TWO Dubbo racers successfully completed their first driver performance training with the Confederation of Australian Motorsport in Melbourne last weekend.
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From a pool of several hundred, Josh Behn and Lucas Walters from Dubbo Kart Club were two of the 12 top drivers selected from all over Australia to join the CAMS Elite Karting Academy, which prepares drivers for their transition from competitive kart racing to Formula 4 open-wheeler race cars.
The first part of the 2016 CAMS Elite Karting Academy comprised a strenuous weekend of physical activities together with lectures by top sports trainers and coaches providing a strong insight into becoming a professional race driver.
The lectures targeted physical and mental fitness, team building, planning and goal setting, dealing with stress and pressure, and what it really takes to be an elite athlete.
"It was a great weekend that really put us through our paces and tested everything we had, especially doing a half-marathon on the beach," Walters said.
"The lectures helped us to get a more realistic perspective on our ambitions and better plan for our future activities."
The same weekend another Dubbo Kart Club member, Tyler Everingham, raced in Formula Vee open-wheeler category at Sandown Racetrack in Melbourne in round two of the Victorian Championships.
Everingham qualified in second spot on the grid and led to the first corner but unfortunately hit the "marbles" near the apex and spun, finishing eighth over the line.
The final saw him have another great start from the grid, but the base of his steering column came loose during the first lap and Everingham had to race the last nine laps with the partly disconnected steering moving the car all over the track.
His final placing was eighth overall.
"Tyler did an incredible job just to keep the car on the track," Team JRD coach Brett MacLennan said.
"To actually finish the race with a car in that condition was absolutely amazing."