his TaG races, however struck drama with a technical infringement being uncovered in his third heat, scrubbing his win and creating a challenge for him in tomorrow’s final set of heats. Defending champion, Harrison Hoey and Jacob Dowson have shared heat races and Jackson Souslin-Harlow inherited the third heat win from Eyckmans’ disqualification.

Eyckmans – in the Patrizi-led BirelART team – is among those looking to chase down Jenner in the X30 category.

Archie Bristow continued his charge in Cadet 12, with Jay Kostecki – brother of Jake and Kurt, nephew to Brodie – taking a heat win. And Cadet 9 saw second-generation racer Jarvis Hindle take two wins, however they were less than comfortable.

Action begins tomorrow at 8am at the Eastern Lions Kart Club in Puckapunyal.