Dubbo’s Luke Wrigley achieved his goal during his first Rotax Pro Tour karting event on home soil at the weekend, finishing inside the top 10.
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The 18-year-old Wrigley was around the top 10 the entire weekend at the Lincoln County Raceway, going bumper-to-bumper with some of the best in the sport.
He ultimately finished Sunday's final in 10th placing, having had to move forward a few positions in the field that was filled with some of Australia and New Zealand's leading kart drivers.
On top of the steep learning curve for Wrigley, who drew support from six times Australian Champion Troy Hunt's Top Gun Racing Academy, it was the first time he had raced in the Rotax Pro Tour, which races across Australia.
He was also the only driver from the Dubbo Kart Club who entered the event.
His category - Rotax Light - was won by Kiwi star Joshua Hart - who has taken out many major events internationally in his racing career and as a mechanic has worked with many drivers who went on to be world champions.
Hart has finished second in the Rotax World Finals in the past.
Wrigley's class had one of the drives of the day - with Victorian Leigh Nicolaou coming from 32nd on the grid to finish second. Nicolaou performed a similar feat the last time a national series raced at Lincoln County Raceway.
World Masters Champion, Troy Woolston finished narrowly off the podium in the DD2 Masters category after a difficult weekend.
The Masters class for drivers over 32 years of age was won by former Australian Champion, Jason Pringle with his fellow Victorian Matthew Wall in second.
The Rotax Pro Tour brought over 130 drivers to the Dubbo region along with their support crews - estimated to be around 400 people.
Economic impact studies for similar events in other parts of Australia estimate the direct economic impact to the city to be in excess of $300,000 just for the weekend.
There was also a livestream of the event and that attracted more than 6,000 unique viewers from around the world.